NATCHITOCHES – Supporters of Northwestern State have has been fulfilling the spirit of the donation season throughout 2018, as private donations have helped complete or initiate several facility projects totaling nearly $ 800,000 with more improvements in progress or on the horizon.
The "Victorious" campaign of the Demons Unlimited Foundation to improve NSU's sports facilities began with a $ 600,000 seat upgrade and $ 2,000 video board projects 900,000 at the Turpin Stadium in the last two years. This fall, the main entrance to the stadium underwent a $ 600,000 transformation that included the addition of banners larger than the life of 12 NSU soccer legends. A new road was built to help traffic flow around the stadium, which received a renewal of new trees near the main entrance of the house.
Other improvements in 2018 included a nutrition center for all athletes, end zone hospitality areas at Turpin Stadium, a new interactive touch screen database that shows the N-Club Hall of Fame of NSU, and resurfacing courts, in purple, at Jack Fisher Tennis Complex.
NSU athletic director Greg Burke cites the schedule of facility improvements as an integral part of a wave of momentum that has spread throughout the country. NSU campus, highlighted by the highest enrollment (11,081) in the 134-year history of the school. The athletic program is complementing the university impulse. Case in point: The Demon baseball program, over the course of a weekend at NCAA Corvallis Regionals last May, generated $ 4.2 million in earned media based on metrics compiled by Meltwater, a company that monitors the production of media.
"As a department, we live according to three fundamental values, and it is imperative that the first two, academic achievement and personal responsibility, never be lacking," said Burke, who led a department with a 78 percent graduation rate that served more than 4,000 hours of community service. "Make no mistake, however, that meeting the third core value, competitive success, is also paramount for many reasons."
The best, however, is still to come, as the jewel in the crown of the "Victorious" campaign will be an adjunct of conditioning and cutting-edge strength for the athletic field. The $ 3.5 million annex will have a weight area that spans 11,600 feet. The second phase of the initiative will include the addition of a high-tech rehabilitation center and other sports medicine updates.
"The new weight room will rival any training facility not only in our conference, but in the country," said NSU soccer coach Brad Laird , who was field marshal of the Demons in the early 1990s.
"We have a lot to sell recruits on NSU, but one of our assets has to be quality facilities," added softball coach Donald Pickett, who completed a decade in NSU last spring.
All 14 NSU sports will benefit from the new conditioning and strength center. In fact, it was the spring sports season of 2018 that ignited a positive momentum in the entire NSU athletic program.
Bobby Barbier, former All-American demon baseball academician, in his second year in command, guided NSU baseball to his first title in the Tournament of the Year. Southland conference, 36 victories, and a great performance in the NCAA regional game. The track and field program led by another former demon athlete, Mike Heimerman, sent nine athletes with a school record to the NCAA Championships in Oregon, where the 4 × 100 meters relay team of the Demons won the first All-America honors team while breaking a 36- year school record. The Lady Demons tennis team advanced to the title of the conference tournament for the seventh time this decade.
Barbier now leads a privately funded $ 500,000 improvement to Brown-Stroud Field that includes a new press box, two executive suites, presidents across the rostrum and new concessions and bathrooms. The renewal is scheduled to end before the Demons home opener against LSU on February 20, a rematch of the NCAA Corvallis Regional pairing in which NSU led to the ninth.
Complete projects such as the strength and conditioning annex and the baseball grandstand project, along with the locker rooms for the track and the tennis programs that are also in The drawing board will require unprecedented private support. Burke feels that the moment is right.
"A window of opportunity based on the momentum of our university and our athletic program is at the forefront," Burke said. "It is vital that we, our administration, coaches, staff, former athletes and fans, take advantage of what is perhaps the most dynamic time period in the history of NSU.
"Completing that strength and conditioning appendix, along with the sports medicine component, would make this athletic program in your ear, which is something that excites us a lot."
Projects of sports facilities of the Northwestern State
COMPLETED
* Screen of the N-Club Hall of Fame – ($ 50,000)
* Turpin Stadium Front Entrance ($ 640,000)
– Road / parking
-Plants / irrigation / trees
-75 ' X25 'banners installed
* Additional improvements to the Turpin Stadium in the last two years:
-New video card ($ 900,000)
– Back chairs for the chair ($ 600,000)
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] * Nutrition Center – ($ 10,000)
* Soccer Drain – ($ 5,000)
* Carpet (offices of the country house, changing rooms) – ($ 35,000)
* N-Club "NZone" Tailgate Hospitality Area – ($ 20,000)
IN PROGRESS
* Baseball Grandstand Project – ($ 500,000)
* Runway: Installation of a new seat / press box ($ 288,000)
* Track Complex Updates – ($ 32,000)
* Softball Dugouts – ($ 20,000)
* Renewal of volleyball costumes (estimated at $ 25,000)
* Soccer dugouts – (approximately $ 12,000)
IN THE HORIZON
* Annex of resistance and conditioning – ($ 3.5M)
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* Tennis locker room- ($ 500.00)
* Track Locker Room – ($ 1M)
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