New $8.5 million facility donated to help players’ performance and prestige
On Thursday, April 28, 2016, Gryphons football members and supporters gathered to celebrate the official groundbreaking ceremony for a new state-of-the-art facility set to open in December this year.
The new two-storey pavilion will be built as an extension of the existing Alumni Stadium and will serve multiple functions, providing a new 3,300-square foot locker room, several meeting spaces, and a rooftop patio for alumni to gather and watch the games.
The $8.5 million facility has been donated to the program in full by the Angel Gabriel Foundation, a charity founded by recently retired head football coach Stu Lang and his wife Kim. According to the former coach and Grey Cup champion, the foundation is dedicated to supporting three primary causes: education, animals, and athletics.
[pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The $8.5 million facility has been donated to the program in full by the Angel Gabriel Foundation…[/pullquote]At the ceremony, Lang spoke about how the facility is intended to be more than just bricks and mortar, but an important step toward fostering the best football program in the league.
University of Guelph President Franco Vaccarino echoed Lang’s sentiments at the event.
“It’s a huge move for our university and our people here,” said President Vaccarino.
Lang and President Vaccarino were joined by Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie, Director of Athletics Scott McRoberts, Gryphons quarterback James Roberts, and new head coach Kevin MacNeill, to break first ground at the construction site on the north west corner of the field.
In addition to the official groundbreaking, members of the team were invited to make their own contributions to a time capsule to commemorate the Gryphons’ first Yates Cup win in 20 years. Many players chose to include items that they used throughout the season, like shoes and football memorabilia. Other players chose to include more personal items, like locks of their hair, or—like linebacker Johnny Augustine—beloved childhood toys.
Augustine decided to part with Lemons, a stuffed dog given to him by his mother when he was a child.
“Twenty years from now, this is going to be for my future kids,” said Augustine, hoping Lemons will be well looked after until 2035 when the capsule will be reopened at the annual May Gala Dinner.
Gryphons male athlete of the year, John Rush, used his growth as a player and a teammate to commemorate this historic season by including his first-year linebacker evaluation.
“I came in first-year, 17, and I thought I was, you know, the big man on campus,” confessed Rush. “In the evaluation, it said, ‘You’re a good football player, but don’t let that get to your head. Your ego will be your biggest challenge to overcome,’ and I really feel like I took that to heart.”After five years of playing football at Guelph, Rush is set to graduate in 2016, just in time for the new facilities to be added to the program.
“I keep telling the guys that I hate them because I’m leaving and they get to enjoy all the good amenities now, […] but I had really good facilities while I was here too,” said Rush, attributing the success of the program to Coach Lang. “He’s trying to give us the best facilities, the best program possible, and he’s just really trying to give us a name in football in Ontario.”
[pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“He’s trying to give us the best facilities, the best program possible, and he’s just really trying to give us a name in football in Ontario.”[/pullquote]Building the best program in Ontario—perhaps even in Canada—has been Lang’s goal from day one when he started coaching the team back in 2010. Now that he has retired, Lang plans to focus on bringing the team and community together with the new pavilion.
Firstly, the coaching staff saw the new structure as an opportunity to directly benefit the team with its updated locker room, meeting spaces, and Player’s Lounge.
“I see in football the design of bringing people together,” said Lang. “You spend so much time together in this small little locker room and you build this team camaraderie.”
Although the new locker room is far from small, it is designed with six alcoves for each offensive and defensive positions, and a large open area in the middle for the whole team to gather.
The Player’s Lounge, equipped with a TV, foosball table, and kitchenette, will act as a communal space for the team to hang out and relax.
“You’ll find that it becomes a player’s second home,” explained Lang. “They just feel comfortable being there, so you want to make sure they have the room and equipment to enjoy the time that they’re there.”
On the second floor, the players will have access to a quiet study space to focus on academics as well.
Lang also hopes that the new facilities, along with the team’s reputation and coaching staff, will help Guelph attract the best football players during recruitment season while continuing to build a reputation for the university as a whole.
With the viewing areas and boardrooms, the pavilion also aims to bring alumni back to Guelph, not only to support their team, but also to contribute to the construction of the facility. According to Lang, several Gryphons alumni have been recruited to help with everything from landscaping to outfitting the rooms with furniture, electronics, and paper products. Alumni are also invited to invest in naming rights for the pavilion itself, as well as the individual rooms. As the structure is already fully funded, the proceeds collected from naming rights will go toward scholarships.
Lang is also working with the university’s business and hospitality programs to utilize the pavilion as a means of revenue—a percentage of which will go toward women’s sports.
“When it comes specifically to scholarship, the money generated for male sports always seems to be more and the women’s sports tend to suffer,” explained Lang, acknowledging the issues of equity that come up in most athletics programs. “One of the major problems is [that] you have this huge football team over here with no female equivalent.”
While the main purpose of the pavilion is to benefit Guelph’s football team, the hope is for the program to use its facilities to give back to the university community, whether it be through funding scholarships, building a covetable reputation for the school, or providing another space for students to gather in during the off season.
“This is not just for the football players,” Lang added. “We’re here to help in whatever way we can.”
Photos by Mariah Bridgeman/The Ontarion