Boston College Athletics
Photo by: Photo: Mike Gridley
Fish Field House Provides Latest Eagle Springboard
July 25, 2018 | Football, #ForBoston Files
The new practice facility is a source of pride for all of BC
The opening of a new building is an exciting time for any college campus. But standing in front of the gathered media inside the Fish Field House on Wednesday brought a special layer of pride to football head coach Steve Addazio.
"It's a beautiful facility," Addazio said. "It's as nice as anywhere in the country. It's something we desperately needed on every front. This is a great venue for us to have great development. We have a state-of-the-art indoor (practice field) and a state-of-the-art weight room."
Addazio was standing in the middle of a 115,700 square-foot facility that will be largely used as his program's new football practice complex. A donor-funded facility, it features a regulation size field with AstroTurf playing surface, along with a strength and conditioning center geared towards the modern student-athlete's needs. Outside, rollers planted the last layers of sod on a new grass practice field.
"It's big for us," athletic director Martin Jarmond said. "We have to be able to have this facility. This is a teaching laboratory. It's where our student-athletes learn toughness and grit, and (it's) our promise to our student-athletes (to provide them this space). If you come to Boston College, we're going to develop you to be your best. If you don't have the facilities, then you're behind. This is now consistent with other programs who have the indoor facilities. We don't have to cancel (practices) with weather."
College programs are increasingly building physical space to modernize the needs of student-athletes. Boston College joined that process in 2016 when then-athletic director Brad Bates announced a comprehensive $200 million plan to enhance the Eagle footprint through a three-pronged approach. Addressing playing field and student recreation were two of the ways, but the university addressed a long-known issue by building a permanent indoor field house next to Alumni Stadium.
"I can't explain enough what goes on with running practice," Addazio said. "Everything is on such tight constraints with rules and time lapses between practices. When you get into the weather, we have had to get on buses to go to (other places). Nobody thinks about that, and no one should have to. But that was our reality.
"That's all gone," he continued. "You can keep the schedule as your schedule, and that's a big deal for player health and safety. It's not about inconvenience. Now we have a facility that helps us plan (our practice schedule)."
For Jarmond, the Fish Field House is the culmination of an undertaking he accepted when he arrived in Chestnut Hill. He knew plans were in place but also recognized the need to continue pushing forward. He still needed to raise money, thereby ensuring the new field house fit the needs of all of Boston College's student-athletes.
"During my interview process, I was told that this was part of (what was happening on campus)," he said. "But we needed to fundraise for it. That's a big reason of why I wanted to come (to BC). You have to commit to football. You have to be on par with the rest of the ACC. This allows us to be on par facility-wise with the rest of the ACC."
"It's all of the technology that's involved with today's game," Addazio said. "We have replay capability. We want to bring in a Massachusetts high school clinic at the facility. We can have it here with video boards and teaching capabilities. You could get me going on the little things that hit me (because) I've grown so accustomed - like so many people before me - making it work with what we had."
The new field house also represents what both Jarmond and Addazio saw in their individual and collective visions for the Eagles. Over 230 donors helped build the field house, and its edifice is a tribute to what happens when people find themselves invested in their passion for their program's well-being.
"It starts with a vision, but it starts with leadership in investing," Jarmond said. "We had 231 donors for this project, and those are the people that make this possible. You can't do this alone. We need all of our BC community, our parents and our friends, to understand the impact that this has. It's not just on our athletics programs but on our entire university. We are blessed to have so many people who believe in what we believe and why we need it. I'm just ecstatic to the donors. You have to get out there and show the impact and why we need it, and that's what we've been doing. It never stops."
That last point is perhaps the most important to Jarmond. Though the Eagles introduced the university and community at-large to the Fish Field House, this is only the beginning of where BC is looking to go.
"Sometimes you have to see it to believe it and feel it," he said. "It's not talked about anymore. This building is here. It shows we are serious, and it shows that we are coming. We have momentum and energy that people want to be a part of. This train is moving, and I like where it's going."
The same can be said for a football program which will be the primary and most immediate beneficiary. The Eagles will fold the new facility into its recruiting package in what they expect will make the school the complete and total package to prospective players.
"We're not just about facilities," Addazio acknowledged. "We're about academics and the integrity of the school. We're a school community and a Jesuit education. Having said that, a recruit has options for places that have these types of facilities. That's where it speaks to the overall direction and functionality (in recruiting). You sell on development of a student-athlete based on the indoor and weight room and everything. You can sell all of that.
"We don't have to be the biggest and baddest," he said. "We don't have to be the most over the top in one of these things because that's not our deal here. We consider ourselves the whole package, and we have to be nice. We have to be able to develop our total student athlete, and I would argue that this facility - the physical side of it - helps us with the other side of it."
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"It's a beautiful facility," Addazio said. "It's as nice as anywhere in the country. It's something we desperately needed on every front. This is a great venue for us to have great development. We have a state-of-the-art indoor (practice field) and a state-of-the-art weight room."
Addazio was standing in the middle of a 115,700 square-foot facility that will be largely used as his program's new football practice complex. A donor-funded facility, it features a regulation size field with AstroTurf playing surface, along with a strength and conditioning center geared towards the modern student-athlete's needs. Outside, rollers planted the last layers of sod on a new grass practice field.
"It's big for us," athletic director Martin Jarmond said. "We have to be able to have this facility. This is a teaching laboratory. It's where our student-athletes learn toughness and grit, and (it's) our promise to our student-athletes (to provide them this space). If you come to Boston College, we're going to develop you to be your best. If you don't have the facilities, then you're behind. This is now consistent with other programs who have the indoor facilities. We don't have to cancel (practices) with weather."
College programs are increasingly building physical space to modernize the needs of student-athletes. Boston College joined that process in 2016 when then-athletic director Brad Bates announced a comprehensive $200 million plan to enhance the Eagle footprint through a three-pronged approach. Addressing playing field and student recreation were two of the ways, but the university addressed a long-known issue by building a permanent indoor field house next to Alumni Stadium.
"I can't explain enough what goes on with running practice," Addazio said. "Everything is on such tight constraints with rules and time lapses between practices. When you get into the weather, we have had to get on buses to go to (other places). Nobody thinks about that, and no one should have to. But that was our reality.
"That's all gone," he continued. "You can keep the schedule as your schedule, and that's a big deal for player health and safety. It's not about inconvenience. Now we have a facility that helps us plan (our practice schedule)."
For Jarmond, the Fish Field House is the culmination of an undertaking he accepted when he arrived in Chestnut Hill. He knew plans were in place but also recognized the need to continue pushing forward. He still needed to raise money, thereby ensuring the new field house fit the needs of all of Boston College's student-athletes.
"During my interview process, I was told that this was part of (what was happening on campus)," he said. "But we needed to fundraise for it. That's a big reason of why I wanted to come (to BC). You have to commit to football. You have to be on par with the rest of the ACC. This allows us to be on par facility-wise with the rest of the ACC."
"It's all of the technology that's involved with today's game," Addazio said. "We have replay capability. We want to bring in a Massachusetts high school clinic at the facility. We can have it here with video boards and teaching capabilities. You could get me going on the little things that hit me (because) I've grown so accustomed - like so many people before me - making it work with what we had."
The new field house also represents what both Jarmond and Addazio saw in their individual and collective visions for the Eagles. Over 230 donors helped build the field house, and its edifice is a tribute to what happens when people find themselves invested in their passion for their program's well-being.
"It starts with a vision, but it starts with leadership in investing," Jarmond said. "We had 231 donors for this project, and those are the people that make this possible. You can't do this alone. We need all of our BC community, our parents and our friends, to understand the impact that this has. It's not just on our athletics programs but on our entire university. We are blessed to have so many people who believe in what we believe and why we need it. I'm just ecstatic to the donors. You have to get out there and show the impact and why we need it, and that's what we've been doing. It never stops."
That last point is perhaps the most important to Jarmond. Though the Eagles introduced the university and community at-large to the Fish Field House, this is only the beginning of where BC is looking to go.
"Sometimes you have to see it to believe it and feel it," he said. "It's not talked about anymore. This building is here. It shows we are serious, and it shows that we are coming. We have momentum and energy that people want to be a part of. This train is moving, and I like where it's going."
The same can be said for a football program which will be the primary and most immediate beneficiary. The Eagles will fold the new facility into its recruiting package in what they expect will make the school the complete and total package to prospective players.
"We're not just about facilities," Addazio acknowledged. "We're about academics and the integrity of the school. We're a school community and a Jesuit education. Having said that, a recruit has options for places that have these types of facilities. That's where it speaks to the overall direction and functionality (in recruiting). You sell on development of a student-athlete based on the indoor and weight room and everything. You can sell all of that.
"We don't have to be the biggest and baddest," he said. "We don't have to be the most over the top in one of these things because that's not our deal here. We consider ourselves the whole package, and we have to be nice. We have to be able to develop our total student athlete, and I would argue that this facility - the physical side of it - helps us with the other side of it."
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