Jason Poland
Sports Editor
Jason Poland, Sports Editor, goes One-On-One with Michael McBroom, director of athletics, about the Athletic Complex.
Q: Why are the facility upgrades important to the Athletic department?
MCBROOM: As we continue to grow and become more successful we have put a lot of things in place that will help us sustain that.
The one thing that we are missing are facilities and many of the facilities that we have on the north side of campus have not been upgraded in decades. The locker room and stuff out there that we are taking care of is kind of a disgrace to a school like West Texas A&M.
Q: Why is it important to the University?
MCBROOM: We are lacking space on this campus that is kind of green space, open space, park space, recreational leisure space.
Having running trails and exercise equipment, outdoor basketball courts, volleyball courts, a gazebo, a band shell type thing, a four-plex of intramural fields that would be the best four-plex in the Panhandle by putting field turf down. A space that could be utilized by so many groups barring weather, nobody is going to want to play in a downpour of rain, but as soon as that rain is over they could go out there and have fun. I just think that people don’t even understand the impact that type of space could have on student life. It would be a place that students could go just to hang out, to throw Frisbees, to play basket ball and it’s out doors, not only is it healthy but its great for socializing. Space like that just isn’t here on campus. I don’t think that we will fully and completely comprehend the impact that it will have on campus life until it’s done.
Q: When other Universities of WT’s size look to build and renovate, do they look to pay for these projects and facilities in the same manner?
MCBROOM: It depends on the institution and how they are structured. Yes, a student fee generally goes to help pay for things that you can’t pay for out of state funds. Athletics isn’t supported by state funds, not that this is a soul athletics issue but the AC renovations was a student referendum and many schools have done those to help upgrade student activities and rec sports type stuff. So this isn’t an unusual thing that we are asking. You kind of want your state dollars to fund the educational aspect, the academic buildings and classrooms, things of that nature.
Q: How would the new facilities impact the athletic department in terms of recruiting?
MCBROOM: Well in terms of recruiting it would be monumental. There is nothing better then having good facilities for recruits. In fact, when you survey student athletes about what are you looking for in schools, number one is facilities. Students want to know were they are going to be playing and working, it is just like non athletes, they want to know what your college is going to be like, what are the professors like and what kind of equipment do you have in there to make me better. We have different facilities on campus that we just don’t take recruits to right now because they are embarrassing.
Q: Where does WT rank among the Lone Star Conference in terms of facilities and programs?
MCBROOM: We have a target on our back because we have been so successful. Other schools in the region are building new facilities and they will start winning some recruiting wars because of those facilities. You start to lose recruits here and there and it gets a little tougher. We have the potential to be the very best program in Division II and sustain that position for a long time. We have great fan support and great coaching staffs. The last piece of our puzzle is facilities. If we put the facilities in we will be on top for a long time.
These facilities would put us best in the conference by and large. Among the best in the region and in the country. Every body has their own venue here and there that is nicer then the others, nobody has the complete package of wow everything is really nice. If we do this we pretty much would have the best in everything. It would be the centerpiece for the university and a vocal point for life on campus.
Q: Why should the student body find the facility upgrade important?
MCBROOM: It’s primarily going to be used by students of a lot of different groups. Certainly student athletes are one group that will use the athletic specific fields but those same fields will be used by students competing in intramurals and rec type sports. The band will be able to practice on a football field, they are out there on a parking lot now. I don’t think that we know entirely who all that it will benefit because we don’t have them yet. If you just think about it, so many different groups of students that benefit from it, should vote for it.
I also believe that while it may be tough for current students to see I always think that you want to make sure that the value of you degree maintains its value if not gets enhanced through the years and to do that any institution has to continue to grow and improve, so it is also an investment into the future of the university. Certainly there will be juniors and seniors that may not see any use out of this, but those people should be looking at it as a small investment that will make the campus and their alma mater much better and enhances the institution and their degree.