Different season, different style
As news of the end of the NFL lockout reaches UIndy and plans continue in preparation to host the NFL, many changes have come to the university that will benefit Greyhound students and student-athletes as they return to campus.
During the 2010-2011 school year, a brand new facility was built adjacent to Key Stadium. The Athletic Recreation Center, or ARC, houses new coaches’ offices, locker rooms, conference rooms and a state-of-the-art training room for UIndy’s athletic trainers. Attached to the facility is an air-supported dome to be used for multi-sport purposes. This area also will serve as a practice site for the 2012 Super Bowl.
“Having a new locker room and entire building we can use makes me so much more excited for my senior year,” said men’s soccer player Justin Roberts.
During the summer months, several features were added to these facilities. First, a sign reading “Go Greyhounds” was placed near the ceiling in the entrance to the ARC. Second, a new surface was added to the door and hallways of the building. Finally, turf was installed in the dome for the use of both UIndy students and the NFL during the 2011-2012 school year.
“It’s so nice to be able to go into the dome if the field [Key Stadium] is being used by football or women’s soccer,” Roberts said. “We can get so much more done and I feel like it’s really going to benefit our program.”
Outside this facility, other changes also were made to UIndy over the summer. The Nicoson Parking lot was repaved and painted with numbered spots for the 2011 football season. According to the UIndy athletic website, these spots will be available for fans to purchase for the entire season. Furthermore, new parking lots for home football games will be added on both the corner of State Ave. and National Ave., as well as an additional lot on National.
Some of the UIndy fall sports teams also received a new look over the summer. The women’s soccer team purchased new black uniforms for the 2011 season, which can be seen in the team’s picture on the UIndy athletic site.
Furthermore, the Greyhound football team both designed and raised money to purchase new black uniforms. Junior running back Ben Polizzi and senior wide receiver Ryan Forney were the two people responsible for designing the uniforms for the team.
From left to right: Senior wide receiver Ryan Forney, sophomore running back Ben Polizzi, senior defensive back Paul Corsaro and junior linebacker Max Davis pose on the turf in the ARC to show off the new uniforms. Photo contributed by Sports Information.
“We created them through a Nike rep that supplied Forney’s high school, Crown Point, and designed them on a Nike website,” Polizzi said.
Polizzi described how both he and Forney designed uniforms for the entire team to vote on. After selecting Polizzi’s design, the team raised money to help purchase the uniforms, in order to get the one they liked the best.
“The color is a big difference, but the material is state-of-the-art compared to what we were previously wearing,” Polizzi said. “The uniforms are made by Nike, something we have never experienced. They’re very comfortable, and the fit is a huge change that will make our team look very sharp.”
The new uniforms will be worn for the first time in the football home opener against Kentucky Wesleyan University on Sept. 1.
“The rest of the team can’t wait to play in them,” Polizzi said. “You always have to look good to play good.”
