Ateneo Blue Eagles - Sports Facilities

Sports Facilities

The sports-loving American Jesuits who took over the administration of the Ateneo de Manila in 1912 and taught at the Ateneo in the 1900s left a legacy in sports to the school. Unlike other schools, Ateneo in the early and mid-1900s, was fortunate to have educators who were former athletes. The American Jesuits were former basketball, baseball and soccer players as well as track and field athletes. They provided the fundamentals of these sports to their students as coaches of the varsity teams. They preached to them the Greek ideal "mens sana in corpore sano" which translates to "a sound mind in a sound body." They believed that sports play an indispensable role in Ateneo's scheme of well-rounded training as it trains character, strengthens the determination to succeed, inculcates a sense of fairness and charity, cultivates humility and graciousness and complements spiritual exercise. Thus the term student-athlete is a buzzword in the campus. Since sports is an important part of the Ateneo educational system, the Jesuits give importance to the construction of sports facilities. The first building to be built when Ateneo moved its main campus to Loyola Heights from Pade Faura was the Blue Eagle gym. Since then, Ateneo with the generous financial support of wealthy alumni in some projects has spent much in the construction of numerous sports facilities. Here are the various sport facilities found in the Ateneo Loyola Heights campus:

The Blue Eagle Gym
Ateneo is the first school in the Philippines to build a large school gym. The Ateneo gym has a seating capacity of 7,500. School gyms in the 1940s were small because their primary purpose was as a practice facility for the school's varsity basketball team and a place for student convocations as a secondary usage. Fr. William F. Masterson, S.J., then the Ateneo Rector had a different concept in mind. He wanted more usage for the gym he envisioned, one that is designed to be revenue generating and home to various varsity teams. Specifically, it was to be an alternate venue to the Rizal Memorial Coliseum for the National Collegiate Athletic Association games. Thus the gym that was constructed stands 213 feet wide and 281 feet long (or 60,863 square feet) and cost Php650,000.00 to construct. The gym is not only the home of the Blue Eagles and Lady Eagles (college varsity basketball teams) but also of the college baseball, chess, fencing, judo, table tennis and volleyball varsity teams. It is the practice facility of these varsity teams. There is a baseball batting cage, a chess room, a fencing strip and a judo training area. The basketball court is converted to a volleyball court when the volleyball varsity teams practice. The Blue Babble Battalion and band use the gym for their practice. It is also used by the university community for big gatherings. The gym houses the University Athletics Office, a sports library, a small dormitory and an exhibit room for the multi-titled Ateneo Blue Eagle Coach Baby Dalupan. There is also a room for trophies, awards and sports memorabilia. Locker and shower rooms are available for the players.

The gym was inaugurated on December 3, 1949 and has undergone several name changes during its history. At its christening in 1949, it was called the Ateneo Gym. In the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, the gym was leased to Emerito Ramos, Sr., an alumnus (HS '25) and was renamed the Loyola Center. With this change in management, the gym was used not only as practice facility of the school's varsity basketball teams and for NCAA basketball games but also as an entertainment venue. Musical concerts were held. Shows of local and American rock-n-roll singer artists were presented at the gym, making it a veritable mini- Araneta Coliseum. The name Loyola Center stuck even after management was reverted back to the school when the lease contract expired. It was in the year 2000, when the gym was undergoing renovation, that it got its present name, the Blue Eagle Gym.

The Ateneo Blue Eagle gym is a landmark due to the large blue eagle emblem mounted on the facade that can be easily seen from the main public road (Katipunan Avenue) along the front of the school campus.

The Moro Lorenzo Sports Center
The Moro Lorenzo Sports Center is a sports complex built in the Loyola Heights campus to bolster the sports program of Ateneo. Construction of the sports center was started in November 11, 2000 and was fully completed in 2001. It was inaugurated on March 17, 2001 and named after one of Ateneo's basketball players, Luis "Moro" Lorenzo, who played for the Blue Eagles in the 1940s. The sports complex offers facilities such as an indoor basketball court where the university's varsity basketball teams hold their practice, indoor badminton and volleyball courts, indoor track oval measuring approximately 200 meters, a weights room and a fully air-conditioned sports medical clinic. Other facilities include an audio-visual room, locker rooms and Prayer Room.

The Moro Lorenzo Football Field
A new P40 million peso football field is being constructed at the Ateneo Loyola campus grounds. Construction started last August 22, 2011 and will be finished by December 2012 in time for the opening of the UAAP football season 75. The University Athletics Office and the Lorenzo family, as sponsor, have partnered to transform the present Erenchun Football Field into a world-class football pitch which will be officially named the Moro Lorenzo Football Field when finished. The project aims to produce a football field that meets international and Olympic standards. According to the standards set by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the minimum acceptable size for a football field is 90 by 45 meters, while the maximum size is set at 120 by 90 meters. Based on these prescribed sizes, the Moro Lorenzo Football Field which will be a 110 by 70 meter pitch meets world-class standards.

The pitch will be an all-weather field composed of first-generation Princess 77 Bermuda grass imported from Thailand because later-generation grass tends to discolor as it is of lower quality. The Princess 77 is a low maintenance variant similar to those used in golf courses in Hawaii. A grass nursery will be built nearby which will be used to plant more Bermuda grass to be used for replacing dead spots on the pitch over time. The pitch will have drainage and sprinkler systems similar to golf courses to maintain the conditions of the field. The University Athletics Office stressed that it is the first field of its kind in Ateneo so it has to be of high quality. The UAO has also been working with the United States-based Trans-Lux Corporation for an outdoor weatherproof 5 by 4 meter electronic scoreboard with LED lights for the football games. According to the UAO, this will be the first scoreboard of its kind in the Philippines. Floodlights will also be installed over the renovated field so that football games can be held at night.

The Loyola Schools Blue Track Oval
A new track oval is being built around the Moro Lorenzo football field, which is also under construction. Both sports facilities are situated on the same place where the old cinder track oval and Erenchun Football Field were located. Work started in late 2011. It will be 400 meters long with eight lanes. The oval meets the standards set by the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) which stipulates that an Olympic-standard race track be at least 400 meters long and have at least four lanes. The actual oval will have a synthetic flooring, specifically the Herculean Spike Resistant Sprint system imported from the Netherlands that costs roughly P19 million. A variant that is accepted by the IAAF. It is water impermeable and spike resistant. The oval flooring will be color royal blue. The track oval will be used primarily by the Track and Field varsity teams which are presently training off-campus. Other Ateneo varsity teams will be using the track oval for their training activities which require running. It may also become a venue for UAAP Track and Field tournaments in the future.

The Loyola Schools Swimming Pool
The Loyola Schools swimming pool is a state-of-the-art short-course pool used for PE swimming classes and by the varsity swimming teams for training and dual meets. It is a 25-meter, 8-lane, roofed and no-wave swimming pool and complemented by a bleachers section for 250 spectators and outside showers. A Php5 million donation from a former member of the Ateneo varsity swimming team, alumnus Cecilio Pedro, BS '75, helped cover part of the Php15 million cost of the sports facility that Ateneo never had since joining the NCAA and UAAP in 1924 and 1978, respectively. Construction was completed on June 28, 2006. The blessing and inauguration was in July 15, 2006.

The Loyola Schools Physical Education Dept. Sports Complex
The Loyola Schools P.E. Dept. sports complex consists of the College Covered (basketball) Courts, two lawn tennis courts, table tennis courts, dancing hall, martial arts gym, a bodybuilding gym, dressing and shower rooms, a half-Olympic swimming pool that is used by both P.E. swimming classes and the varsity swimming teams for training and dual meets and a shooting range used by the rifle and pistol varsity team, the first of its kind in the Philippines. Also in the same complex are the College Athletics office and the offices of the physical education department and a cafeteria.

The Loyola Schools Covered Courts
The Loyola Schools (College) Covered Courts is a sports facility which is part of the Loyola Schools Physical Education Department sports complex. It consists of eight regulation-sized basketball courts which have concrete floors that can be converted to a futsal court and/or volleyball courts. It also has dressing and shower rooms. It was opened for student-use in 1951.