Last April 12, the formal inauguration of the DLSU Female Athletes’ Dorm was held at the old DLSU Retreat House. The dormitory is expected to house up to 100 students, and includes facilities such as an eating area, a study lounge, a prayer room, and laundry facilities.
Providing a home for the athletes
Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Development Josemari Calleja shared that the goal was for the place to act as a second home for the female athletes. “We wanted to provide a cocoon that would shade [the athletes] from stresses, in the courts and in [their training facilities,” he said.
Moreover, he recounted that he initially inquired with the future tenants on the design of the facility, with the athletes responding that they wanted it to be similar to “a rest house in Boracay”. With those inputs, Calleja said that they settled with a design akin to a simple boutique hotel.
Athletes’ allocation
In an interview with The LaSallian, Emmanuel Calanog, Director of the Office of Sports Development, shared that priority will be given to female athletes who hail from provinces. In addition, he enumerated some of the teams that will be relocated to the dormitory near the Laguna Campus, namely those who participate in track and field, football, softball, and baseball.
He clarified that the arrangement was implemented since the University is currently paying rental fees to make use of facilities in the nearby Rizal Memorial Stadium. Given that there are already a track and field oval and a football field in the Laguna Campus, it was more reasonable for the athletes to utilize the already existing facilities inside the campus instead.
Female athletes’ take
With the limited room capacity and with only a selected group of female DLSU student athletes expected to reside in the dormitory, DLSU Lady Fencer Char De Guzman (II, MKT), one of the student athletes that will not be moving into the new dormitory, understood the rationale behind the allocation of the rooms. “They really prioritized the students who lived far, such as Lipa, Batangas, and [from other] provinces,” De Guzman added.
On the other hand, Lady Paddlers Chantal Alberto (IV, AB-ISC) and Kimberly Lumenda (V, SPM-PHM) will be staying in the newly opened facility. Before moving to their new rooms, Alberto and Lumenda previously stayed in a dormitory which they viewed as “not an ideal place for studying”.
Both Lady Paddlers mutually agreed that moving in to the new building will be beneficial to their lives as student athletes, highlighting the convenience of having a study area within the dormitory. “Feeling ko mas makakatipid na ako kasi di na ako pupunta ng coffee shop to study. Dito na lang ako and parang may Wi-Fi naman ata,” Alberto shared.
(I feel that I will be able to save money since I won’t need to go to coffee shops just to study. I can just study here instead since I think they’ll even install Wi-Fi here.)
Lumenda added to this, stating, “Mas makakatipid ayun yung una ko na naisip, and mas convenient kasi yun nga, ‘di na lalabas labas kasi may Wi-Fi na dito kasi pwede ka na mag-aral dito. Mas less hassle na siya para sa amin.”
[First thing that came into mind was that I will be able to save money, and it’s more convenient because I don’t have to leave the premises anyone because there is already Wi-Fi installed here and I can stay in the study area. It’s less trouble for us student athletes.]
