For years, the Enrique M. Razon Sports Center has been the place where the University’s physical education courses are held and it has served as the venue for La Salle’s skilled athletes to hone their abilities since it first opened its doors in 1998.
But in the previous academic year, changes were made to the building’s sixth floor. What was once a parking area exclusive to DLSU faculty and students had been converted to training areas for several sports teams, including the DLSU Archery Club, the Green and Lady Woodpushers, the Green and Lady Fencers, and the De La Salle Taekwondo (DELTA) team; rehearsal rooms for several student organizations under the Culture and Arts Office; and a Gold’s Gym branch.
This academic year, the Razon Sports Center is again undergoing even more changes, with renovations to the ninth and 10th floor underway. Director of the Office of Sports Development (OSD) Emmanuel Calanog talks about the facilities to be introduced once construction is complete.
New OSD location
Upon exiting the elevator on the ninth floor, one can find the planned OSD office immediately to the left, adjacent to the bleachers. This strategic renovation is to help the OSD become more efficient in managing DLSU athletes by giving the office the necessary space to better address the concerns of Lasallian players.
Calanog explains that the new office space will be less cramped than their current office so student-athletes can more comfortably meet with their academic coordinators. Additionally, he highlights the benefit it will bring for OSD personnel: an increase in privacy when working compared to the old space.
Furthermore, the OSD will also focus on the psychological needs of Lasallian athletes to improve their well-being and possibly contribute to their success—both athletically and academically. As student-athletes who strive to balance their sport and academics, juggling both responsibilities can add to their stress and impact their decision-making and overall lifestyle.
Aside from staying physically fit, every athlete has to keep mentally fit to keep up with their sports development. This aspect was a strong consideration underlying Calanog’s push to open a counseling office for athletes. “We asked Campus Development if we can put a counseling room na they will feel safe and comfortable to talk with the counselor and the sport psychologist,” he explains.
The OSD also aims to cater to the rehabilitation and fitness of the players; hence, they plan to add a room for physical therapy above the new OSD office, with the objective of making physical treatment more accessible and comfortable. According to Calanog, DLSU athletes previously had to deal with a makeshift area inside the gym for their physical therapy sessions.
For coaches, athletes
Calanog shares that there will also be a new coaches’ lounge, which is expected to be situated within the gym. “It’s a general work area where our coaches can stay and work, so whether you’re an assistant coach or a head coach, you can use it,” he elaborates.
The lounge can be utilized by the coaching staff for their both personal and coaching needs. It also has the added benefit of allowing the coaches to be more accessible to the athletes who may consult and ask for advice.
Calanog also stresses the importance of trying to improve the facilities for the Lasallian athletes. With this in mind, the old OSD office will be replaced by a new and larger viewing room, which the teams can use to review footage from previous games in preparation for their next matchups. As Calanog explains, “Kasi ngayon, lalo ngayon yung basketball ang liit-liit nitong kuwarto na ‘to. The [old OSD] office will [become] one big room na yung talagang may formal viewing room na sila.”
(Because right now, especially with the basketball team, the current viewing room is really small. The [old OSD] office will [become] one big room fit for the players to have a formal viewing room.)
Before the planned renovation, lockers were situated on both sides of the ninth floor beneath the bleachers; however, the new floor plan envisions the locker room area—divided into men’s and women’s sections—to be housed on one side, adjacent to the new OSD office. Additionally, the locker rooms will have a built-in ice bath for cold therapy. Previously, athletes would normally use an inflatable pool for their ice bath.
Plausible timetable
Calanog shares that the renovation plan was divided into three separate phases: the new OSD office, the coaches’ lounge, and the locker area. While remaining uncertain when all three phases of construction will be completed, Calanog explains that the improvements are being done one step at a time.
This staggered or step-wise approach to implementing the renovations also takes into consideration the available space for storing various teams’ sports equipment. The construction of the coaching lounge would effectively displace these materials and would require the equipment to be temporarily stored in other locations, such as the teams’ respective training areas. Consequently, the construction of the lounge will begin after their respective UAAP tournaments are finished to avoid cluttering the available training space.
The aforementioned reasons will thus push the projected date of completion to a later date. Calanog shared that the tentative timetable for the completion of renovations is between June and August of 2020.
