scu softball stadium
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SCU Softball StadiumTRANSCRIPT
A Home
for Achievement and
Advancement
S C U S O F T B A L L S T A D I U MS C U S O F T B A L L S T A D I U M
Can a new sports facility
significantly advance the mission
of a world-class university?
It can if it enhances opportunities
for student-athletes, creates a new
focal point for the entire campus
family, and serves as a new
gateway to the wider community.
Santa Clara University’s new
women’s softball stadium will do
all of those things.
Development of the whole
person—body, mind, and spirit—
is the guiding philosophy of a Santa
Clara education, and participation
in intercollegiate athletics is an
important part of that process
for many of our students. That is
why the University is committed
to providing excellence in the
student-athlete experience
for all of its 19 varsity
sport programs.
SITUATION
For more than a century, Santa Clara Athletic teams have represented the University
in championship fashion in the classroom, in competition, and in the community.
Santa Clara Softball competes at the NCAA Division I level in a sport dominated by
West Coast teams. Santa Clara’s inadequate softball facilities and off-campus competition
site inhibit the University’s ability to compete at a championship level and to provide an
appropriate student-athlete experience for the next generation of softball champions.
Lacking an on-campus home, the Softball team must travel 7 miles from campus to
West Valley Community College for their games. This presents a major inconvenience,
prevents students and other members of the community the opportunity to watch the
Santa Clara team in action, negatively impacts recruitment of highly desirable prospects,
and diminishes the student-athlete experience.
We have developed a plan to correct these inadequacies and seek support from alumni,
parents, friends, and corporate partners to build a new facility at Santa Clara University.
Building this facility will bring a wide range of benefits to the players, the University
community, and to our Silicon Valley neighbors.
THE SCU STUDENT-ATHLETE EXPERIENCE
A positive student-athlete experience is paramount at Santa Clara University.
We want student-athletes and former student-athletes to cherish their time here
representing the University. Without a new facility, Santa Clara University
cannot provide its softball student-athletes the high-quality experience they
expect and deserve.
Through participation in intercollegiate athletics and recreation at Santa Clara,
students learn critical life lessons and values, including sportsmanship, discipline,
teamwork, trust in others, and selflessness, to name just a few. Competing for Santa
Clara nourishes their character and builds their confidence as they learn to maximize
their potential.
Santa Clara University
Softball Stadium — A Home for
Achievement and Advancement
The members of the women’s softball team exemplify
everything we are seeking to build in our athletic
program. A diverse group—from all over California
and from as far away as Colorado and Oklahoma, with
backgrounds as varied—they work together in common
cause. They are dedicated to their sport, yet the
classroom remains their primary focus—their GPA’s are
regularly 3.0 and above. They represent the University
with pride on the playing field and in the community, and
they strive for excellence in all they do.
Participation in sports requires numerous sacrifices on
the part of student-athletes, and the women’s softball
team members face these challenges with grace and
determination. However, in addition to the hardships
all Santa Clara athletes face, softball players also must
endure inadequate practice facilities and a distant venue
for games. This has the effect of making the program less
attractive while imposing a unique burden that no other
Bronco team must bear.
These young women work hard—and that work should
be recognized and rewarded by providing them the one
resource that cannot come from within themselves: a new
field to call their own.
RECRUITMENT OF STUDENT-ATHLETES
Recruitment is one of the critical components in
intercollegiate athletic success. Santa Clara women’s
athletics is blessed with a number of natural advantages:
superb educational opportunities, a community in which
a young woman can feel secure, and a stunning campus
with a location in the heart of one of the world’s most
vibrant economic centers.
Santa Clara University attracts students from softball
hotbeds including northern and southern California.
Many top prospects are attracted to the University, its
academic programs, and mission, but are turned off by
current softball facilities. Not only is the offsite stadium
remote, the on-campus practice area is not up to the
standards of an NCAA Division I school.
Good facilities are central to successful recruitment, and
Santa Clara must compete with Pacific Coast Softball
Conference rivals such as Loyola Marymount and
San Diego to attract student-athletes with the highest
potential. In addition, our unique academic standing and
excellent athletic reputation places us in competition
with such schools as Stanford and UOP, as well as
Princeton, Yale, and Brown.
Typically, the highlight of on-campus visits for student-
athletes is a proud tour of the facilities the athletes will
be using. Today, the coaches and players reluctantly
show the practice field and the Community College
stadium. Too often, we are losing potential Broncos
to our rivals because those schools have the kinds of
facilities that will improve player’s skills and produce
championship results.
The role of prime athletic facilities in recruiting top
student-athletes is well known. The opening of the
Sullivan Aquatic Center in October 2008 heralded in a
new era for men’s and women’s water polo at Santa
Clara. Recruiting is up as our facilities are equal to—or
in the case of most of our conference foes—significantly
better than schools we are competing against to reach
the brightest and most talented students.
A new softball facility will provide a similar, exemplary
athletic centerpiece for the program, allowing us to
recruit a greater number of highly qualified athletes,
resulting in the same impact on the development of
women’s softball at Santa Clara.
We Want
Student-Athletes and Former Student-Athletes
to Cherish
Their Time Here
Representing
the University.
As the team grows and develops, its successes will be
an increasing source of pride for alumni. And games
at the new softball stadium will become a place for
spontaneous reunions and reinvigoration of Bronco spirit.
It will also be an important place to introduce potential
students to the University. High school students from
the surrounding area or those from farther away will be
exposed to the welcoming atmosphere and sense of
camaraderie that is so much a part of the Santa Clara
experience. In particular, young women who might
not even be considering Santa Clara may look at the
confidence, skill, and commitment of the players; the
beauty of the field; the support of the entire University
community—and see a place for themselves to build
their futures.
The Santa Clara University Community and School Spirit
The Santa Clara Athletics program enriches the life,
character, and vitality of the Santa Clara University
campus. It fosters school spirit and generates fun and
excitement for students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents,
and fans. It builds upon existing traditions and generates
new ones.
School spirit and student involvement are two highlights
of the student experience at Santa Clara University. The
Ruff Riders, Santa Clara’s student spirit group, boasts
membership numbers greater than three quarters of the
undergraduate population.
Softball is an exciting game for players, devotees, and
the casual fan—as the small, but intensely loyal group of
SCU softball followers will attest. The new field will be a
beautiful facility that the entire campus community can
call its own. It will be welcoming to fans and a place for
students to go between classes on a sunny spring day.
It will be another lovely green space where students can
meet, enjoy themselves, and create fond memories of
college days.
Our Neighbors
One of Santa Clara’s core objectives is to engage the local and regional community. In
addition to inviting kids, parents, and other community members to athletic contests,
Santa Clara Softball student-athletes are involved in the community helping to teach
young girls the benefits of life and study skills.
An on-campus facility will provide a centerpiece for community engagement through
Santa Clara Softball activities. Competing on campus will bring visitors who may
otherwise never step foot on the Mission Campus. True home competitions will also
provide an avenue to attract young women from throughout the Silicon Valley and
beyond as they visit campus to watch our student-athletes compete. Proper practice
facilities will also provide a great environment for sports clinics, bringing young stars
as well as underserved youth to campus. These campus visits for competitions and
clinics will put Santa Clara on the radar to attract additional families and help youth set
aspirational goals of attending a university like Santa Clara.
Conclusion
A new softball stadium will be so much more than just the site of intercollegiate
athletic contests. It will be a new center for individual excellence, campus spirit,
and community outreach. It will recognize and reward the dedication of generations
of Santa Clara women’s softball players. It will enhance the prospects for future
successes—on the field of play and off—for current and future student-athletes. It will
bring qualified students to campus who would otherwise have gone to competitor
institutions. And it will be a beautiful landmark welcoming
members of the entire Silicon Valley region to
the campus.
All in all, development of this facility is a
unique opportunity to advance the
mission of Santa Clara University
now and for years to come.
A Call
to Action
Santa Clara Softball represents SCU with style
and class. Student-athletes compete at a high
level in the classroom and in competition
and are active in the local community. A new
softball facility will help attract prospective
student-athletes to Santa Clara, boost school
spirit, increase on-campus opportunities for
community engagement, and provide the team
with a true place to call home.
Please join us by investing in the future of
Santa Clara Softball by supporting this impor-
tant building campaign. Donors may wish to
honor loved ones, family, friends, their own
company, or group, with a naming opportunity
such as the ones listed below.
Naming Opportunities
• Stadium $2,000,000
• Field $1,000,000
• Dugouts $250,000–$500,000
• Batting Cages $100,000
• Seating Sections $25,000–$50,000
For more information, please contact: Associate Athletic Director Fred K. Smith Santa Clara Athletics 500 El Camino Real Santa Clara, CA 95053 408-554-4050 email [email protected]
SCU OMC-8175 07/2011 2,000
Santa Clara University500 El Camino RealSanta Clara, CA 95053-1400www.scu.edu
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S C U S O F T B A L L S T A D I U M