University of Albany: January 2007

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Athletics/Facilities

Athletics/Facilities:

The University has 19 varsity sports programs. The current affiliations and conferences are as follows… Affiliations: NCAA Division I (I-AA Football), ECAC… Conferences: America East Conference, Northeast Conference (football). The University upgraded to Division I, the highest level in college athletics, in all of its sports programs, with the exception of the football program, which moved to division I-AA. The University elevated its entire athletics program to the NCAA Division I level in September 1999.

It is obvious that the University is benefiting greatly by having the ability to offer athletic scholarships to athletes interested in enrolling at University at Albany and joining the sports program. Although offering scholarships is a key element to the growth and competitiveness of our sports programs, it is not the only one. An additional factor that will lead the University’s sports programs to higher levels of competition are the sporting facilities. The University already has several facilities of high quality. In turn, the sports programs that utilize these state of the art facilities have attracted much more notable athletes from around the nation, since moving to division 1 competition. The university is ready to begin construction of a new football stadium.

In the spring of 1992, the University opened the Recreation and Convocation Center (RACC), an $11 million state-of-the-art facility with 5,000 seats. The RACC is the home for UAlbany’s men’s and women’s basketball teams. The arena also serves as a major venue for community events such as rock and pop concerts, sporting events and University activities. It serves as a community bond.

The RACC contains a fitness center with Nautilus and Universal machines, rowing ergometers and exercise bikes; four racquetball/handball courts and four squash courts; athletic training and rehabilitation facilities with three whirlpool baths, a musculoskeletal evaluation device and other therapeutic machines. It has a .11 mile indoor track.

The RACC also houses numerous team and general use locker rooms, as well as an indoor practice facility for the women's golf team. Therefore, many of our sports programs benefit from this sporting facility.

The UAlbany men’s basketball program has had great success since entering the ranks of division I competition. The fact that the basketball team has had the privilege of using the RACC as their facility has attracted many athletes and has led to the signing of many highly talented American and foreign athletes.

In 2006 and 2007, the Great Danes captured the America East Conference tournament championship, earning an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament each year. They held the best record during the regular season during 2006, becoming the regular-season champions. The strength of the basketball program was evident when they almost upset #1 ranked UConn at the NCAA tournament while broadcast on ESPN . In early 2006, the University at Albany men’s basketball team played a nationally-televised game in the fourth annual BracketBusters competition. In 2007, the Great Danes played well, but fell to the University of Virginia in the NCAA March madness tournament.

We have become nationally competitive with the top Universities in the nation, with state of the art facilities like the RAAC.

Another athletic program that has enormous potential is men’s football. The University at Albany football program, for the first time in the program’s history, was ranked No. 23 in both The Sports Network and College Sporting News Division I-AA national polls this October, 2006. The Great Danes, who have posted victories over a pair of top-25 teams so far this year, defeated 23rd-ranked Central Connecticut State and defeated 11th-ranked Delaware. In national division I-AA mid major polls, UAlbany was ranked number one this season.

Over the past few years, the Great Danes football program has twice captured the Northeast Conference title. They were also crowned champion of the ECAC Football Classic.

For the past 11 years, the NFL’s New York Giants have trained in the Capital Region at the University at Albany facilities. This year’s camp was attended by 40,655 fans, the second highest amount of spectators since the Giants starting using UAlbany facilities. The annual event generates significant revenues for the local community already.

One of the goals of the athletic department is for the football program to move to division IA. With the luxury and convenience of having a new football stadium, the football program can attract top players in the nation. The University football program uses University field for home games.

Sunday, January 7, 2007

Facilities Plan

Project 2010
1.Stadium: 14,000 Seats, 24,000 seating capacity
2.Track: 3500 seats, for soccer, field events, and practice
3.Synthetic turf fields: 2500 seats, for Lacrosse, field hockey
4.Tennis courts
5.Student Recreational Facility: Multi Purpose
6.Multi Use practice fields
7.Turf field / Stadium: 2500 seats, for soccer
8.Outdoor Practice Field: for football, soccer, and lacrosse
9.Baseball Field: 2500 seats
10.UAlbany Bowl
10.Cross Country Trails
11.Physical Education Bldg
12.SEFCU Arena: for basketball