Hope College Athletic Facilities

The University of Notre Dame, founded in 1842 by a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, is an independent, national Catholic university located adjacent to the city of South Bend, Indiana, and approximately 90 miles east of Chicago.

Admission to the University is highly competitive, with more than five applicants for each freshman class position. Seventy-one percent of incoming freshmen were in the top 5 percent of their high school graduating classes.

The University’s minority student population has tripled in the past 20 years, and women, first admitted to undergraduate studies at Notre Dame in 1972, now account for 48 percent of undergraduate and overall enrollment.

The University is organized into four undergraduate colleges – Arts and Letters, Science, Engineering, and the Mendoza College of Business – the School of Architecture, the Law School, the Graduate School, 10 major research institutes, more than 40 centers and special programs, and the University Library system. Enrollment for the 2008-09 academic year was 11,731 students overall and 8,363 undergraduates.

One indicator of the quality of Notre Dame’s undergraduate programs is the success of its students in postbaccalaureate studies. The medical school acceptance rate of the University’s preprofessional studies graduates is 75 percent, almost twice the national average, and Notre Dame ranks first among Catholic universities in the number of doctorates earned by its undergraduate alumni – a record compiled over some 80 years.

The Graduate School, established in 1918, encompasses 32 master’s and 23 doctoral degree programs in and among 25 University departments, institutes and programs.

The source of the University’s academic strength is its faculty, which since 1988 has seen the addition of some 500 members and the establishment of more than 200 new endowed professorships. Notre Dame faculty members have won 37 fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities in the past ten years, more than for any other university in the nation.

At Notre Dame, education always has been linked to values, among them living in community and volunteering in community service. Residence hall life, shared by four of five undergraduates, is both the hallmark of the Notre Dame experience and the wellspring of the University’s rich tradition. A younger tradition, the University’s Center for Social Concerns, serves as a catalyst for student voluntarism. About 80 percent of Notre Dame students engage in some form of voluntary community service during their years at the University, and at least 10 percent devote a year or more after graduation to serving the less fortunate in the U.S. and around the world.

With 1,250 acres containing two lakes and 138 buildings with a total property replacement value of $2.8 billion, Notre Dame is well known for the quality of its physical plant and the beauty of its campus. The Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the 14-story Hesburgh Library with its 132-feet-high mural depicting Christ the Teacher, and the University’s newly renovated 130-year-old Main Building with its famed Golden Dome are among the most widely known university landmarks in the world. (8/09)

Mission Statement

The University seeks to cultivate in its students not only an appreciation for the great achievements of human beings, but also a disciplined sensibility to the poverty, injustice, and oppression that burden the lives of so many. The aim is to create a sense of human solidarity and concern for the common good that will bear fruit as learning becomes service to justice.

CONTEXT

This statement speaks of the University of Notre Dame as a place of teaching and research, of scholarship and publication, of service and community. These components flow from three characteristics of Roman Catholicism that image Jesus Christ, his Gospel, and his Spirit. A sacramental vision encounters God in the whole of creation. In and through the visible world in which we live, we come to know and experience the invisible God. In mediation the Catholic vision perceives God not only present in but working through persons, events, and material things. There is an intelligibility and a coherence to all reality, discoverable through spirit, mind, and imagination. God’s grace prompts human activity to assist the world in creating justice grounded in love. God’s way to us comes as communion, through the communities in which men and women live. This community includes the many theological traditions, liturgies, and spiritualities that fashion the life of the Church. The emphasis on community in Catholicism explains why Notre Dame historically has fostered familial bonds in its institutional life.

A Catholic university draws its basic inspiration from Jesus Christ as the source of wisdom and from the conviction that in him all things can be brought to their completion. As a Catholic university, Notre Dame wishes to contribute to this educational mission.

MISSION

The University of Notre Dame is a Catholic academic community of higher learning, animated from its origins by the Congregation of Holy Cross. The University is dedicated to the pursuit and sharing of truth for its own sake. As a Catholic university, one of its distinctive goals is to provide a forum where, through free inquiry and open discussion, the various lines of Catholic thought may intersect with all the forms of knowledge found in the arts, sciences, professions, and every other area of human scholarship and creativity.

The intellectual interchange essential to a university requires, and is enriched by, the presence and voices of diverse scholars and students. The Catholic identity of the University depends upon, and is nurtured by, the continuing presence of a predominant number of Catholic intellectuals. This ideal has been consistently maintained by the University leadership throughout its history. What the University asks of all its scholars and students, however, is not a particular creedal affiliation, but a respect for the objectives of Notre Dame and a willingness to enter into the conversation that gives it life and character. Therefore, the University insists upon academic freedom that makes open discussion and inquiry possible.

The University prides itself on being an environment of teaching and learning that fosters the development in its students of those disciplined habits of mind, body, and spirit that characterize educated, skilled, and free human beings. In addition, the University seeks to cultivate in its students not only an appreciation for the great achievements of human beings but also a disciplined sensibility to the poverty, injustice and oppression that burden the lives of so many. The aim is to create a sense of human solidarity and concern for the common good that will bear fruit as learning becomes service to justice.

Notre Dame also has a responsibility to advance knowledge in a search for truth through original inquiry and publication. This responsibility engages the faculty and students in all areas of the University, but particularly in graduate and professional education and research. The University is committed to constructive and critical engagement with the whole of human culture.

The University encourages a way of living consonant with a Christian community and manifest in prayer, liturgy and service. Residential life endeavors to develop that sense of community and of responsibility that prepares students for subsequent leadership in building a society that is at once more human and more divine.

Notre Dame’s character as a Catholic academic community presupposes that no genuine search for the truth in the human or the cosmic order is alien to the life of faith. The University welcomes all areas of scholarly activity as consonant with its mission, subject to appropriate critical refinement. There is, however, a special obligation and opportunity, specifically as a Catholic university, to pursue the religious dimensions of all human learning. Only thus can Catholic intellectual life in all disciplines be animated and fostered and a proper community of scholarly religious discourse be established.

In all dimensions of the University, Notre Dame pursues its objectives through the formation of an authentic human community graced by the Spirit of Christ.

History of the University

A PLACE BORN OF IMAGINATION AND WILL

The University of Notre Dame began late on the bitterly cold afternoon of November 26, 1842, when a 28-year-old French priest, Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., and seven companions, all of them members of the recently established Congregation of Holy Cross, took possession of 524 snow-covered acres that the Bishop of Vincennes had given them in the Indiana mission fields.

A man of lively imagination, Father Sorin named his fledging school in honor of Our Lady, in his native tongue, “L’Université de Notre Dame du Lac” (The University of Our Lady of the Lake). On January 15, 1844, the University was thus officially chartered by the Indiana legislature.

Father Sorin’s indomitable will was best demonstrated in 1879 when a disastrous fire destroyed the Main Building, which housed virtually the entire University. Father Sorin willed Notre Dame to rebuild and continue its growth.

“I came here as a young man and dreamed of building a great university in honor of Our Lady,” he said. “But I built it too small, and she had to burn it to the ground to make the point. So, tomorrow, as soon as the bricks cool, we will rebuild it, bigger and better than ever.”

DRIVEN BY PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE

The Congregation of Holy Cross, epitomized by Father Sorin, has been a crucial and formative influence on the University of Notre Dame’s academic enterprises. It has expanded from small bands of students in religious formation; manual labor training; and elementary, secondary, and classical collegiate schooling, through its emergence during the 35-year tenure of Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., as a national and international center of faith, community, and learning.

Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., inaugurated in 2005, now stewards Notre Dame’s future.

In his inaugural address, he stated, “With respect and gratitude for all who embraced Notre Dame’s mission in earlier times, let us rise up and embrace the mission for our time: to build a Notre Dame that is bigger and better than ever—a great Catholic university for the 21st century, one of the pre-eminent research institutions in the world, a center for learning whose intellectual and religious traditions converge to make it a healing, unifying, enlightening force for a world deeply in need. This is our goal. Let no one ever again say that we dreamed too small.”

THE EARLY DAYS

BRIEF HISTORY: A LEGENDARY PAST

In fact, the early Notre Dame was a university in name only. It encompassed religious novitiates, preparatory and grade schools and a manual labor school, but its classical collegiate curriculum never attracted more than a dozen students a year in the early decades.

Based on the ratio studiorum used by the Jesuits at St. Louis University, this curriculum included four years of humanities, poetry, rhetoric and philosophy, plus offerings in French, German, Spanish and Italian and various forms of music and drawing.

FOUNDING INFORMATION

FOUNDED IN 1842 BY REV. EDWARD SORIN, CSC

The University of Notre Dame was founded in late November 1842 by a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, Rev. Edward Sorin. His original land grant of several hundred acres was the site of an early mission to native Americans, but included only three small buildings in need of repair.

The land had been purchased by Rev. Stephen Badin, the first Catholic priest ordained in the United States, and left in trust to the Bishop of Vincennes, Indiana, for anyone who would found a school on the site. Father Sorin and his companion Brothers of St. Joseph (later the Holy Cross Brothers) called the fledgling school, in their mother tongue, L’Universite de Notre Dame du Lac. The University was officially chartered by special act of the legislature of the State of Indiana on January 15, 1844. It is worthy of ecumenical note that a Methodist state senator, John B. De Frees, was responsible for this action and for the writing of the University’s charter as a degree-granting institution.

Indicators of Excellence

SELECT RANKINGS

• Notre Dame is rated among the nation’s top 25 institutions of higher learning in surveys conducted by U.S. News & World Report, Princeton Review, Time, Kiplinger’s and Kaplan/Newsweek.
• Notre Dame ranks first among U.S. Catholic colleges and universities in the number of undergraduates who have gone on to earn a doctorate since 1920, according to independent studies conducted by Georgetown University and the Delta Epsilon Sigma scholastic honor society.
• Notre Dame is one of the few universities to rank in the top 25 in the U.S. News & World Report survey of America’s best colleges and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Directors’ Cup standings of the best overall athletic programs.
• Notre Dame ranks fourth in a listing of “dream schools” in a survey of parents by the Princeton Review. The top four are Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and Notre Dame.
• The Mendoza College of Business at Notre Dame ranks second nationally for its undergraduate program and 20th nationally for its MBA program by BusinessWeek magazine in its surveys of top business programs.
• Hispanic Magazine ranks Notre Dame 16th on its list of the top 25 colleges for Latinos

Life at Notre Dame

Welcome to the University of Notre Dame, a place whose mission encompasses intellectual inquiry and emotional maturity, physical health and spiritual transformation. Here we aim to form our students in classrooms and in residence halls, in chapels and on athletic fields. Here we welcome as family students, faculty, and staff who possess unique talents, histories, beliefs, and customs. Here we seek to build community both on campus and throughout the world. Here we challenge and question, accept and love.

Welcome to Notre Dame. Welcome to our home. You’ll find there’s no place else quite like it.

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Academics

First Year of Studies

Intent. Rather than enter a specific college at the University of Notre Dame, first year undergraduate students begin their academic coursework in the First Year of Studies. While students indicate an “Intended Major” on their application, they apply neither for that major nor to the College or School that houses it. Instead, all students enter the First Year of Studies, which provides an academic structure for the first year as well as advising and academic support.

Structure. All Notre Dame students must fulfill a variety of University requirements during their years here. Upon entering a specific College or School, they also must meet a certain number of College or School requirements. The First Year of Studies provides the structure necessary to ensure that all students are able to receive a broad liberal arts education even while studying a specific major subject.

For example, in the first year, all students are required to take two semesters of Mathematics, two semesters of Science, a First Year Composition course, a University Seminar, two semesters of Physical Education and a variety of other courses used to fulfill University and College requirements while exposing students to their intended majors. Although the requirements are specific, course selection within requirements varies by student interest and intended major. Students may also use Advanced Placement credit, International Baccalaureate credit, University placement tests, and SAT II scores to help them fulfill some First Year requirements.

A student interested in pursuing Chemical Engineering as a major would take a more science-based Calculus than a student interested in studying Accountancy. One student may take an Anthropology course to satisfy the Social Science requirement while another student may study Psychology. The First Year of Studies offers considerable flexibility to students, allowing them to explore all the opportunities available at the University.

Support. All First Year students are also connected to a First Year Advisor, a faculty member who holds at least a Master’s degree and whose primary function is to provide support to First Year students. First Year students are required to meet with their advisors as they decide upon a major, plan for studying abroad, choose career paths, and meet challenges faced in the classroom.

Not only does the First Year of Studies offer an advisory program, but it also facilitates other academic support services, including a Writing Center, a Learning Resource Center, and Study Skills and Test-Taking Workshops.

Learn More

• First Year of Studies
• First Year of Studies Advisors

After Your First Year

Choices. Following successful completion of the First Year of Studies program, students may choose to enter the College of Arts and Letters, the College of Engineering, the College of Science, the Mendoza College of Business, or the School of Architecture. 96% of Notre Dame students graduate in the time allotted for their major, which is four years for most programs and is five years for students studying Architecture or for a dual-degree. Virtually 100% of Notre Dame graduates are placed in gainful employment, graduate school, volunteer work, or military service within the six months following graduation.

Majors. Students are not required to declare a major until the end of their second year, and may choose any major in any college they wish so long as they have met the necessary prerequisite and performance requirements. Students may take more than one major and may also choose to pursue a particular concentration. With careful planning, some students have been able to carry three majors and a concentration while also managing to study abroad!

Advice. Although students leave their First Year Advisor when they complete the First Year of Studies, Colleges and departments provide students with advisory support specific to students’ major and career objectives. A student may also consult with advisors from the Career Center and the Center for Social Concerns while discerning a path following graduation.

Work. One-half of Notre Dame students choose to pursue employment following graduation. The Career Center aids all students in their pursuit of internships and employment. Resources for securing employment are also available in all the various colleges and departments.

School. Other students pursue graduate and professional school. Specific advisors are designated for students who wish to attend law school, ==medical school==, or to pursue advanced academic degrees.

Service. Many Notre Dame students desire to perform service work for a year or two following graduation. Approximately 200 members of every graduating class volunteer in the United States and around the world in programs such as the Peace Corps, Holy Cross Associates, the Alliance for Catholic Education, and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Five percent of students will enter the armed forces following their ==Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC)== experience at the University.

Forever. Notre Dame claims the largest and most active ==alumni network== of any university in the country. Alumni Clubs are located from Chicago to Paris, from Nigeria to Pago Pago. ==Alumni Clubs== perform service work, welcome fellow alumni new to the area, and support Notre Dame in its efforts around the world.

Teaching and Research

Balance
Students enjoy the benefits of a University where undergraduate education is a prime focus. Indeed Notre Dame’s Provost has indicated that one of the University’s main goals is to integrate teaching and research so as to provide a premier undergraduate education experience. Taught by top-tier faculty who are educated by some of the finest institutions in the world, students are exposed to scholars who help shape current thought. 90% of Undergraduate Notre Dame courses are taught by professors. The remaining 10% of courses are taught by teaching assistants near the end of their graduate requirements who are preparing for their careers as university faculty. For the past seven years, every First Year student has been required to participate in the ==University Seminar==, which unites a professor with 15 to 18 students in written and oral analysis of research, literature, or film.

Scholars
Notre Dame faculty continue to add to the world’s body of knowledge in all areas of study at the University. The leading recipient of research fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities over the past four years, Notre Dame ranks third among private research universities in receipt of humanities fellowships. Whether studying ethics and religious values in business, providing insight into the development of cancer cells, or celebrating Latino culture in religion and literature, faculty at Notre Dame aim to improve conditions for people throughout world.

Through programs such as ==Research Experiences for Undergraduates== (REU) and the ==Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program== (UROP), undergraduates are given grants that allow them to contribute to the academy. Mentored by professors, students participate in original and interdisciplinary research. In 2003, Andrew Sarazin was awarded the University’s 14th Rhodes Scholarship for his research on mosquito genomics. His sophomore year research project studying the transmission of mosquito malaria in Haiti inspired him to further his, and the world’s, knowledge.

Mentors
Brilliant, accessible, caring, inspiring. Words attempt to encompass the student assessment of Notre Dame faculty, but never seem to fully express it. Notre Dame requires professors to hold regular office hours and encourages them to socialize with students outside the classroom. It is common for faculty to invite students to their private residences for dinner and discussion. Although busy with instructing, research, and their own personal lives, professors continually make themselves available to students who are determining the direction of their studies, careers, and lives.

An excellent reputation in the classroom is a must for faculty at Notre Dame, and to that end, the University has established the ==Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning==. Each year, the Center names eight Fellows who have achieved excellence in classroom instruction. One of the 2004-2005 recipients, ==Professor Dennis Jacobs==, also received the 2003 United States Professor of the Year for Research and Doctoral Universities award from the Carnegie Foundation. Recently named a Vice President of the University, Professor Jacobs is famous on campus for his redesigned Introduction to Chemistry class which incorporates scientific knowledge and community awareness.

Facilities and Technology

Fast-Paced
The University of Notre Dame combines timelessly designed buildings with the best of instantly changing technology. Every residence hall room is wired to support computers for the number of students living there. Many buildings on campus support ==wireless internet access==, while our largest classroom building, DeBartolo Hall, constructed in 1992, contains computer projection systems used to aid in classroom instruction. Students also have access to eleven computer clusters, five of which are usually open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Many students choose to purchase laptop or desktop computers, which are available at discounted rates through the University’s ==Office of Information Technologies==.

Space
Students at Notre Dame attend lectures, converse in seminars, experiment in labs, and experience the arts in a variety of academic spaces, ranging from the cozy quarters of O’Shaughnessy to the expansive halls of DeBartolo. Currently the University is expanding and updating its many classroom buildings to include the $70 million ==Jordan Hall of Science==, which now houses undergraduate laboratories, lecture halls, classrooms, faculty offices, offices for preprofessional studies advising, a greenhouse, observatory, and herbarium.

Creativity
The Notre Dame family welcomes the addition of the ==Marie P. DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts==. The Center ppened in September of 2004, and houses five uniquely designed spaces for the performing arts in addition to classrooms and faculty offices. With a schedule that includes performances by the New York Philharmonic, the Chieftains, and Wynton Marsalis, the new Performing Arts Center is brings an even greater level of artistic sophistication to the campus of the University of Notre Dame.

The University also prides itself on the collections housed in the ==Snite Museum of Art==, which contains over 21,000 works, including a collection of Rembrandt etchings, a collection of Mestrovic sculpture, and a collection of Northern Native American Art.

Athletics

VARSITY

The University fields 26 teams in varsity competition: women’s basketball, cross country, fencing, golf, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, and volleyball; men’s baseball, basketball, cross country, fencing, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field.

Department of Athletics

Alumni Field (M Soccer, W Soccer)

Alumni Field

Purpose: Practice; Competition
Record: M 129-39-18 (.742), W 220-16-4 (.925)
Overall at Home: 349-55-22 (.845)
Capacity: 2,500
Year Opened: 1990
First Game: Men vs. Dayton on September 1, 1990 (5-1); Women vs. Northeast Missouri State on September 2, 1990 (5-1)
Surface Type: Natural Grass

Alumni Field has been home to the Notre Dame men’s and women’s soccer teams since 1990. In addition to featuring one of the finest grass facilities in the Midwest, Alumni Field seats 2,500 at capacity. Additions to the field were made in a new press box, which was constructed prior to the 1996 season.

Located in the southeast corner of campus, Alumni Field sits in the heart of Notre Dame’s impressive physical plant. It joins Monogram Track and Field, Eck Stadium, Ivy Field and the Courtney Eck tennis facility to give the Irish some of the finest Olympic sports venues in college athletics.

In 18 seasons at Alumni Field, the Notre Dame’s women’s soccer program has posted a 214-15-3 (.934) record and is 186-10-3 in the past 199 games at the facility – including previous home winning streaks of 28 and 29 games (two of the longest in NCAA history) and a 48-game active home win streak that ranks third in the NCAA record book (as does the active 57-game home unbeaten streak, at 56-0-1). Notre Dame has lot more than one home game in a season just three times in 18 years at Alumni Field, with eight unbeaten seasons at home in the past 15.

The Irish have played host to NCAA championship games in each of the previous 14 seasons, compiling a 35-3-0 record and 123-21 scoring edge in those 38 games. Alumni Field was the site of the 1996, 2000 and 2008 BIG EAST Conference championship, with Notre Dame defeating Villanova and Connecticut in ’96 to win its second consecutive BIG EAST title (the Irish beat Boston College and UConn in 2000 to claim the title that season). Last season, the Irish beat UConn 1-0 in overtime to claim its 10th Big East Tournament title.

Alumni Stadium (M Soccer, W Soccer)

Alumni Stadium

Purpose: Practice & Competition
Capacity: TBA
Date Construction Started: April 26, 2008
Date of Completion: September 2009
See the Construction: • March 2009 • April 2009
• July 2009
Surface Type: Natural Grass
Cost: $5.7 million
Ticket Information

A new era in Notre Dame soccer began on April 26, 2008, when groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the brand-new $5.7 million home for Fighting Irish men’s and women’s soccer, Alumni Stadium.

Actual construction work on the stadium began in the summer of 2008, with a tentative completion date of August 2009. The site for the soccer facility is east of the Joyce Center and directly south of LaBar Practice Fields, which debuted in August 2008.

Plans for the stadium include a lighted facility that will feature a natural grass field, locker rooms, restrooms and concession areas. The new Alumni Stadium will sit side-by-side Notre Dame’s new lacrosse facility, Arlotta Stadium, for which ground was broken on April 18, 2008 (the soccer facility will be situated further west, the lacrosse stadium further east).

The soccer project is part of the University’s long-term athletics facilities master plan that ultimately will add new stadiums for soccer, lacrosse, track and field, and tennis, all in the area east and southeast of the Joyce Center. Besides the LaBar Fields, the most recently completed venue is Melissa Cook Stadium, Notre Dame’s new softball facility that was dedicated earlier in April 2008. Other future elements of the athletics facilities master plan include a new rowing boathouse on the St. Joseph River, as well as the construction of Purcell Pavilion (basketball/volleyball), the cornerstone of an extensive Joyce Center renovation that began in September 2008, and the new Lefty Smith Rink, which will be constructed on the south edge of the athletics quad near Edison Road.

Among those present at the groundbreaking ceremonies for Alumni Stadium were lead benefactors and former Fighting Irish men’s soccer players Tom Crotty and Rob Snyder, along with Notre Dame deputy athletics director Missy Conboy, men’s soccer coach Bobby Clark, women’s soccer coach Randy Waldrum and players from both the Fighting Irish men’s and women’s soccer teams.

Originally from Darien, Conn., Crotty starred for the Irish from 1977-79, playing midfield and fullback in 60 games, earning three monograms and finishing with 23 career points (eight goals, seven assists). He played in Notre Dame’s first three seasons of varsity soccer (under coach Rich Hunter), serving as one of the team captains as a senior in ’79. He was voted MVP of the ’79 Notre Dame team and led the Irish to a combined 57-14-3 record in those three years.

A 1980 Notre Dame graduate with a degree in finance, Crotty is currently general partner with Battery Ventures LP in Wellesley, Mass. He and his wife Shari live in Southborough, Mass.

From Dallas, Texas, Snyder earned two monograms while playing forward, participating in 51 games in 1980-81-83 and accounting for 68 points (23 goals – and 22 assists that rank him seventh on Notre Dame’s career chart). He tied for the team lead in goals in 1981 with 12. Snyder played on Hunter-coached teams that finished a combined 54-14-3 in his three seasons (including 35-3-1 at home).

Snyder is a 1984 Notre Dame graduate with a degree in government. He is the founder and CEO of Stream Energy in Dallas.

The gifts by Crotty and Snyder are components of the $1.5 billion “Spirit of Notre Dame” capital campaign, the largest such endeavor in the history of Catholic higher education.

Charles W. “Lefty” Smith, Jr. Ice Rink (Hockey)

The hockey rink at the University of Notre Dame’s new ice arena will be named the Charles W. “Lefty” Smith, Jr. Ice Rink, in honor of the first coach in the program’s history. Tentative plans for the $30 million facility include a capacity of 4,000 seats, locker rooms, concessions and restrooms.

Naming of the rink was made possible by the generosity of the John and Mary Jo Boler family of Inverness, Ill., and Sanibel Island, Fla.; their daughter, Jill Boler McCormack `84 and her husband, Dan; and their son, Matthew Boler `88 and his wife, Christine. They were joined by the family of Frank and Mary Beth O’Brien of Albany, N.Y., who have six children who all graduated from Notre Dame, including their late son, Frankie, who played both hockey and lacrosse at Notre Dame from 1984-88.

Smith came to Notre Dame in 1968 to help start the hockey program and remained the head coach of the Irish for 19 seasons before retiring in 1987 with 307 career victories. Under his tutelage, Notre Dame produced six All-Americans — Eddie Bumbacco (1973), Bill Nyrop (1973), Jack Brownschidle (1976, `77), Brian Walsh (1977), Greg Meredith (1980) and Kirt Bjork (1983) — and finished second in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) twice (1972-73, 1976-77). He was the WCHA coach of the year following the 1972-73 season.

In 1981-82, the Irish moved to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) where Smith guided the Irish to the Great Lakes Invitational Championship and the CCHA championship that season. Among players on that team was former Irish head coach Dave Poulin.

Smith remained the head coach through the 1986-87 season and retired with a career record of 307-320-30. In his 19 seasons, all 126 players who played for him completed their collegiate eligibility and earned college degrees.

Smith served two years as president of the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) and also coached the Central team at the 1978 National Sports Festival. Eight members of that team would go on to be members of the gold-medal winning 1980 U.S. Olympic team.

After retiring from coaching, Smith became the director of the Loftus Sports Center, now part of the Guglielmino Athletics Complex, where he remains today coordinating all events and activities.

Courtney Tennis Center (M Tennis, W Tennis)

Courtney Tennis Center

Notre Dame’s Courtney Tennis Center, the home of Irish men’s tennis since its construction in 1967 and women’s tennis since the establishment of the varsity program in 1980, has played host to the nation’s top players on a number of occasions, while becoming an extremely difficult place for opposing teams to win.

Due to its exceptional facilities, Notre Dame has played host to a number of prestigious events, including serving as the national site of the NCAA Championships three times. Just four years after it was built the Courtney Tennis Center played host to the 1971 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championships, which featured what is still considered by coaches to be the finest collection of collegiate tennis talent ever assembled.

In all, the Courtney Tennis Center has been the site of NCAA action on 14 occasions, including every year from 1994-2002 for either women or men’s play. In addition, it has played host to conference championships on more than seven occasions, as well as an Intercollegiate Tennis Association Summer Circuit event for 10 straight years (1994-2003).

The home of Irish tennis for nearly 40 years, the construction of the Courtney Tennis Center was financed entirely by prominent Washington D.C., attorney Jeremiah Courtney. The numerous courts and brand-new laykold surface make it a popular spot for students and faculty, as well as the varsity tennis teams. Courtney is a 1932 graduate of Columbia University, where he captained the tennis team. His two sons attended Notre Dame and played tennis under legendary coach Tom Fallon.

The first home of the Irish tennis was the Notre Dame Fieldhouse, which played host to Irish home matches until the Courtney Center was built. The structure was razed in 1983. Indoor courts in Notre Dame’s Joyce Center also were used sporadically before the Eck Tennis Pavilion’s construction

Purpose: Practice and Competition
Record: Men 152-42 (.748); Women 272-61 (.817)
Year Opened: 1967
Surface Type: Hard Courts
Number of courts: 14
Events hosted by Courtney Tennis Center/Eck Tennis Pavilion:
NCAA Championships: (M) 1971, ’94; (W) 1998
NCAA Championships (Early Rounds): (M) 1994, ’95, ’96, ’98, 2002, ’07; (W) 1997, ’99, 2000, ’01, ’06, ’07
ITA Midwest Region Championships: (M) 1990, ’93; (W) 1998
ITA Summer Circuit Tournament: (M/W) 1994-2003
Midwestern Collegiate Conference Championship: (M) 1992, ’93, ’95;
North Star Conference Championship: (W) 1983, ’86, ’87
Tom Fallon Invitational: (M) 1987-2008
Irish Fall Invitational: (M) 1970-86; (W) 1977-87
Eck Classic: (W) 1988-2002, ’04, ’06

Eck Tennis Pavilion (M Tennis, W Tennis)

Eck Tennis Pavilion

Alternate Name: Eck Tennis Center
Purpose: Practice & Competition
Record: (M)152-42 (.748); (W) 272-61 (.817)
Sq ft: 51,760 gross sq ft / 15,132 assigned sq ft.
Date Opened: June 1987
Architect: Borger, Jones, Leedy
Surface Type: Hard Courts
Number of courts: 6
Cost: $5.7 million
Design Awards: 1988 United States Tennis Association Award for architectural design
Events hosted by Courtney Tennis Center/Eck Tennis Pavilion:
NCAA Championships: (M) 1971, ’94; (W) 1998
NCAA Championships (Early Rounds): (M) 1994, ’95, ’96, ’98, 2002, ’07; (W) 1997, ’99, 2000, ’01, ’06, ’07
ITA Midwest Region Championships: (M) 1990, ’93; (W) 1998
ITA Summer Circuit Tournament: (M/W) 1994-2003
Midwestern Collegiate Conference Championship: (M) 1992, ’93, ’95;
North Star Conference Championship: (W) 1983, ’86, ’87
Tom Fallon Invitational: (M) 1987-2008
Irish Fall Invitational: (M) 1970-86; (W) 1977-87
Eck Classic: (W) 1988-2002, ’04, ’06

Since its completion in June of 1987, Notre Dame’s Eck Tennis Pavilion has been as integral part of the success fo Irish tennis, allowing the team to practice year-round, regardless of weather conditions, and providing an alternative surface to further develop the all-around skills of Notre Dame’s players. Additionally, it has become an extremely-difficult place for opponents to be victorious and has attracted some of the top events in collegiate tennis.

“It is truly one of the great collegiate indoor tennis facilities in the country,” say Irish tennis coaches Bob Bayliss and Jay Louderback.

The combination of the Eck Tennis Pavilion and Courtney Tennis Center has allowed the University of Notre Dame to play host to a number of prestigious events, including serving as the site of the NCAA Championships in 1994 for men’s tennis and in 1998 for women’s tennis. In all, Notre Dame has been the site of NCAA action more than 13 times, including every year from 1994-2002 for either men or women’s play. The Eck Tennis Pavilion has three times welcomed Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Midwest Region Indoor Championships and six times helped play host to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Championship. The facility has provided additional courts for the men’s Tom Fallon Invitational and has been the home of the women’s Eck Classic for 18 years.

In September 1988, the Eck Pavilion received the 1988 United States Tennis Association Award for architectural design. As a result, the USTA presented the facility with a handsome wooden plaque, a large sign placed in front of the pavilion and a complimentary one-year membership in the USTA. In addition, the facility and its award are recognized in an inscription on a large mahogany board displayed in the lobby of the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow, N.Y.

The facility was underwritten by Franklin E. Eck. He is chairman and chief executive officer of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc., which produces corrugated plastic drainage pipe for agricultural and commercial purposes.

A 1944 graduate in chemical engineering at Notre Dame, Eck earned an M.B.A. from Harvard in 1949. In 1984, he endowed a collection in chemical engineering in Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Library.

The generosity of Eck also made Notre Dame’s baseball facility, Frank Eck Stadium, and the Eck Visitor’s Center possible.

Frank Eck Baseball Stadium (Baseball)

Frank Eck Baseball Stadium

Nickname: The Eck
Purpose: Practice & Competition
Record: 357-94-2 (.790)
Sq ft: 14,211
Capacity: 2,500
Attendance Record: 3,927 vs West Virginia on April 21, 2007 (17-6)
Most Attended Season: 2006 (2,514 average; 60.334 overall; season high: 3,507 vs Rutgers on April 21, 2006 [2nd highest attendance overall]) – includes 7 of top 8 attending games.
Year Opened: 1994
First Game: March 17, 1994 vs Tennessee (5-8)
No. All-Time Varsity Games: 3,600
Surface Type: Natural Grass
Cost: $5.7 million
Ticket Information
ADA Information

Notre Dame’s 16-year-old Frank Eck Stadium has taken its place alongside some of the finer baseball facilities in the nation. Upon its opening in 1994, the 2,500-seat stadium became the latest jewel among Notre Dame’s ever-expanding athletic facilities. Located on the southeast corner of campus, Eck Stadium has become a favorite with the Irish- as Notre Dame posted a 357-94-2 home mark (for an .790 winning percentage) during the 1994-2009 seasons.

The 2006 season featured a record-setting, season-long turnout at Eck Stadium- with the average of 2,514 fans per game including seven of the eight largest crowds in the stadium’s history. A sampling of the teams from the May 7, 2006, edition of Baseball America’s top-25 poll showed that Notre Dame’s record-setting home attendance average ranked 11th-highest among those elite top-25 teams.

Plans to build the stadium were announced June 7, 1991, thanks to a generous gift to the University by recently deceased alumnus Frank Eck and his company, Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc., of Columbus, Ohio. Eck was the firm’s chairman and chief executive officer. He graduated in 1944 with a degree in chemical engineering and later endowed a collection in that field at Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Library.

Eck also underwrote construction of the Eck Tennis Pavilion, an on-campus indoor tennis facility completed in 1987. His most recent campus project was the much-anticipated Eck Center, a multi-use facility that opened in 1999 and houses a greatly expanded Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore, headquarters for the Notre Dame Alumni Association and the campus visitors’ center. The Eck Center is located near the south-central edge of campus, adjacent to the Morris Inn.

Eck Stadium includes spacious home and visitor locker-room areas, meeting rooms and coaching facilities for each team. The stadium also houses a beautiful press box overlooking home plate and the 2,500-seat grandstand. The stadium is illuminated by a state-of-the-art lighting system, allowing for night play.

Eck Stadium boasts one of the finest press box facilities in the nation. Located directly behind home plate, the press box can be outfitted to comfortably seat 25staff and media members. The press box provides a panoramic view of Eck Stadium, in addition to the outlying athletics fields that feature practice sessions and games involving the Irish football, soccer and lacrosse. Other amenities within the press box include a restroom and storage area, plus a series of video monitors that provide real-time game stats and updated season stats for each player as the game progresses. One other addition beginning with the 2000 season was an enclosed, near-soundproof radio booth within the press box.

Several Stadium renovations and additions have been completed since the end of the 1999 season, with more plans in the works for coming years. Most notably, a spacious indoor pitching and batting cage facility – outfitted with clay mounds in two of the three batting tunnels – was completed prior to the 2000 season. The stadium sound system was upgraded with the latest technology while an enclosed, sound-resistant radio booth was constructed within the Eck Stadium press box and a full-functional message board was added in 2001.

At the 1995 Notre Dame alumni game, the University officially named Eck Stadium’s playing surface Jake Kline Field, in honor of the program’s winningest coach. Kline won 558 games in his 42-year career (1934-75).

A new era at Frank Eck stadium began in January of 2000, as a 9,000-square foot indoor hitting and pitching facility was completed in time from preseason workouts. The facility- located adjacent to the leftfield line- includes: wall-to-wall artificial turf floor; three full-length batting tunnels; two regulation clay pitching mounds within the tunnels; a one half-cage with clay home plate area for the catchers drills; and an “Iron Mike” pitching machine, with automatic ball feeder and remote control. The 120 x 80 facility includes men and women’s restrooms and a classroom for video analysis. The building is outfitted with complete central air conditioning and heating, plus lighting setup that matches Major League standards. A final addition is six cardiovascular exercise machines-including two stair masters, three stationary bicycles and a treadmill-which allow maximum conditioning opportunities. The Irish combine use of the new indoor facility (for pitching, hitting and catching) with the existing Loftus Center (used primarily for defensive fundamentals and baserunning).

Guglielmino Athletics Stadium (Football)

Guglielmino Athletics Stadium

Nickname: The Gug (“Goog”)
Purpose: Recruitment, Fitness, Training
Architect: McShane Construction
Sq ft: 96,049 Gross, 28,814 Assigned
Year opened: 2005

The University of Notre Dame is enjoying its fourth full season with access to the sparkling Guglielmino Athletics Complex, adjacent to the Loftus Sports Center on the east side of campus. Affectionately referred to as “The Gug” (pronounced Goog), the new building houses the football practice-week locker rooms, coaches’ offices and meeting rooms in addition to enhanced sports medicine, strength and conditioning and weight room equipment areas for all 800 Notre Dame student-athletes.

The Gug, underwritten with a gift from the late Don F. Guglielmino and his wife Flora, provides the Notre Dame football team with one of the top facilities in the nation. The building gives the Irish football team a central location for post-practice and pre-practice routines as well as daily positional meetings. Before The Gug opened, the Irish football facilities were spread between Notre Dame Stadium, the Joyce Center and the Loftus Sports Center.

The 96,000-square-foot complex was designed and built by McShane Construction of Chicago. Interior design and banners were produced and ZeDesign of Dayton, Ohio. Groundbreaking took place on May 5, 2004.

The first floor of the Guglielmino Complex features the 25,000-square foot Haggar Fitness Center (gift of Ed and Patty Haggar, Joe and Isabell Haggar) with the latest state-of-the-art equipment that all student-athletes can use on a daily basis. The 8,300-square foot Loftus Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center (a gift of John and Julie Loftus) services all of Notre Dame’s student-athletes. The athletic training facility is a state-of-the-art area with two new swim exercise pools – one of which includes a treadmill at the bottom. The facility also houses the athletic training staff and gives that department significant office space, in addition to increased area for rehabilitation.

Also located on the first floor is the Allen Equipment Room (a gift of Marty and Sue Allen) which houses the football equipment staff and storage facility used for both practices and competition.

The Haggar Fitness Center is perhaps the most eye-catching feature of The Gug, as the previous fitness center has been expanded to twice its size. The Haggar Fitness Center is shared by both the Guglielmino Complex and the Loftus Center and services all of Notre Dame’s 2 varsity athletic sports.

The fitness complex features more than 250 pieces of weight training equipment, six plasma television screens, a state-of-the-art sound system, a 50-yard track for speed workouts and a 45×18-yard Prestige Turf field for team stretching exercises and workouts.

Locker room for both the football student-athletes and coaches also are contained on the first floor, as well as a player’s lounge and nine team position group meeting rooms.

The Romano Family Locker Room (a gift of D.J. “Buddy” and Florence Romano) provides the players instant access to the practice fields, fitness center and Loftus. The locker room houses 125 spacious lockers and six private showers.

The Isban Auditorium (a gift of Leonard and JoAnn Isban) measures 3,800 square feet with 150 theatre-style, football-player-sized seats and theater-quality audio-visual equipment, including a 30-foot screen.

The second floor houses the Smith Family Office Suites (gift of the Smith family in honor of Francis W. and Rita C. Smith) in a 7,800-square foot area, with head coach Brian Kelly’s area overlooking the Cartier Field practice complex. The assistant coaches are arranged along offensive and defensive hallways, while the video coordinator’s compound sits in the center of the coaches’ offices and is linked into every room in the building. There also is a recruiting lounge on the second floor, which features a balcony overlooking the strength and conditioning complex and a panoramic window with a view of Notre Dame’s central campus.

The head coach’s suite is located at the far southern tip on the second floor of the Guglielmino Athletics Complex. Kelly has a large reception area, a private bathroom, shower facility and two offices – one for official meetings, another private area for film work.

The Morse Recruiting Lounge (a gift of Jim and Leah Morse) is one of the signature features of The Gug. Located on the second floor above the main entrance, the recruiting lounge offers a beautiful view of campus and a glimpse of Notre Dame’s football excellence – there are 11 national championship banners hanging in the room to commemorate Notre Dame’s 11 consensus national titles. The recruiting lounge offers a balcony glimpse of a signature two-story mural near the main entrance of the Guglielmino Athletics Complex.

The aforementioned mural is just one of several graphic presentations in The Gug. Along with the stunning two-story mural, there are trophy cases honoring Notre Dame’s national championships, Heisman Trophy winners, All-Americans, walk-ons and all-pros in the NFL.

“Though Don spent just a year at Notre Dame as a student, he had a great love for our University,” Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s former president, said. “This exceptional gift forever will be a testimony to Don’s whole-hearted embrace of the Notre Dame spirit.”

After the death of his father, Guglielmino transferred to Stanford University in 1940 due to pressing family needs. He then left school to enlist in the Army Air Corps and serve in the Pacific theatre during World War II. After the war, the Guglielminos returned to his hometown of Glendale, Calif., where he became a successful businessman. He founded Newhall Hardware Company in 1947 and helped found the Santa Clarita National Bank in the mid-1960s. He served as the bank’s chairman of the board until it was sold, first to Security Pacific National Bank in 1990 and later acquired by Bank of America.

The Guglielmino Complex serves an important role in the development of all 26 Notre Dame varsity sports, in addition to providing the football team with one of the most remarkable facilities in the nation.

Haggar Fitness Center

Haggar Fitness Center

The Haggar Fitness Center is perhaps the most eye-catching feature of The Gug, as the previous fitness center has been expanded to twice its size. The Haggar Fitness Center is shared by both the Guglielmino Complex and the Loftus Center and services all of Notre Dame’s 26 varsity athletic sports.

The fitness complex features more than 250 pieces of weight training equipment, six plasma television screens, a state-of-the-art sound system, a 50-yard track for speed workouts and a 45×18-yard Prestige Turf field for team stretching exercises and workouts.

The Haggar Fitness Center serves an important role in the development of all 26 Notre Dame varsity sports, in addition to providing the football team with one of the most remarkable facilities in the nation.

Joyce Center (M Basketball, W Basketball, Concerts, Football Pep Rallies, Volleyball)

Purcell Pavilion

Purpose: Practice, Competition, Pep Rallies, Concerts
Record: Men’s Basketball 509-144 (.779) ; Women’s Basketball 324-85 (.792) ;Volleyball 270-82 (.767)
Capacity : 11,418
Sq ft: 523,683 Gross 320,009 Assigned
Architect: Ellerbe Architects of St. Paul, Minn.
Year Opened: 1968 Athletic and Convocation Center
Rededication: 1987 Rev. Edmund P. Joyce
Year Added: 2009 Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center
Cost: $8.6 million
Ticket Information
ADA Information

Purcell Pavilion

Notre Dame’s Joyce Center, in its 42nd year of service to the University, serves as a multipurpose sports complex, a theatre and concert hall, a convention center and an office building. Beneath one of the $8.6-million structure’s two white domes is the south arena, home to the men’s and women’s basketball teams and the Irish volleyball team.

The building was renamed in 1987 to honor Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s executive vice president from 1952 until his retirement in 1987. Formerly known as the ACC, the structure is now referred to as the Joyce Center

Designed by Ellerbe Architects of St. Paul, Minn., the Joyce Center was conceived at the outset as a combination athletic-civic center, and $1.8 million alone was contributed by persons in the Michiana area. The Center’s distinctive domes, covered with a white vinyl roofing material stretched over steel ribbing, rise just east of Notre Dame’s football stadium. The building is both wider and longer than the famous stadium and wider and longer than the famous stadium and encloses more area than Houston’s Astrodome. In all, the structure covers 10 acres of ground. The south arena’s design makes it capable of doubling as a basketball court and an 11,000-seat auditorium. Including bleacher seats, the arena holds 11,418 for basketball games.

The north arena is the home of Irish ice hockey and is also a multipurpose sports center. Virtually every sport at Notre Dame – varsity, club or intramural – can play or practice in either the fieldhouse, the arena, the five auxiliary gymnasiums or the several work areas provided throughout the spacious building.

In 1985, the Rolfs Aquatic Center opened on the east side of the Joyce Center. The 4.5-million dollar facility houses a 50-meter Olympic-size pool (25 yards in width) and spectator seating for 400.

In addition to these areas, the Joyce Center also contains the administrative and business side of the increasingly complex collegiate sports operation. The Ticket offices are lodged inside, along with offices for coaches and athletic administrators as well as sports information and media facilities.

These offices and facilities are located in a central complex that joins the two arenas and in general houses the people and machinery common to both. A spacious concourse also is contained in this core area, as is a recently renovated and revamped Monogram Room, surrounded by small meting rooms. On the lower level of the concourse there are several thousand lockers, a faculty exercise room, a golf driving range, squash and handball courts and a central kitchen for catering and concessions.

The Joyce Center has undergone a number of recent renovations beginning in 1994, including repainting and addition of new lighting and sound systems – including theatrical, event and house lighting and audio components 0 a new artificial floor and ne bleachers 0 all for the fieldhouse in the north dome. In addition, all concessions stands in the entire building have been reconfigured.

In 2005, both the men’s and women’s basketball programs moved into newly-constructed offices located adjacent to Gates 1-2. The women’s basketball office holds special significance, as part of the floor in its main reception area consists of the exact same court upon which Notre Dame won the 2001 NCAA championship at the Savvis Center in St. Louis.

The 2008-09 home season will mark the final one for the Irish in the Joyce Center’s current configuration. The arena will undergo an extensive renovation during the summer of 2009, including the installation/replacement of all chairback seats, and the addition of suites and high-definition video screens. The upgrades are expected to be completed in time for the 2009-10 athletic seasons.

Joyce Center Fieldhouse

Joyce Center Fieldhouse

Year Built: 1968
Architect: Ellerbe Architects of St. Paul, Minn.
ADA Information: http://www.und.com/tickets/ada-accessibility.html
Free Admission

Notre Dame plays host to its home fencing meets in the Joyce Center Fieldhouse. Bleachers and strips are laid down to create an intimate atmosphere for events such as the Midwest Fencing Conference Champions.

The Joyce Center Fieldhouse is also home to the Fighting Irish hockey team. Located in the north dome of the Joyce Center, the Fieldhouse is also used for career fairs, activity nights, graduation dinners, and Notre Dame’s annual Junior Parents Weekend celebration.

Joyce Center Rink

Joyce Center Fieldhouse Ice Rink

Purpose: Practice & Competition
Record: 352-278-54 (.554)
Ice Surface: 200 ft x 85 ft
Architect: Ellerbe Architects of St. Paul, Minn.
Capacity: 2,713 normal seating, | 2,763 standing room
Attendance Record: Current configuration: 3,007 vs. Michigan (January 30, 2009)
Year Opened: 1968
Years in Facilitiy: 43
Rink reconfiguration: 1995
First Game: 8-5 vs Ohio (January 9, 1969)
Surface Type: Natural Grass
Other: 350th all time win at the Joyce Center, Feb 27, 2009.
Cost: $5.7 million
Ticket Information
ADA Information

Notre Dame’s Joyce Center, which celebrates its 43rd year of service to the University in 2009-2010, serves as a multi-purpose sports complex a theatre and concert hall, a convention center and an office building- and as the home of the defending CCHA regular-season and tournament champions- the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Hockey team.

The building was renamed in 1987 to honor the Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C, Notre Dame’s executive vice president from 1952 until his retirement in 1987. Formerly known as the Athletic and Convocation Center (ACC), the structure is now referred to as the Joyce Center.

Designed by Ellerbe Architects of St. Paul, Minn., the Joyce Center was conceived by persons in the Michiana area. The Center’s distinctive domes, covered with a white vinyl roofing material stretched over steel ribbing, rise just east of Notre Dame’s football stadium. The building is both wider and longer than the famous stadium and encloses more area than Houston’s Astrodome. In all, the $8.6-million structure covers 10 acres of ground.

Campus officials draw the comparison with Stepan Center, a student activities building which once held the campus seating record of 3,800, by pointing out that Stepan can be placed within the circumference of the north dome’s field house running track without touching the adjacent ice rink.

The field house, and in particular the hockey facility, has undergone a series of improvements that make the Joyce Center one of the finest facilities in college hockey. Renovations to coach’s offices and the locker rooms along with the addition of a dividing curtain have given the hockey rink and the Irish more of a “home-ice advantage.” Fans also have benefited from Notre Dame’s commitment to hockey, with theatre-style seating that replaced metal bleachers on the north side of the arena.

City officials are equally fond of the figure of 464,800 square feet of usable floor area, a statistic which makes the Joyce Center the largest exhibition hall between Detroit and Chicago. The south arena’s design makes it capable of doubling as a basketball court and an 11,000-seat auditorium into a more intimate setting, suitable for lectures, plays or musicals.

The north arena is the home of Irish hockey and can be set up to hold 2,713 fans at normal seating and 2,763 with standing room. Virtually every sport at Notre Dame-varsity, club or intramural- can play or practice in either the field house, the arena, the five auxiliary gymnasiums or the several work areas provided throughout the spacious building.

In 1985, the Rolfs Aquatic Center opened on the eastside of the Joyce Center. The 4.5-million-dollar facility houses a 50-meter Olympic-size pool (25 yards in width) and spectator seating for 400.

In addition to these areas, the Joyce Center also contains the administrative and business side of the increasingly complex collegiate sports operation. Ticket offices, with mobile booths that can be wheeled to locations, are lodged inside, along with offices for coaches, athletic administrators, and sports information press facilities.

These offices and facilities are located in a central complex that joins the two arenas and, in general, houses the people and machinery common to both. A spacious concourse also is contained in this core area, as is a tastefully appointed Monogram Room and the Sports Heritage Hall, surrounded by small meeting rooms. On the lower level of the concourse, there are several thousand lockers, a faculty exercise room, a golf driving range, squash, racquetball and handball courts and a central kitchen for catering.

The Joyce Center played host to its 300th all-time win at the Joyce Center no Feb. 13, 2004 when the Irish defeated Ferris State, 4-2. The hockey team’s all-time home record now stands at 328-271-49 (.544) in 39 seasons on the Joyce Center ice.

During the 2006-07 season, Notre Dame was 13-2-2 at the Joyce Center for a .824 winning percentage, the fourth-best percentage in the building’s history. The Irish equaled a school record in 2003-04 when they went 15 games (13-0-2) without a loss at home on the way to a 14-2-2 mark. The 14 wins were the second-best win total (surpassed only by the 18 wins the 1987-88 team recorded) in the program’s history.

Over the past nine campaigns, the Joyce Center has been home to several huge wins for the Irish hockey program. Last season, the Irish were 5-0-1 versus ranked teams at home, taking two wins from 14th-ranked Alaska and one each from fourth-ranked Michigan State, seventh ranked Michigan and ninth-ranked Miami (the Irish also gained a tie versus the Redhawks). Notre Dame also swept a second-round CCHA playoff series from Alaska on the way to the CCHA championship.

During 2006-07, the Irish played in front of 11 sellout crowds (2,763), including the last eight and 10 of the final 11 home games of the year.

On Oct. 22, 2004, the Irish stunned No. 1 ranked Boston College, 3-2, in front of a standing room only crown of 2,763. The win marked the first Notre Dame win over a top-ranked team since Jan. 13, 1978 when the Irish defeated then No. 1 Denver, 5-3, at the Joyce Center.

During the 2003-04 season, Notre Dame hosted their first home playoff series since 1999-2000, defeating Western Michigan, two games to one. The Irish also swept fourth-ranked Michigan in a home series for the first time since the 1981-82 campaign. Both games were played in front of sellout crowds of 2,763.

The 2002-03 season saw the Irish win seven games at home with six played in front of sellout crowds. Four of those sellouts were standing room-only crowds of 2,763 the largest crowds to see Notre Dame hockey since March 3, 1995, when 3,310 saw Notre Dame defeat Illinois-Chicago, 5-2, before new seating was installed following that season.

Since the new seating configuration for the 1995-96 season, the Irish have hosted 103 sellout crowds for hockey at the Joyce Center.

LaBar Football Practice Fields (Football)

LaBar Football Practice Fields

Purpose: Practice
Dedication Date: September 6, 2008
First Practice: August 8, 2008
Number of fields: 3 (2 artificial turf, 1 natural grass)
Cost: $2.5 million

The LaBar Practice Complex, the University of Notre Dame’s three-field football practice facility was dedicated on September 6, 2008. The three fields, two of them artificial turf and the other natural grass, are adjacent to the Guglielmino Athletics Complex and comprise a $2.5 million project that is based on the benefaction of John R. “Rees”

LaBar, a 1953 Notre Dame graduate, and his wife, Carol, who reside in Cincinnati, Ohio, and in Long Boat Key, Fla. The LaBars have a grandson David who was a 2008 Notre Dame graduate, and a granddaughter Lindsay who is a current junior at Notre Dame.

Rees and Carol LaBar together are two of the largest contributors in Notre Dame history to undergraduate scholarships for deserving students. More than 100 students from the Cincinnati area have attended Notre Dame as a result of their long-time financial support.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Oct. 20, 2007, the morning of the Notre Dame-USC football game, to signify the start of the project. The project was completed in time for the Aug. 8 start of Notre Dame’s 2008 fall football camp.

The FieldTurf practice fields are available for use primarily by the football squad, but also for lacrosse, soccer and RecSports use. The fields are located side by side at the far north end of the former Cartier Field configuration. They will help meet the year-round demand for high-quality practice fields and also reduce demand for the Loftus Center indoor field. Each field is lighted and secured by an eight-foot fence, with an adjacent maintenance building to provide storage.

The former track, grass field and bleachers within Moose Krause Stadium were removed beginning April 1, 2008, making room for the three new fields. A new track is being constructed just north of Edison Road, adjacent to (and east of) Leahy Drive, and southwest of Eck Baseball Stadium.

The construction of the new football fields is one of the latest dominos in the series of facility additions and changes that also will include construction of new stadia for lacrosse, soccer, track and field, and tennis, all within the large area east of the Joyce Center. All these projects are part of the University’s “Spirit of Notre Dame” campaign.

Loftus Sports Center (M Lacrosse, W Lacrosse, M Soccer, W Soccer, M Track & Field, W Track & Field)

Loftus Sports Center

Purpose: Practice & Competition
Sq. Ft.: 141, 932 gross, 122,236 assigned
Architect: Ellerbe Becket Architects of Minneapolis
General Contractor: Casteel Construction of South Bend
Maximum Height Above Field: 54 feet
Capacity: 300
Year Opened: 1988
First Game: April 27, 1988 – M Lax vs. Michigan State (10-7)
First Football Practice: September 30, 1988
Surface Type: Track – Mondo, Field – Prestige Turf
Cost: $5.7 million
• Free Admission
• 1 of 6 indoor facilities in the country that plays host to Division I M & W lacrosse games

The Loftus Sports Center is entering its 23rd full year of service for the University of Notre Dame athletic program in 2009-2010. One of the most integral athletic buildings on campus, the Loftus Center serves as an indoor practice facility for several Irish varsity sports (football, track and field, rowing, women’s soccer, men’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, men’s lacrosse, baseball and softball) and hosts competition for the track and field teams and lacrosse teams.

Dedicated on April 23, 1988, the Loftus Center saw its first football team practice on September 30th of that season. Designed for use by all Notre Dame athletic teams as well as students, faculty and staff, the $6.3 million center measures 614 feet by 210 feet and stands tucked in a forested area of campus just north of Cartier Field and Moose Krause Stadium.

The Loftus Center also shares the newly revamped and expanded Haggar Fitness Center with the Guglielmino Athletics Complex, recently completed in the summer of 2005. The Haggar Fitness Center ranks as one of the most comprehensive free-weight and exercise machine facilities in the nation. It features a three-lane track for speed workouts, a 40-yard Prestige Turf field for team workouts and over 30 free weight areas and 40 exercise machines.

The Loftus Center also features Meyo Field, a 100-yard Prestige Turf field with endzones, surrounded by a six-lane track one fifth of a mile long – making it as large as any indoor track in the nation.

Meyo field sees extensive use by most of Notre Dame’s 26 varsity sports throughout the year. Early spring home lacrosse games are held in the Loftus Center along with several top indoor track meets each winter.

The lengthy straightaway and wide turns of the Meyo Track provides runners with optimum conditions for competition at NCAA record pace. The facility’s Mondo track surface is respected as the best track surface in the world and was recently resurfaced in 2004. Irish track and field head coach Joe Piane has wasted little time in making use of the outstanding track, scheduling two top-rated invitational meets during the indoor season. Both the Meyo Invitational and Alex Wilson Invitational attract outstanding fields each season.

Ellerbe Becket Architects of Minneapolis designed the building and Casteel Construction of South Bend as the general contractor. The maximum height over Meyo Field in the Loftus Sports Center is 54 feet and temperature and humidity are kept at 60. A mezzanine seating area accommodates 300 people and also serves as a dry land training era for the Notre Dame’s women’s rowing team. The Loftus Center is a gift of John R. Loftus of St. Charles, Ill., a member of Notre Dame’s basketball team in 1944, 1948 and 1949.

Loftus is chief executive officer of JRL Investments, a real estate investment and construction firm and a member of the Mendoza College of Business Administration advisory council. The Dixon, Ill., native and has wife, Julie, are parents of six children, including William and James – both Notre Dame graduates.

The Haggar Fitness Center is a gift of the Haggar family, including Edmond R. Haggar, a 1938 Notre Dame graduate who is retired as chairman of the board of the Haggar Apparel Company in Dallas, Texas, and is a life trustee of the University. Also part of the gift was Joseph M. Haggar, Jr., a 1968 Notre Dame graduate and retired president of Haggar Apparel Company. Also part of the Haggar family, Mrs. Rosemary Haggar Vaughn, a daughter of the late J. M. Haggar, Sr., is a former executive director of the Haggar Foundation.

Meyo Field is a gift of Raymond D. Meyo, a 1964 graduate who is president and chief operating officer of Meyo Worldwide Inc. Meyo is a member of the College of Engineering advisory council, and was joined in the benefaction by his wife, Marie.

Notre Dame Boathouse (Rowing)

Notre Dame Boathouse

The Notre Dame rowing team, which is the newest varsity program on campus, features several facilities to help Fighting Irish head coach Martin Stone build the team into a contender on the national scene. The boathouse, located on the scenic St. Joseph River in downtown South Bend and just one and one-half miles from Notre Dame’s campus, has been the home of Fighting Irish rowing since 1984. The boathouse provides storage for the team’s shells and equipment, including six eight person boats (two Vespolis), four four-person boats and eight pair/doubles boats. The Fighting Irish have extensive use during the winter months of the on-campus Loftus Center, which features 55 ergometers and a new, state-of-the-art locker room.

Notre Dame Stadium

Notre Dame Stadium

Purpose: Competition
Capacity: 80,795
Attendance Record: Sold out for 206 consecutive games
Sq. Ft. : 370, 371 gross
Year Opened: 1930
Architect: Osborn engineering company
Year Added: 1997
Architect: Ellerbe Becket, Inc., of Kansas City, Mo.
Surface Type: Natural Grass
Stadium History
Stadium Seating Chart
Ticket Information
ADA Information

At every Notre Dame home game, 80,795 screaming fans await the entrance of the Notre Dame football team while chanting, “Here come the Irish!” The current football players run through the same tunnel that Notre Dame legends Joe Montana, Jerome Bettis and Tim Brown all ran through – and onto the field once patrolled by Knute Rockne, Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz.

Notre Dame Stadium was built in 1930 during the Knute Rockne era. It was the success of Knute’s football teams that built the foundation and the lore of the stadium. The spirit that was imbued by the Rockne era – and has been sustained by seven Heisman trophy winners and dozens more All-Americans who have competed on that turf – has changed little in eight decades of football at Notre Dame Stadium.

The Osborn Engineering Company, which had designed more than 50 stadiums in the country-including Comiskey Park in Chicago, Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds in New York City, and facilities at Michigan, Indiana, Purdue and Minnesota-was awarded the contract and excavation, began that summer.

The Stadium measures a half-mile in circumference, stands 45 feet high and features a glass-enclosed press box rising 60 feet above ground level and originally accommodating 264 writers plus facilities for photographers and radio and television broadcasters. There are more than 2,000,000 bricks in the edifice, 400 tons of steel and 15,000 cubic yards of concrete. The total cost of construction exceeded $750,000, and architecturally the Notre Dame Stadium was patterned, on a smaller scale, after the University of Michigan’s mammoth stadium.

Though Rockne had a chance to coach in the new facility only in its initial season of use, he took a personal hand in its design. The sod from Cartier Field was transplanted into the new Stadium, but Rockne insisted on its use for football only. He kept the area between the field and the stands small to keep sideline guests, as he called them, to a minimum – and he personally supervised the parking and traffic system that basically is the same one in use today.

Notre Dame Stadium, may be the most renowned college football facility in the nation, now qualifies as one of the most up to date as well, thanks to a major addition and renovations that boosted its capacity to more than 80,000 beginning with the 1997 campaign.

The 1996 season was the final one played with the customary 59,075 fans at Notre Dame Stadium. A $50-million expansion adding over 21,000 seats was completed before the 1997 season kickoff. To upgrade on the 1997 renovation, two new scoreboards were installed in both end zones before the 2009 season that utilize the latest in LED-screen technologies.

Elements of the construction included:
-All field seating and the first three rows in the permanent stands were eliminated to improve sight lines.
-A new natural-grass field and a new drainage system were put in place.
-Two new scoreboards were erected on the north and south ends of the Stadium.
-A Jim and Marilyn Fitzgerald Family Sports and Communications Center, a new three-tier press box with views of both the field and the campus, was constructed on the west side – with seating for 330 media in the main portion of the press box, three television broadcast booths, five radio broadcast booths and an overall increase in square footage almost four times the original space.
-New landscaping created a park-like setting on the periphery of the Stadium.
-The lockerrooms for both Notre Dame and the visiting team more than doubled in size – with the Irish locker area also serving as a permanent area used by Irish players all year long for both games and practices. In addition, a new, expanded training room was constructed adjacent to the lockerroom.
-Lights were installed in each corner of the Stadium bowl and on top of the press box in time for use in the final month of the ’96 season.
-Material for the project included 240,000 concrete blocks, 700,000 new bricks, 500 cubic yards of mortar, 25,000 cubic yards of cast-in-place concrete, five miles of new handrails and guardrails – and eight and a half miles of redwood seating.
-More than 3,500 sheets of drawings were used to build the project.
-Eleven new openings, for a total of 31, were cut into the old Stadium brick exterior to allow fans to connect the old and new lower concourse areas.
-The lettering at the north and south canopy as well as the interlocking ND logo at the top of the press box west face are gold laminate.
-Within the design of the entry gates, fans may notice the diagonal stripes of the end zone, hash marks and a football.
-All existing urinals were refinished as part of the renovation, and there are approximately two-and-a-half times more new women’s toilets.
-Each of the approximately 44,000 old seating brackets was sandblasted and recoated with an epoxy primer.
-Glazed brick was salvaged and reused in the expanded varsity locker area.
-Notre Dame players continue to enter the field down a set of stairs past the “Play Like A Champion” sign, but stairs to the visiting locker room have been eliminated, with the top of the processional tunnel ramp now serving as the visiting team entrance.

Casteel Construction Corp. of South Bend was the general contractor for the project. Ellerbe Becket, Inc., of Kansas City, Mo., was the architect.

The project was financed primarily by the November 1994 issuance of $53 million in tax-exempt, fixed-rate bonds. The bonds were sold in 26 states and the District of Columbia, with more than 20 percent sold to retail buyers and almost 80 percent to institutional buyers.

The incremental revenues from the expansion will exceed the debt service on the bonds by $47 million over the next 30 years, allowing the project not only to pay for itself, but also to generate $47 million for academic and student life needs.

Entering 2009, the Irish have played 405 games inside Notre Dame Stadium and compiled a 302-98-5 (.752) record. Notre Dame has also played before a sellout crowd at Notre Dame Stadium in 205 consecutive games, entering the 2009 season. Since 1966, every Notre Dame home game has been a sellout except one – a Thanksgiving Day game vs. Air Force.

The Irish have played host to 62 different opponents in games at Notre Dame Stadium and no school that has made at least four trips to South Bend owns a winning record against the Irish at Notre Dame Stadium.

Notre Dame Outdoor Track (M Track & Field, W Track & Field)

Purpose: Practice & Competition
Capacity: TBA
Date Construction Started: June 2008
Est. Date of Completion: Fall 2009
Number of Lanes: 9
Cost: Track – $3 million. Stadium – $5 million.
Free Admission

In June 2008, ground was broken for the construction of a new $3 million nine-lane outdoor track facility. The new track, located southeast of the Joyce Center, will be the competition and practice site for the Notre Dame men’s and women’s track & field teams. The track will meet IAAF guidelines with the widest possible turns. One synthetic “D” zone will be provided at the south end of the track. Throwing and jumping events will be provided in two directions, and a warm-up area will be located at one end of the track. Fundraising efforts continue on the remaining $5 million stadium portion of the new track facility.

Lead gifts for the project have come from an anonymous benefactor, as well as six named Notre Dame supporters: John Hatherly ’82, who ran track for the Irish as a miler; Dr. Bob Harris ’69, a chemistry major who played intramural football and has participated in Notre Dame’s Football Fantasy Camp; Dr. Jim Kerrigan ’79, a monogram winner for the Notre Dame track team; John Leahy ’84, who continues the Leahy athletic legacy at Notre Dame; Mike Lukas ’79 MA, whose daughter, Katherine, is part of Notre Dame’s Class of 2012; and Rick Peltz, a South Bend/Indianapolis business man. Projected completion is now Fall 2009.

Rolfs Aquatic Center (M Swimming & Diving, W Swimming & Diving)

Rolfs Aquatic Center

Purpose: Practice & Competition
Record: M 107-43 (.737), W 103-29 (.784)
Sq ft: 45,000
Pool Size: 50-meter Olympic Pool
Capacity: 400
Year Opened: 1985
First Meet: December 6, 1985 M and W Notre Dame Relays
Cost: $4.5 million
ADA Information
Free Admission

After 27 years for the men’s swimming team and four years of varsity intercollegiate swimming competition for the women’s team in the Rockne Memorial Pool, the Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs entered a new era in 1985, as they moved to the $4.5-million natatorium located in the Joyce Center.

Donated by brothers Thomas and Robert Rolfs of West Bend, Wis., the Rolfs Aquatic Center provides Notre Dame with a modern, innovative facility on par with any other in the country. Ellerbe Architects and Engineers of Bloomington, Minn., the architects used in the planning of the Joyce Center, also were commissioned to design the 45,000-square-foot facility which houses a 50-meter Olympic pool (25 yards in width), spectator seating for 400 and support facilities.

The facility features a cutting edge video and replay board and two movable bulkheads to allow sections of the pool to be blocked off, allowing swimming competition and warm-up swimming to occur simultaneously. The design also allows recreational swimming, water polo, instructional swimming and other aquatic activities. Diving is accommodated with two 1-meter boards and two 3-meter boards.

Support functions housed in the center of the facility just below the spectator seating include men’s and women’s locker rooms, men’s and women’s varsity locker rooms and men’s and women’s staff locker rooms. Offices for the Notre Dame swimming staff, aquatics directors and lifeguards are deckside and glass-fronted with a view of the pool.

Several deckside instructional areas are located around the pool and feature infrared heat lamps, designed to keep wet swimmers warm between events. The pool features a stainless steel racing gutter that is designed to absorb the bow waves of a swimmer, allowing faster swimming times.

Another instructional feature is the presence of two underwater windows, which allow critiquing of a diver’s or swimmer’s technique. The unique structural system consists of three trusses, which span 120 feet with the roof suspended below the trusses. In addition, the white exterior trusses provide an interesting and athletic character to the building. The lighting system can be adjusted from maximum brightness for television to nearly dark for dramatic synchronized swimming presentations. The center was officially dedicated on November 13, 1985.

Rolfs Family All Season Varsity Golf Facility

Rolfs Family All Season Varsity Golf Facility

Full name: The Robert and Marilyn Rolfs Family All-Season Varsity Golf Facility
Purpose: Practice
Sq ft: 10,333
Architect: Doug Marsh
Date Opened: September 30, 2006
Cost: $2.1 million

The Robert and Marilyn Rolfs Family All-Season Varsity Golf Facility, which is located at the Warren Golf Course on the northeast corner of the University of Notre Dame campus, opened on Sept. 30, 2006 with a private dedication ceremony. The $2.1 million, 10,333-square foot facility is used by both the Irish men’s and women’s golf programs.

The 5,000-square foot indoor short game area includes a putting green, chip and pitch area, and a practice bunker that allows the student athletes to practice their short game year-round on campus.

One of the nicest features of the facility are the six hitting stations that are located within the building that lead out to the Warren Golf Course driving range, allowing players to work on their swings in all weather conditions. Incorporated within the stations is state-of-the-art video equipment to give players and coaches instant feedback on players’ swing techniques. Each student athlete has his own custom made wood locker (with personalized nameplate and ample storage space) located inside the Fighting Irish locker rooms.

Four offices are located on the east end of the building to accommodate the coaching staffs. A fully furnished lounge is available to members of both teams for studying or relaxing. Another asset for the teams is a full-service club repair room, which is located in the southern wing of the facility.

“The Rolfs Varsity Golf Building is the very best college golf facility in the country. I always smile when I hear visitors tell me that they assumed it would be good, but that they never imagined it to be THAT good. Our indoor facility, with its unique full-sized green and sand trap, offers so many great short game shots, from putting to pitching to bunker shots. Yet, only a few steps away, we can tee it up from a sheltered area and hit right on to our outdoor driving range. We’re fortunate to call this amazing facility the home of Fighting Irish golf!” – Notre Dame Men’s Golf head coach Jim Kubinski

“We are seeing an immediate impact with recruiting and that will only make our program stronger by bringing in top-level talent. The facility will also allow us to get quality practice time all year round. The putting and chipping areas are extremely nice and very authentic.” – Notre Dame head coach Susan Holt.

Source: Notre Dame