College athletes at Chaminade University of Honolulu got more support from their university when Chaminade held a ground-breaking ceremony in April that represented the beginning of the new Silversword Athletic Training Center and Locker Rooms. Student-athletes work hard at keeping up on their studies, fitness levels and finding a balance. Athletes say a locker room and training center was what they were looking for.

“I’m super excited actually,” said Emma Tecklenburg, an outside hitter for the women’s volleyball team. “I think it will be a great new home for our athletes.”

Emma is a junior and is majoring in criminal justice; she tells how the volleyball team is always struggling to find a place to be able to do their scouting reports and to get hyped before games. For her past three seasons, the team has met up in random Henry Hall classrooms to study scouting reports and for pregame rituals.

This new addition which will be located in front of the Mauka of McCabe Gym will also give students a place to keep their things. Which Jaycie Dennison, a senior in cross-country, claimed to be the biggest problem and hurdle to overcome in the morning. With the cross-country team meeting up in the morning for practice and ending around 8 a.m., Dennison who is majoring in psychology was forced to make multiple trips to campus. Her main reason was there was nowhere to keep their things besides in cars, and not everyone had cars.

“I would usually go straight home,” Dennison said, “rushing to get ready for school.”

Her classes began at 9 a.m., which left her with an hour to return to campus from Kaimuki in morning traffic. Her response when asked what her initial thought of the new building was that many athletes were going to benefit from it.

Morningstar Takapu, a sophomore that plays for the Silverswords men’s basketball team, doesn’t have any problems finding a place to put his things. Takapu lives on campus so making it to class on time is not much of a rush. What is rushed is getting ready for a game. Takapu said that right now his team changes in the athletic trainer locker space, which he said is not big enough for 16 basketball players to dress in.

“We really need a nice locker room,” Takapu. “It’s going to be nice to have our own locker and own space.”

Currently, the men’s basketball team and women’s basketball team share the athletic trainer locker room.

“The girl’s basketball team uses it too,” Takapu said. “They get it before us then we get it afterward.”

He said sometimes it could get uncomfortable for them because they feel like the women feel uncomfortable with men hanging around, but they are just waiting their turn to get in. Takapu also mentioned that with the new locker room, they would finally get a place to strategize during halftime. He said that they usually grab chairs and sit outside of McCabe Gym to talk about what needs to be improved for the next half of the game. The locker room will change that routine entirely.

“Once we the new locker room we will be able to actually go into our locker room and talk,” Takapu said. “Instead of just talking outside.”

All three athletes were asked what they would love to see Chaminade improve on next, and all three responded with requesting a bigger gym to inspire them to be better. For now, Chaminade plans to have the new 6,500-square-foot training center and locker rooms open for athletes by Spring 2019.