BOULDER — Three years ago, Colorado Athletic Department officials were touring the country, studying professional, college and private athletic facilities in order to design a new building that would best suit CU's needs.

In their journeys, CU officials — led by CU athletic director Rick George — looked at the best of the best. They brought back ideas, incorporated them into their plans, improved on what they had seen and studied, and developed concepts of their own.

The result: the CU Champions Center, a facility that has now become a standard of the industry. Now, other entities — from professional teams to colleges to private businesses — are coming to CU to study and glean ideas for their own projects.

“What we wanted was the best facility in the country in terms of serving the health, wellness and academic success of our student athletes,” George said. “We believe we've established that benchmark. What we're seeing now is other universities and professional franchises coming to us to see what we've done.”

The list of visitors to the Champions Center is a lengthy and diverse one. Not only have dozens of representatives from professional sports franchises paid a visit, the facility has also attracted inquiries from private enterprises such as Nike, international firms and sports federations (Japan, Israel), and a long list of universities and colleges.

“What you see now is that we are a reference point,” said Inigo San Millan, director of sports performance at the CU Sports Medicine and Performance Center, housed on the second floor of the Champions Center. “From the level of the student-athlete facilities to the Sports Medicine and Performance Center, we have done something that everyone wants to see and study.”

Some are most interested in the athlete-specific facilities, such as the locker room, weight room and Indoor Practice Facility. Others want an in-depth look at the Sports Medicine and Performance Center; and some are interested in studying how CU appears to have seamlessly merged the two enterprises together.

But the reaction is always the same.

“Impressive,” said Colorado Rockies executive vice president and chief operating officer Greg Feasel. “From the locker room to the weight room to the indoor practice facility to just the functionality of the entire building — it's impressive. It has all the bells and whistles that you see in a lot of places, but it's the functionality of the space that is outstanding, and that's what gets overlooked a lot of times.

“Sooner or later, that new car smell wears off. That feel of being in a new house goes away. Then it comes down to, 'Is it functional? Are you able to get the work done that you need to get done?' They hit it that perfectly. They have every right to be proud of what they did up there.”

Feasel also praised the Champions Center's ability to have its spaces utilized for a variety of endeavors. Along with its primary objective of providing a foundation of success for Buffs student-athletes in the athletic and academic arenas, the facility also allows CU officials to take advantage of much of the space for other activities.

“Venues today have to be all things to all people,” Feasel said. “All the ways they can use their space — whether it be pregame hospitality in the indoor facility, events on their (rooftop) terrace, track meets — makes the difference. It's how you can provide an experience for so many different people in the space that you have. What they have there with the setting, the views and the ability to get so many things done is outstanding.”

Indeed, while other entities may be able to replicate much of what CU has accomplished with the Champions Center, there's one part that will always be unique to Colorado and Boulder: the setting. CU made sure to design the Champions Center to take full advantage of the breathtaking views afforded by the Flatirons and Rocky Mountains to the west. From the rooftop terrace to the third floor Champions Club to administrative and coaches' offices, the view and setting were an integral part of the entire building's design.

“In terms of a transformational facility, we believe the setting — which is second to none — helped us achieve that goal,” said Lance Carl, Associate Athletic Director for Business Development. “We designed the Champions Center specifically to take advantage of the beautiful setting in every manner possible, and that has has given us the opportunity to utilize much of the space in multiple ways. In that regard, it's truly a multi-use venue.”

You won't find many who would disagree.

“You can't build that view,” said Matt Russell, a former Buffs All-American linebacker and current director of player personnel for the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos. “Having seen virtually all of the great facilities in the nation, I'd put CU's in that very top tier. The way they designed it, the architecture, the setting, the great space for athletes — you'd have a hard time finding a more enticing, compelling place to go to school.”

That setting, Feasel said, only adds to the functionality of the Champions Center experience, making it appealing to recruits, current athletes, donors and fans.

“The expectation comes not only from fans and alumni and season ticket holders and what they expect from a venue, but you also have the the burden of expectation from the athletes and coaches,” Feasel said. “They want — they demand — first-class facilities, and CU has put that all together. It's all there.”

But along with the facilities specific to the Athletic Department, the Champions Center has also been drawing worldwide attention because of the presence of the Sports Medicine and Performance Center.

A partnership between the CU School of Medicine and Boulder Community Health, the center can serve CU athletes and is also open to the public. It includes the latest in sports medicine equipment, as well as the latest in high-tech athlete training and conditioning features.

That, San Millan said, has caught the attention of university athletic departments from around the nation as well as international entities. It means revenue, public engagement and collaboration that brings together a huge swath of the community.

“More and more top schools are going to start doing this and they want to see what we have done here,” said San Millan, who also visited a number of facilities to gather ideas for the Champions Center's design. “Rick George was a visionary to put this together, and from the first day, we have been a reference point for others who want to attempt the same thing. They want to know what we do with sports performance, what we're doing with our athletes — and what happened when we opened the door to the rest of the community. Many of them are interested in doing something similar.”

Such facilities are much more commonplace in Europe. Top soccer clubs, such as Real Madrid, have long had public sports medicine and performance centers as part of their team facilities.

CU, however, is one of the few major sports entities in the United States to have such a setup — something San Millan expects to change in the very near future.

“More professional teams are going to do this and more schools are going to attempt such a thing,” San Millan said. “The majority of soccer teams in Europe have within their facility this type of sophisticated sports performance centers. It will come here to the professional teams as well, and the top schools will also want them.

“When things like this happen, there is peer pressure. Everyone is going to want to have something like this, and they will want to see how we have accomplished it.”

The new facility is even earning recognition and enhancing CU's reputation in academic circles, thanks in part to the newly formed CU Sports Governance Center, which is housed in the Champions Center. Earlier this week, a delegation from Loughborough University in London paid a visit to talk with SGC head Roger Pielke and explore possible collaborations related to research and teaching.

That kind of recognition and reputation will only continue to grow.

A large portion of the Champions Center was funded through the “Drive for $105 Million,” an unprecedented fundraising initiative that has attracted donors from around the globe. As the effort gets closer and closer to its goal (it surpassed $94 million earlier this year), CU officials are understandably proud of what they have been able to accomplish.

“What we've done is build a transformational facility that will be a world class place for our student athletes, coaches and supporters for years to come,” George said. “We wanted something that would be functional and something that would serve all of our constituents. In every regard, we believe we have a venue that will stand the test of time.”

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu





