UST ATHLETES now have a new home in the state-of-the-art Quadricentennial Pavilion. But not everyone is happy with the P800-million, four-story complex now serving both as a training facility and playing venue for the varsity teams.
Some coaches have complained of what they called “architectural flaws” that purportedly bother training sessions, particularly in judo and badminton.
But others like coach Dindo Simpao of the taekwondo team are nonetheless thankful for the new facility.
“You might hear plenty of complaints about its inadequacies but those things are rubbish. We should be grateful that we have a new usable gym,” Simpao said.
Badminton coach Noli Cajefe said the ceiling in the playing hall located on the first floor was “too low,” making it difficult for his wards to practice key attacks such as lobs.
He said it was also hard to see the shuttlecock because of the white-painted walls.
“(The ceiling height) is not ideal compared to the standard 10 meters,” he told the Varsitarian.
The Lady Judokas are also not entirely sold to the new training facility. Coach Gerard Arce said his players were experiencing breathing problems during drills due to the room’s poor ventilation.
“It’s really difficult to breathe especially during practice because the room is not ventilated. In judo, (ventilation) is important,” he said.
Fr. Ermito de Sagon, O.P., director of the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA), admitted certain shortcomings in the Quadricentennial Pavilion’s design. But he said the teams and their coaches should be thankful for having such a facility, especially in time for the new UAAP season.
“The architects [in a way] were at fault for not consulting the coaches of their ideal training venues,” he said.
“For now we’re just using the first floor [of the complex] because you cannot put a training area above the basketball court,” he added.
With the Quadricentennial Pavilion now available, most UST athletes no longer have to move elsewhere for training, a problem that beset their previous UAAP campaign.
“Training is easier now because we’re back in UST,” Cajefe said.
Last year, some training sessions had to be held outside the University following the demolition of the 78-year-old UST gymnasium to give way for the construction of the Thomasian Alumni Center.
The Quadricentennial Pavilion, which began construction in 2009, was completed last April. The IPEA office, faculty room, and classes were transferred to the second floor last June.
Still homeless
While almost all of the indoor varsity squads—including basketball, volleyball, badminton, table tennis, judo, and fencing—had already transferred to their new training hubs in the Pavilion, the UST Woodpushers remained homeless.
The chess trains every afternoon at the pavilion in front of the soon-to-rise Thomasian Alumni Center, where the players have to endure the noise of the ongoing construction.
Coach Ronald Dableo said he was still awaiting word on when his team could transfer to the Quadricentennial Pavilion.
“Last summer, it was very hot that’s why we couldn’t practice properly. When it’s raining, we also couldn’t train well because we would get wet,” he said.
