Athletic Facilities I
f you happen to enter the Southeastern Louisiana University campus from the west, you can’t help but notice the Lions’ trademark athletic facility dominating the horizon. Southeastern’s multi-purpose University Center provides an impressive home for Lions and Lady Lions basketball as well as the volleyball squad. Built in 1982 at a cost of $16.3 million, the UC has seating capacity for 7,500 and hosts many other functions including Southeastern’s commencement, a variety of concerts and community events, and the circus. For home basketball games, there’s no denying the electric atmosphere in “The Jungle.” The Lions baseball team is fortunate to play in one of the finest collegiate parks in the region at Pat Kenelly Diamond in stately Alumni Field. Named for all Southeastern Louisiana alumni as well as long-time coach Pat Kenelly,
the park holds over 3,000 and is the culmination of several years and $750,000 worth of improvements completely funded by the SLU Booster Club (now known as the Southeastern Athletics Association). Nestled amongst soaring pines, Alumni Field is enclosed by a twotier fence and includes state-of-the-art lighting, an inning-by-inning scoreboard with message center, field-level box seating and a fully-functional press and radio box. As far as history goes, almost no place on campus can claim as much as hallowed Strawberry Stadium. Built in 1937 the venerable 7,408-seat stadium is the home of the Southeastern gridiron and track and field squads. The field was renovated in 2003 with the installation of a new state-of-the art synthetic surface called Sprinturf. Other upgrades including a revamped visitor’s locker room and across the board aesthetic improvements. Coming on line for the 2008 season will be
a new press box with club seats and suites available. Boasting the same surface used for the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials in New Orleans, the Lions and Lady Lions track and field squad trains in an outstanding facility which recently underwent over $250,000 in improvements. Across campus, the Southeastern Soccer Complex has seen improvements as well. Home to the 1998 and ‘99, 2002 and 2003 Southland Conference champions, a new fence, scoreboard and field improvements were added and continue to make the complex one of the finest in the south. Part of the beautiful North Oak Park recreation complex, Southeastern’s lighted softball field continues to improve each year. Under the guidance of head coach Pete Langlois, new dugouts have been added, lights installed and stadium seating capacity increased in his tenure. Prior to the start of the 2005 season,