The University of North Florida’s athletics department announced plans to renovate its UNF Arena locker rooms. 

The renovations will give all three arena sports custom lockers, nutrition stations, sleeping pods and team lounges. 

Athletic Director Nick Morrow said this project impacts multiple sports, including Volleyball and both basketball teams. Morrow added that non-arena sports are welcome to use the new amenities. 

“Other people are going to benefit from it besides the three arena sports,” Morrow said.

Morrow mentioned that new locker rooms are a necessity for the student-athlete experience and cited that many sports need space upgrades. 

“Our biggest need across every sport is locker rooms,” Morrow proclaimed. “We have issues in every building.” 

One of the benefits of the arena locker rooms is the increase in space that student-athletes will get. 

“Everyone’s going to get at least 50 to 70 percent more space,” Morrow said. “Many schools have renovated their locker rooms over the last few years, so we’ve got to keep up.”

A rendering of the proposed film room inside UNF Arena. (UNF Athletics)

Morrow added that improved locker rooms are good for recruiting and team chemistry. There were a few unconfirmed complaints made by former players online about Harmon Stadium and its condition, with some saying the baseball venue has needed upgrades for years. 

Morrow acknowledged that and said it is “an issue we need to address.” Hodges Stadium is another venue where three teams share a locker room, which, according to Morrow, is a “problem for a D-1 program.”

“We have a vision for all of our sports and facilities,” Morrow said. “It’s not that we prioritize one facility or another.”

Future Plans

Instead of prioritizing sports, Morrow said UNF athletics has fundraisers for every sport and projects are announced if enough money is raised. For example, Morrow said plans are in the works for a new clubhouse and artificial turf at Harmon Stadium.

As for Hodges Stadium, Morrow said they hope to add locker rooms and coaches offices for each team. Morrow hopes to have project renderings done by fall of this year. 

However, many of these projects haven’t raised enough funds for Athletics to move forward, according to Morrow. 

Morrow said that around 95 percent of the donations Athletics receives are restricted to use on a specific facility project or scholarship. According to Morrow, Athletics doesn’t have enough unrestricted funds to use if something comes up. 

“We’d like to bring in more unrestricted funds,” Morrow said. “That gives us the flexibility to deal with needs and wants as they come along.”

According to Morrow, more projects are on the way. UNF Athletics is holding a ‘904 Day’ fundraiser to renovate the Hodges Stadium weight room. 

“We’ve got 250 athletes that are in and out of that weight room everyday,” Morrow said. “So we’re going to give that a facelift, hopefully around winter break.”

The arena locker room project is expected to be completed by next summer, according to UNF Athletics. 

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