Bates College will complete $1 million in facility enhancements by the time students return to school this fall, athletic director Jason Fein announced in a news release this week.

Among the projects included in the enhancements are a renovation of the Davis Fitness Center and weight room, an upgrade to the locker rooms in Underhill Arena and installation of new flooring in the Gray Athletic building.

In addition to the improvements made for the student body’s benefit, Bates’ varsity tennis teams will have a new, artificial intelligence-driven video and analytics system at the Wallach Tennis Center and in Merrill Gymnasium.

Fein said that the projects will be funded through donors’ gifts and college spending.

“All of these projects continue our steady progress of enhancing not only the student-athlete experience but also recreational, fitness and wellness opportunities for all Bates students,” Fein said. 

The Davis Fitness Center will have a new layout and floor and upgraded performance racks, weights, selectorized machines, plate-loaded machines and cardio equipment.

“We’re very excited about the updates,” Mike Seltzer, Bates head strength and conditioning coach, said in the school’s news release. “The new layout and new equipment will greatly improve our ability to provide a highly competitive strength and conditioning experience for our student athletes.”

Merrill Gym will have new ellipticals, Assault Fitness AirRunners and recumbent and upright bikes.

The upgrades to the locker rooms in Underhill Arena include new flooring, new wooden lockers, an updated layout that offers more team interaction and a social space for student-athletes, flat-screen TVs, a new sound system and device charging stations.

In the Gray Athletic Building, the current urethane floor will be replaced with a Mondo Advance Vulcanized rubber floor that will be used by various teams and club sports.

Also in Gray, the baseball and softball batting cages will be replaced by 72-foot, fully retractable cages.

The Gray Athletic Building will also receive a new floor to “withstand the demands of the variety of activities that take place in the Gray Cage,” Bates said in a press release. In addition, the baseball and softball batting cages will be replaced with fully retractable 72-foot cages from 78 Sports. 

The PlaySight Interactive technology, provided by supporters of the Bates tennis teams, will allow coaches and players to track strokes, ball trajectory, player movement and shot speed and spin.

“The video-review process will enable us to improve tactics, body language and our ‘compete-mode,’ from match to match,” Paul Gastonguay, head coach of the Bobcats men’s and women’s tennis teams, said. “Each student-athlete will also be able to review their individual workouts on their phone or computer which will help them visualize a concept or technique.”

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