This is an artist’s rendition of the New Mexico Mutual Champions Training Center, for which the University of New Mexico held a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday. (Courtesy of UNM)
This is an artist’s rendition of the New Mexico Mutual Champions Training Center, for which the University of New Mexico held a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday. (Courtesy of UNM)
This is an artist’s rendition of the New Mexico Mutual Champions Training Center, for which the University of New Mexico held a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday. (Courtesy of UNM)
UNM head football coach Danny Gonzales walked into a groundbreaking ceremony for the New Mexico Mutual Champions Training Center near the south end zone area at University Stadium Wednesday morning. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal)
University of New Mexico athletic director Eddie Nuñez carries a shovel to Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal)
When Eddie Nuñez arrived as the athletic director at the University of New Mexico in 2017, he saw that a training facility project was starting to gain steam.
But he also recognized that the location wasn’t exactly desirable, which was among some facets of the plan that needed tweaking. From 14 years at LSU, Nuñez brought his experience in development, architecture and construction that resulted in over $700 million in projects coming to fruition. He said he wanted to make the training facility project at UNM one of his top priorities.
He said one mission statement stayed with him at the time: If we’re going to do this, let’s do it right.
On Wednesday, that project inched closer toward “doing it right” with the official groundbreaking for the New Mexico Mutual Champions Training Center inside University Stadium. The event included photo opportunities for Nuñez, his staff and coaches, as well as UNM administration and New Mexico Mutual representatives, as several of them grabbed shovels that featured the UNM Lobo logo on the cherry-colored blade.
The event was also a reminder of how close the Lobos are to having their training center completed. They’re hopeful it will be ready for use toward the end of this fall, Nuñez said.
The project budget is estimated at $4.3 million. New Mexico Mutual, a workers’ compensation insurer, spearheaded the project with a $1 million lead gift roughly five years ago.
“To be able to put up a facility that’s going to service all our student-athletes, as an athletic director it’s what you do this job for,” Nuñez said. “We want to be able to give them every resource and our coaches the ability to have success, to have them excel in their sports.”
The plan is for the training center to be used by all UNM sports except men’s and women’s basketball. The basketball teams have their own facility in the Rudy Davalos Practice Center at the Pit.
For the past six years, the majority of the UNM athletes have been using the training area next to the UNM administration building. That facility is inside a tent that UNM has had to rent, making monthly payments. At first, UNM paid about $6,000-to-$7,000 a month for the tent, said Ryan Berryman, the associate athletic director for business operations.
But for the last few years, Albuquerque Tents stepped in as a partner to lower the costs to about $2,500 per month, Berryman said. When the new training center is complete, those costs – and the tent – will go away.
The UNM athletes will have access to the Champions Training Center, as well as the weight room inside the Tow Diehm facility that is basically next door. Technically, that weight room is for the football team, but UNM football coach Danny Gonzales said he is not territorial and he wants all of the student-athletes to be able to work out together and support each other’s teams.
Jon Newman-Gonchar, the UNM women’s volleyball coach since 2019, is looking forward to moving his team out of the tent and into the Champions Training Center. The coach said he is also pointing to the new facility project while recruiting.
The UNM women’s volleyball team had a breakout season in the fall, finishing 20-9, 11-7 in the Mountain West. It was the first time the Lobos earned 20 wins since 2013, and the 11 conference wins were the most since 2014.
“(The recruits) choose based on the program, or academics; there are a lot of factors,” Newman-Gonchar said. “But the training center is a feather in the cap, sort of icing on the cake, so to speak. ‘Here’s what you will have access to when you commit to UNM and be a Lobo.’ It’s an incredible opportunity for us to be put on the map with regards to training centers.”
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