The University of West Florida recently celebrated the grand opening of the Sandy Sansing Sports Medicine Center. This expansion of the Darrell Gooden Center at Pen Air Field will provide additional space for the enhanced care of UWF student-athletes.
The nearly 10,000-square-foot facility cost about $6 million to build, and it was completed on time, about 18 months after its groundbreaking in the spring of 2023.
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“Well the only thing I like better than groundbreakings is ribbon cuttings,” said UWF President Dr. Martha Saunders, during last week’s grand opening celebration. “This facility represents our commitment to providing our student athletes with the very best resources to support their academic and athletic pursuits. And it’ll help us provide optimal care to our student-athletes as they compete in any given sport (and) serve as a continued source of provide for the university and the community.”
The new addition was made possible by contributions from several UWF alums, including Pensacola businessman and UWF Class of ’69 graduate Sandy Sansing. The grand opening was a special day for him.
“And, it’s extra special to me because I was in the very, very first class, the day the doors opened,” Sansing said. “I believe I had the first athletic scholarship and it was in the tough combat sport of golf, which there weren’t too many injuries in golf and would not be a need for a facility like this for us golfers.”
This new state-of-the-art sports medicine center will serve all of the university’s more than 370 student-athletes, across all sports — from golf to swimming and football.
“And it'll provide a lot of spaces that'll be new that we currently don't have, such as new hydrotherapy area, new rehab area, new areas for the student athletes to do training, taping, physical, modalities, a physician exam room, and then some other spaces for our current athletic trainers to be able to get the student athletes healthier and back on the field quicker,” said Brett Berg, UWF assistant vice president of advancement.
UWF athletics worked with Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine on the design and necessary spaces within the facility for student-athletes and coaches. Additionally, it will provide training opportunities for students in UWF’s movement sciences and health department.
Berg provided a short tour of the new facility as workers were putting the finishing touches on the space just ahead of its official opening.
“This is, you can see by the sign, this is the Sandy Sansing Sports Medicine Center,” Berg said, pointing out that this was a great project for the UWF alumni and as a former student athlete to be a part of.
Inside the new sports medicine center, there are four taping stations. “That’s where the guys will jump up, they’ll tape ankles and get them ready,” he said.
The large space also includes two rows of treatment tables, six on each side.
Just feet away is the hydrotherapy room that includes two pool-like tubs, one of which has an underwater treadmill.
“A lot of our athletes, obviously, they have lower modality issues, so they can go on the treadmill, take the weight off, and do the treadmill,” said Berg, explaining that the treadmill can be raised or lowered depending on an athlete's height. “Then you can get the student athletes working out on the treadmill in the water, which is gonna be huge.”
Ben Freeman, a senior offensive lineman from Overland Park, Kansas, is excited about it all. On this day, he and two of his teammates were occupying the space for a tape job ahead of football practice.
“You know we have all these taping tables and training tables, so a lot of athletes can get in and get treatment on any bumps and bruises, or any injuries that they’ve had,” Freeman said. “We also have the pools at our disposal, so guys that have had more serious injuries can get back on the field, and this is gonna be for all sports.”
According to Berg, the Sandy Sansing Sports Medicine was in the original plans for the Darrell Gooden Center, but funding was lacking. Now, the expansion solves numerous problems with space and noise problems.
On the day of the tour, the UWF Softball team’s exuberant training session in the Sports Performance Center highlighted the need for the FSU College of Medicine to move from its second-floor spot over the noisy weight room to quieter digs in the new construction across the hall.
That, in turn, has opened up space for the UWF Football coaching staff to move from trailers into a permanent suite of offices down from the Usha Kundu College of Health.
As the tour continues, it becomes clear that the coaches will have the best seat in the house, overlooking Pen Air Field.
“The cool thing here is that when we build the stadium, the concourse level of the stadium is going to be right out this door,” said Berg, looking out of what is now a large window.
Earlier this year, UWF announced plans for a new football stadium on-site, with plans to break ground in 2026.
All of the ongoing enhancements will be great for attracting future student-athletes.
“You know when football started, they basically sold them on a vision, because literally, their locker room was a hook and a stool in a trailer,” Berg recalled.
But, now, he says the Darrell Gooden Center, with its new Sandy Sansing Sports Medicine Center, Sports Performance Center, locker rooms and other features will make UWF hard to pass up.
“It really, really, really will make a difference when we can sit with a recruit and walk them through these spaces and show them, not only where the university is, but it helps to show them where we’re heading and what we plan on doing in the future. So, it’s going to be a game-changer for us,” he declared.
For those members of the community who could not attend the recent grand opening to get a look at the new facility, Berg says future tours will be scheduled.
