The Shannon Shea Smith locker room was opened in 2013 and featured an entirely refurbished football locker and adjoining meeting rooms.
Located on the ground floor of the University of Hawai‘i Athletics Complex, the 8,000 square foot facility features five redesigned meeting rooms with state of the art projectors and screens, more than 100 custom lockers that allows for lockable storage, Wifi throughout the facility, and new lighting and carpeting. In addition, the entire locker room area features identifiable logo marks and signage.
On Aug. 29, 1999, the locker room was named after former UH football player Shannon Shea Smith, who valiantly died March 29, 1997, saving Cody von Appen, the six-year-old son of former Warrior head coach Fred vonAppen, from a whirlpool at the Waipahe‘e Slippery Slide on Kaua‘i.
For his heroic actions, Smith became only the seventh individual to receive the prestigious NCAA Award of Valor on Jan. 11, 1998 and the first since 1984. Smith’s locker remains preserved in the locker room and is dressed with a lei and football gear to remind each player of the tremendous sacrifice of the former Rainbow Warrior.
