HONOLULU — The opening of the refurbished Alexander Waterhouse Sports Performance Facility will offer University of Hawai'i student-athletes an enhanced training experience as they set the foundations for their pursuits with the Rainbow Wahine and Rainbow Warrior programs.
 
The UH Athletics Department celebrated the dedication of the renovated facility in a ceremony held Tuesday, Feb. 13 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
 
Originally constructed in 1994 along with the arena in which it is housed, the Waterhouse facility underwent a $3.3 million renovation over the past year and now features 24 Samson Power Racks and a new nutrition center within the 10,000-square-foot training area available to the department's 500 student-athletes representing 21 sports programs.
 
"(The student-athletes) deserve it. It's been a long time coming and it's going to be huge," UH Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Tommy Heffernan said of the impact of the upgrades to the facility. "Outside of practice, they spend the most time with (the strength and conditioning staff). So that's going to be huge as far as getting them ready in the offseason."

Kahu Kordell Kekoa presided over the blessing which included remarks by Heffernan, UH President David Lassner, Athletics Director Craig Angelos, State Senator Ron Kouchi and UH women's volleyball player Kate Lang, representing the UH student-athletes. 
 
Heffernan, a former Rainbow Warrior football and baseball player whose 30-year professional career coincides with the life-span of the Waterhouse facility, called the addition of the nutrition center within the weight room a "game changer" in enhancing the foundations for each student-athlete's strength training and conditioning program.
 
"We have first-class coaches, first-class athletes, and they train really hard," Heffernan said. "We have to make it a first-class nutrition center so we can replenish them and refuel them at the end of each workout so they're building once they leave the weight room."
 
The facility includes more than 22,000 pounds of free weights and each of the 24 power racks are equipped with various modes of resistance training (plates and bars, pulley systems, bands). The racks allow a student-athlete to complete an entire workout within that section of the layout, creating more efficient use of time and available space and allowing greater availability for teams. Inlaid platforms, each with a tracking system, provide for plyometric and resistance training at each station.
 
Three Pit Shark squat racks occupy a corner of the facility with another 13,000 pounds of custom UH dumbbells lined up against an adjacent wall. Paintings of Hawaiian warriors greet student-athletes entering the facility and overlook the training floor.
 
"It's great for recruiting," said UH football associate head coach Chris Brown, who still holds three of the facility's record lifts dating back to his days as a Warrior linebacker. "A lot of times that's the selling point, the weight room. When you're recruiting and they walk in, they're going to be in awe and they're going to be, 'OK this is where it's all done.'"
 
The facility is named after the late Alexander C. Waterhouse, who worked with then-UH football coach Bob Wagner to develop the vision for the weight room. Waterhouse, a lifelong supporter of Hawai'i athletics, was the founder and chairman of the Na Koa Football Booster Club and a member of the 'Ahahui Koa 'Anuenue Board of Directors and was inducted into the UH Circle of Honor in 1997. Before his passing in March 1999, Waterhouse presented the University with a $300,000 contribution to establish one of the finest training facilities in the country.
 
"The thing that stands out to me when we do a weight room is the strength and conditioning is for everybody and it's used more than any other facility in our athletics department," UH athletics director Craig Angelos said during the ceremony. "This is the one that affects everybody."
                                                               
With the renovations and dedication complete, the Waterhouse Facility is available for immediate use by the UH teams.
 
"This is where championships are won," Heffernan said. "We start here first."
 
Alexander Waterhouse Sports Performance Facility Quick Facts
• Nutrition station
• 24 Samson multi-station power racks with cable columns and tracking systems
• 24 inlaid platforms for each station
• 3 Pit Shark squat racks
• Custom UH bumper plates and dumbbells
• 4 offices for strength staff