Celebrating Malley Fitness Center

By Gabe Taylor

Santa Clara students gathered in the Pat Malley Fitness and Recreation Center Wednesday night to participate in celebrating its 10th anniversary.

The celebration, which included free T-shirts, a 3-point shootout competition, bouncy boxing and a bungee run, attracted between 350 and 450 students, according to Director of Recreation Janice DeMonsi.

DeMonsi was impressed with the turnout, considering that many students are in the heat of midterms.

T-shirts and the 3-point shootout drew the most people to the celebration. The 3-point shootout, an intramural event added for the celebration, played host to 40 student participants looking to prove that range and sharpshooting are part of their game.

"I wish we had more T-shirts," Assistant Director of Recreation Erin Patchett said jokingly, adding that the neon orange color and retro font attracted the students.

This celebration of Malley Center's 10th anniversary, however, was not the first. A separate event was held on Sept. 15 that was geared towards the faculty and staff.

DeMonsi estimates that 50 people came and left throughout the occasion.

"We knew the faculty wouldn't be very interested in coming and jumping in inflatable toys at nine o'clock on a weeknight," commented Patchett.

Malley Center's history began upon its opening on Sept. 15, 1999. Named after George Patrick Malley, a former Santa Clara head football coach and athletic director, the fitness center sprang up, taking up 45,000 square feet, including a weight room, a multipurpose room and three open recreation courts.

However, before Malley was built, capacity issues were on the rise.

Students and the Division I athletes had shared the Toso Pavilio, which more recently has become known as the Leavey Center.

Because of the need to share workout equipment and basketball courts, students were not given the freedom of choosing when to head to the gym.

According to DeMonsi, when home games came around, the weight room was shut off to students and left only open for the teams' use.

The problems didn't stop there. Another conflict centered itself around the basketball courts.

Because of basketball and volleyball practices and games, an open gym for the students and outside members was also limited to certain hours of the day, not nearly as courteous as the 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. times that Malley offers now.

"We try very hard to always have one court open for open recreation," said DeMonsi, commenting that it can be hard to do so in the winter quarter due to intramural basketball, which is Santa Clara's largest intramural sport.

Even when the Toso Pavilion was open to everyone, overcrowding was a constant issue. With students and athletes all using one facility, people were unable to workout at times that fit their schedules.

Patchett's favorite aspect of the Malley Center is the fact that it allows open-recreation for an extended period of time.

"That's what I loved in college," she said, despite not attending Santa Clara.

Though many alumni were not able to experience Malley at their time of schooling, they have the opportunity to experience it now, courtesy of the university.

Despite Malley not being open for public memberships, Santa Clara allows alumni to purchase a membership to this 10 year-old fitness center.

"I think it is hard for the current student to imagine no Malley Center," said Demonsi. "But I know many alumni who believe 1999 was finally time and they are bummed they missed it when they were in college but are glad we sell alumni memberships."

One final event to commemorate the opening of the Pat Malley Fitness and Recreation Center will take place on Jan. 30.

The celebration will be held prior to the men's basketball team's game against Portland at the annual Alumni Pasta Feed. According to DeMonsi, it is being held for the Malley family, and the players who were coached by George Patrick Malley.

"Students are fortunate to have a wonderful facility named after a great man who was all about being a Bronco and good to your fellow students," said DeMonsi.

Contact Gabe Taylor at gtaylor@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.