With a need for locker rooms, Long Beach State announced that the softball and women’s soccer received a $200,000 commitment from Long Beach State Board of Directors members Doug and Sandra Leafstedt.
Along with the sizeable gift from Leafstedts, the donation was matched by the college with support from President Jane Close Conoley.
The total $400,000 will be able to cover a large portion of the estimated cost to build a clubhouse for the women’s soccer and softball teams. The two currently do not have facilities of their own so, the clubhouse will allow the women’s soccer team and softball team to have locker rooms after the two currently do not have set facilities.
According to the statement LBSU Athletics released, the teams have been using the Walter Pyramid or Gold Mine gym as their locker room facilities.
“We want to make a major gift, here and now, because we want to see these teams thrive,” Doug Leafstedt said in the statement. “I asked Kim [Sowder] and Mauricio [Ingrassia] ‘What do you teams need?’ and they both said ‘We’ve got to get locker rooms.’ So we set aside a certain amount of money that could be matched in a way that could encourage a lot of people to give —the more the better.”
The clubhouse will be built in an area that will make the facility easily accessible for each team. The facility will also include lockers, sports medicine area and team rooms for both programs.
“It’s a place where we can bring recruits and really show them what our culture is about,” Sowder said in the release. “It’s a big, big deal.”
Now with some monetary momentum, LBSU will now look to challenge the community to help reach the project’s financial goal.
Women’s soccer coach Mauricio Ingrassia also noted how the facilities show future prospects the college’s commitment to helping the athletic department.
“The clubhouse is important because it shows a commitment from our University,” Ingrassia said in the statement. “It shows a commitment from the community that we’re serious about competing at a national level.”
