New locker rooms provide UMW athletes with a space to call their own

by: LIAM HOWARD

Staff Writer

University of Mary Washington student-athletes began using new locker-room facilities at the Battleground Athletic Complex this fall, giving several field sports more space to store equipment, prepare for competition and spend time together as teams. 

According to an October 2025 announcement from UMW Athletics, the university broke ground on the multimillion-dollar modular locker-room facility that month, with the facilities scheduled to become available for use in August. The project was designed to provide dedicated locker-room space for seven NCAA field sports and serve nearly half of UMW’s student-athletes.

In the announcement, the university stated that the new complex includes three locker-room spaces with dry locker areas, showers, toilets, sinks and washers and dryers. Each room was designed to hold between 45 and 50 lockers. 

UMW Athletics said the facilities were planned for field hockey as well as men’s and women’s soccer to use during fall and baseball, softball and women’s lacrosse to use during the spring. This addition gives men’s lacrosse dedicated access to existing space in UMW’s Physical Plant.

“These permanent facilities at the Battleground complex provide teams with a central place to gather, hold meetings and prepare for practices and competitions,” UMW Director of Athletics Patrick Catullo said. 

The university also identified improving the student-athlete experience and supporting recruitment and retention as goals of the project. 

According to UMW’s “Name a Locker” fundraising page, the university also created a campaign connected to the project that allowed supporters to contribute $1,000 to name a locker in honor of an individual. 

Donors could choose which team they would like to name a locker for. A limited number of lockers were available per team.

For junior field hockey player and biomedical science major Caroline Carns, the new space has already changed how her team uses its locker room. 

“Overall, having this new locker room benefits the teams as there is space to spread out, leave your gear in a safe place and spend quality time with our team,” Carns said. ”I feel supported as a UMW field hockey player by having a place to call ours for our field hockey season.”

The additional space has given the field hockey team more opportunities to use the locker room for activities beyond storing equipment and preparing for practice. 

“We have been able to spend more time in the locker room because of the larger space compared to our previous locker room,” Carns said. “For example, tomorrow we will be able to watch game film from our own locker room instead of having to go to an alternate location.”

Carns said one of her favorite additions is having an individual place for each player to organize belongings while still being able to sit together as a team. She also said the coaching staff worked to decorate and personalize the room for the field hockey program. 

The larger and more open space has also affected how the team spends time together. The coaches added rugs and couches to the locker room, and the players added decorations to make the space feel inviting. 

“I think for us to have such an open space that we can decorate, we have rugs and couches in there, it contributes to how we can mesh and gel as a team,” sophomore field hockey player and communication and digital studies major Erin Sutton said. 

The location has also made UMW’s sports medicine staff more accessible to the field hockey team. 

Team members can now walk to the athletic trainers’ office instead of having to drive from their locker room. 

“Having it right next to the Phys Plant, where we see our trainers before and after practice, has been very helpful for us since we had to drive there in the past,” Sutton said. 

For Sutton, the new facility has also changed how she views her experience as a college athlete. While she said the facilities would not have heavily influenced her original decision to attend UMW, having them now has made a difference. 

“It feels more official,” Sutton said. “I think you have a certain expectation of what it looks like to be a college athlete and having a locker room definitely completed that vision.”

Sutton also said the investment makes her feel that the university recognizes the importance of having a place to connect beyond practices and games. 

“It’s nice to feel like they understand we need a space where we can connect more as a team and also to feel like we’re wanted and they care about our well-being and not just our performance,” Sutton said.