Donors and special guests gathered on Tuesday evening to celebrate the grand opening of the Wasserman Football Center.

Participating in the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony were Chancellor Gene Block, Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero, Head Football Coach Jim Mora and Casey Wasserman.

“This is a historic day for UCLA Football, UCLA Athletics and, of course, for UCLA more generally,” Block said. “And it’s a new chapter for our football program. We have an extraordinary facility, and it makes a difference. Wasserman Football Center is our latest accomplishment and really a reminder of the excellence across all disciplines, from academics to athletics.”

Open nearly two years after the groundbreaking, Wasserman Football Center is home to the UCLA football program. The state-of-the-art training facility, which was designed by ZGF Architects LLP and constructed by PCL Construction of Los Angeles, spans approximately 75,000 square feet of space that encompasses the Troy Aikman Strength and Conditioning Center, the Jim and Carol Collins Head Football Coach’s Office, locker rooms, training and treatment room, nutrition center, hydrotherapy pools and meeting spaces such as the Terry and Andrea Donahue Team Auditorium. Other amenities include a barbershop, players’ lounge, and recruiting lounge and terrace.

“This building provides the best training facilities in the country – state-of-the-art equipment all designed to ensure the health and safety of our student-athletes, to improve those student-athletes’ experience here in Westwood, and, of course, to allow them to be at the top of their game and to reach their highest potential,” stated Guerrero. “Simply put, the Wasserman Football Center will help them shape their future and the future of UCLA Athletics.”

“This is a building that provides for our players everything that they need to be successful, not only on the football field but in the classroom and in life,” Mora reiterated. “This building, even though it’s a football center, is really a life center for these young men.”

Wasserman, the President and CEO of the Wasserman Foundation, said, “It’s an honor to be able to have our name on this building. I think athletics is underestimated as a way to change people’s lives. To be able to bring young student-athletes to this university, expose them to this university through their skill and their passion … their success in life will not necessarily come from being athletes; it will come from being Bruins.”

Source: UCLA Athletics

Credit: UCLA Athletics