Learn More About the Edwards Family Athletics Center


What is a game-changer?

A brilliant quarterback. A grand slam. A turnover. Holing a 170-yard approach shot.

Each qualifies.

But in the future of UC Davis athletics, a brick-and-mortar game-changer has arrived, giving the campus yet another reason to be Aggie Proud.

The Edwards Family Athletics Center broke ground on Wednesday — and the support provided by benefactors today will last for decades.

Presided over by UC Davis head football coach Dan Hawkins, the 45-minute morning ceremony was attended by socially distanced staffers, coaches and administrators while streamed live online.

The $52 million project — announced in November of 2018 — is a partnership with UC Davis Health, kicked-off by the largest single donation to Aggie athletics from graduate-benefactor Bruce Edwards.

The multi-faceted project designed by Gensler, and built by AECOM Hunt, includes a 38,000-square-foot building that will house an academic center, strength-and-conditioning areas, team rooms, sports medicine facilities, an auditorium, offices for doctors, coaches and Athletic Department administrators.

A 16,000-square-foot renovation of the Bob Foster Team Center includes upgraded locker rooms, offices and a storage area for lacrosse, field hockey and football gear.

Already completed, a natural-grass practice field at the site at La Rue and Hutchison roads was dedicated in honor of former UC Davis All-American quarterback Bob Biggs, who was the Aggies' head football coach for 20 years.

"The Edwards Family Athletics Center addresses the growing needs of our athletics program," Director of Athletics Kevin Blue explains. "We are excited to see this come to fruition; this would not have happened without the generous support of our donors."

Among those front-line contributors, a handful were given the opportunity to talk about what their involvement meant personally and, in turn, to university student-athletes.

Mike Child addressed the importance of meeting rooms and a lounge for the EVO career-launch program. Those rooms will be named for Child and his wife, Renee.

The Bruce and Marie West Auditorium will seat 140; both weighed in on their allegiance to UC Davis and how they believed the Edwards Family Athletics Center was long overdue and a giant step forward for campus athletics and research.

Paul and Nancy Sallaberry were on video discussing the strength-and-conditioning center, one that is nearly four times bigger than the current weight room and will bear their names.

Nancy and Bill Roe and Claudia and Roger Salquist, important longtime leadership contributors and Aggie donors, were invited to be part of the festivities through recorded messages.

Aggie men's basketball coach Jim Les joined women's counterpart Jennifer Gross in addressing the event, then joining in the ceremonial turning of the first shovels full of dirt.

Les and Gross have long advocated for centralizing administrative and coaches' offices and creating a one-stop location for training, conditioning, instruction and sports medicine for student-athletes.

On site, Chancellor Gary S. May was introduced by Hawkins, who also served as the event's emcee, as "captain of the Starship UC Davis." It was a nod to May's campuswide "To Boldly Go" strategic-vision plan.

"This student-athlete performance center is a perfect example of the growing collaboration between UC Davis Athletics and UC Davis Health," May said.

"This is a first-class facility that will maximize one's time as an athlete, and a student, while at UC Davis. For UC Davis Health, this is the ultimate fulfillment of a goal to have an expanded footprint on campus and provide sports medicine access to our local community."

The facility — the building of which will be under the watchful eye of Associate Vice Chancellor of Unit Design and Construction Management Jim Carroll — is expected to be completed in April of 2022.

"Additional naming opportunities are available within the Edwards Family Athletics Center at a variety of levels," Assistant Athletics Director for Communications and Public Relations Eric Bankston points out. Visit EdwardsAthleticsCenter.com or contact Rob Norris at (530) 752-8683 for additional information.

In the meantime, the stature of Aggie Nation is sure to grow as the Edwards Family Athletics Center sees its first foundation posts driven this month.


One of the most well-known and respected sports writers in the industry, former Davis Enterprise sports and managing editor Bruce Gallaudet joined the UC Davis Athletics staff as its feature writer in the summer of 2018. Since then, visitors to UCDavisAggies.com have enjoyed his unique perspective on campus student-athletes, coaches, teams, individuals, programs, events and projects that represent the fifth-ranked public school in the nation.