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University of West Florida cuts ribbon on new $6M Sandy Sansing Sports Medicine Center

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University of West Florida cuts ribbon on new M Sandy Sansing Sports Medicine Center

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It was standing room only when the University of West Florida unveiled the Sandy Sansing Sports Medicine Center in the Darrell Gooden Center on Thursday.

The $6 million 10,000-square-foot expansion to the Gooden Center includes a hydrotherapy area with two pools, 12 rehab tables, four taping tables, an exam room and athletic training offices.

Sansing, who received the first UWF athletic scholarship in 1967, said having the sports medicine center named in his honor feels “phenomenal.”

The CEO of Sandy Sansing Automotive, Sansing and his wife, Peggy, and the Sansing Foundation donated made an over $600,000 gift commitment to the sports medicine center and for student-athlete scholarships. “I was in school way back in the very first opening year. Now I look at the incredible progress and success of the university and I think of all of the athletes – football, basketball, baseball, soccer – and the injuries they can sustain. Now we have a beautiful place to treat them so they can get healthy, back on the field and have a full life ahead of them,” said Sansing, a collegiate golfer and member of UWF’s first full graduating class in 1969.

UWF President Martha Saunders said the sports medicine center represents the university’s commitment to providing student-athletes with the best resources to support their academic and athletic pursuits.

“I am thrilled at this facility for a million reasons. First of all, it turned out great. And it came in on time and on budget – all those things that you look for. It’s also a real showpiece,” she said, also describing the sports medicine center as a “living lab” for students who are developing professional careers in medical services.

Sansing, Saunders and David Scott, the university’s athletic director, all noted that the sports medicine center would not be a reality without community partnerships.

“This is just a wonderful partnership with Andrews Institute and Baptist Health Care. And to have a donor like Sandy Sansing to step up and help make this happen has been great. I also must thank Darrell Gooden for making the facility happen. There’re not very many Division II institutions you see with these kind of facilities,” Scott said, adding the sports medicine center is a state-of-the-art facility.

Kingston Grady, an offensive lineman on the Argos squad, said the new facility will be good for the university’s football and other athletic programs.

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“It’s nice and we’re glad to have it. I’m looking forward to us being able to use it,” said Grady, a senior. “This facility also gives the medical staff a great space to help athletes recover from injuries.”

First-year athletic training master’s degree students Caitlyn Ream and Madison Sims both look forward to working with athletes in the hydrotherapy cold pool and underwater treadmill pool.

“The pools will be very useful for players with knee injuries and injuries like that,” Ream explained. “One of the pools actually has a treadmill in it and that will help with rehab for an ACL or any kind of leg injury. They will be able to get more range of motion when using the treadmill in the water.”

Sims added the underwater treadmill pool also has cameras.

“We’ll be able to monitor their gaits and see what needs to be worked on,” she said, adding the cool pool will replace the old-fashioned ice tubs.

The university has more than 370 student-athletes and staff across 15 NCAA Division II sports programs.

UWF athletics worked with Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine on design and necessary spaces in the facility for student-athletes and coaches. Through a Baptist Health Care-Andrews Institute partnership, students in the university’s movement sciences and health department also will train in the new facility.

Gooden, UWF President Emeritus Judy Bense, Eric and Peg Nickelsen, Rodney and Amy Sutton, Joe and Maggie Ambersley, Jason and Heather Crawford, Stephen and Mona Wright, Rick Fountain and other donors contributed to the project.

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