Rep. Steve Stivers Tours Center for Sport Sciences
U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers praised Wilmington College as “cutting edge” for its new facility that incorporates education, athletics and recreation with community outreach via the presence of four medical partners also housed in the Center for Sport Sciences.
(PICTURED) WC's vice president for athletics, Terry Rupert (LEFT), shows the Congressman the athletic training clinic and indoor turf field components of the Center for Sport Sciences.
Stivers (R-District 15) toured the facility Monday as a guest of Beacon Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine.
“I love the public-private partnership model in which the beneficiaries are the community and students,” he said, noting he is unaware of any similar facility in his district. “Even at bigger schools like Ohio University and Ohio State, they don’t have a public-private partnership like this.
“I’m excited that Wilmington College is on the cutting edge,” he added.
His tour, by coincidence, was conducted concurrent with a National Football League pre-draft training class held on the facility’s indoor turf field. Ignition, an international company involved with sports performance training with professional athletes, was holding a training session for major university athletes preparing for the upcoming NFL Combine and other opportunities to be drafted for the opportunity to play professional football.
Wilmington College’s $10.2 million Center for Sport Sciences represents a unique blend of academic, athletic, recreational, medical and commercial elements rarely seen on the NCAA Division III level.
The 41,000 square-foot facility is not only home to WC’s nationally prominent athletic training program and other sport sciences, but also accommodates training for essentially all of the College’s 21 sports teams, in addition to giving students additional options for recreational activities. Furthermore, the Center hosts a one-stop shop for the area’s sports medicine needs as world class orthopaedic, physical therapy, chiropractic and hospital imaging services are all under one roof and available to the campus and greater communities.
Indeed, Beacon, Clinton Memorial Hospital’s imaging services, Chiropractic Care of Cincinnati and Drayer Physical Therapy each have satellite clinics at the facility.
