On October 25th, Luther’s women’s volleyball team played its first game on the brand new Birkestrand Family Court. The new court was accompanied by new bleachers, a new scoreboard and a new aesthetic for all Luther students, athletes and fans to enjoy. 

Prior to the new gym being available for games and practice, the volleyball team was practicing in the Robert and Ann Naslund Sports and Recreation Center, and hosting games at the local high school, as well as preseason games. The recreation center, or “the indoor track,” created several issues for the team that required creative solutions. 

“We faced many challenges in the indoor track area,” Head Coach Arturo Diaz said. “We only had two courts in the indoor space, which with 24 girls was very crowded.We had to be strategic with our practice plans, without slowing down the pace of practice and still being able to keep the intensity. The warm temperature and slight humidity was also something we had to navigate, as the courts at times started to get slick from the moisture.” 

However, the indoor area they were given could have been worse. 

“We do feel fortunate to have been able to have the courts in the indoor track area, as it did prevent us from having to practice daily at the high school,”Diaz stated.  

After some of the challenges of the old practice space, there are benefits to a new space. Especially after time in the indoor track area, Diaz has found a few parts of the gym to be especially great.

“One of the great changes is that the new main court placement has been designed so that the catwalk on the ceiling no longer goes through the full court,” Diaz said. “[This allows] us to pass our defensive and serve receive passes higher, which allows us to run our offense more efficiently.” 

Diaz is not the only one who can see the benefits of this new space. Athletes are also feeling a difference in their new competition space. 

“It is so much better!” said Azaria McDonough (‘29), a first year on the volleyball team. “There’s air conditioning, I’m not slipping over dirty tiles, instead I’m on an actual gym floor… and I think it helped our team too, just being on a gym floor again. It’s nice walking over to the weight room instead of running around the SRC and the pool.” 

When it came to that first game feeling, coaches, athletes and the athletic director had a lot to say.  

“It just felt like the crowd was on top of you, but I loved it,” said McDonough. 

Athletic Director Megan Wilson also had some comments on the significance of the new court.“[The gym] is going to create a great atmosphere on competition and game days,” said Athletic Director Megan Wilson . “One of the cool things is the seating all around the competition space: you have your students and your fans and your spectators all around you.”  

The feeling of that first game was  “electric,” as Wilson says.

“There was so much energy, and we love the arena seating in the gym space,” Diaz affirmed. “With seats all around the court, we can feel the energy from the fans around us which allows the sound to carry around the gym, which helped motivate and pump up our team.” 

The only issue athletes and spectators have had with the new gym are the bare walls, as they are missing conference banners, a permanent American flag and some Norse spirit.

“We knew it wouldn’t be perfect, and so we knew there were going to be some challenges, and that our fans and spectators would come in and have comments or feedback,” Wilson remarked. “One of the things I heard was ‘the walls are really bare,’ that’s because the facility isn’t done. We’re still waiting for the graphics to be finished and for the flag to be hung in its permanent position.” 

Wilson also  expressed her excitement for people to see the finished product and urged students and fans to “come back to the next game and see what’s been added to the product.”

There will be men’s basketball games on November  12th, 18th and the 25th, as well as women’s basketball on the 25th in the new facility.