The new athletics center includes a virtual reality Erg Room and Golf Simulator. Graphic by Stella Dubin/The Choate News
This weekend the Roney Eford Athletic Center will open, hosting a variety of new features with the purpose of making fitness more accessible to the entire campus. This marks the latest edition in a series of new athletics facilities over the last few years including new indoor and outdoor rinks and an indoor tennis court facility. These new facilities have been constructed in response to students’ concerns over the disconnect between sports and the rest of campus life.
To address these issues, the School incorporated new facilities into the complex, including a vastly expanded space for exercise equipment and machines. This new space comes with a robust team of individual personal trainers who are available to guide Choate students in developing their fitness plans. They aim specifically to cater to students who don’t consider themselves athletes.
“I’ve never been very good at sports, but when I came to Choate, I was really determined to make my physical fitness a priority. I went to the gym during my first week of school, but it was intimidating and a little discouraging having to work out around all these varsity athletes that seemed to know their way around the machines much better than I did,” Poppy Milton ’52 said. “Now, I feel more confident exercising with the help of the training staff.”
The complex features several high-tech improvements to give Choate athletes a competitive edge. Rowers can expect vast improvements with the new erg room, which incorporates virtual reality into workouts. Athletes can now use VR erg, which simulates rowing on an actual lake with temperature, humidity, and wind controls. “The new rooms will be very helpful for students to practice techniques, especially when we don’t go out on the water,” said Choate’s Head Crew Coach Ms. Eleanor Sato said. “But I am a little concerned about how large a role technology has come to play in athletics — especially as we all know how addictive technology can be. Students already spend enough time staring at pixels on a screen, and now, even sports — which we all typically think of as a screen-less activity — involves technology so heavily.”
Co-captain of Choate’s Varsity Golf Team Felix Fairchild ’50 said that the team will greatly benefit from the new golf simulator. Both the girls and boys teams of every level will have access to the room, as well as those who wish to play for fun in their spare time. The simulator will be particularly useful “when the weather conditions outside are not agreeable,” said the coach, which makes this technologically-advanced form of golf all the more needed.
While many rowers and golfers enjoy the convenience and effectiveness of the new, technologically advanced facilities, some athletes are wary about their implications in the direction that the sports are moving. “The VR erg is fabulous — very realistic … But I can’t help but feel a little nostalgic for when freshmen were introduced to rowing for the first time on the actual water. Some of the best bonding times on the crew team for me have been when I was a new rower and helped carry the boats with my teammates.” said Eden Sasani ’50. “With all this new technology, we can get a lot more practice in, but I’m afraid we’re missing out on some of these interpersonal experiences which are especially important to sports teams.”
The new facilities also demonstrate the School’s commitment to athletics at a time when some prep schools are devaluing the activity. In the past few years, other NEPSAC schools like Hotchkiss and Loomis have added e-sports to substitute traditional sports as afternoon activity requirements. Those schools made the decision to do after e-sports have surpassed the popularity of conventional sports like football and soccer. Through the new buildings, Choate wants all students — not just varsity athletes — to participate in athletics and experience the benefits of exercise.
