Clovis Community College (Fresno, CA) officially broke ground on the I.S.E. Diamond L.I.F.E. Sports Complex Wednesday morning.
The complex is positioned on the southwest corner of the campus and will include a competition soccer field, an all-weather 9-lane track with runways and pits in addition to an athletic fieldhouse.
The new facility, four years in the making, is expected to be complete by December of 2026. It will be home to the Crush men’s and women’s soccer teams as well as the men’s and women’s track and field programs. In addition to the main field, there will be practice fields built on the outside of the track.
Orlando Ramirez, who’s been the head coach of the women’s soccer program since 2016, says he’s excited about the boost it will future Crush athletes.
“The new facility will help the program grow by providing a high level environment for our student athletes to experience and be proud of,” Ramirez said.
The complex is being designed and built with the intent of hosting State Championship caliber events and will create an elevated athletics experience for our student-athletes, college, and local communities.
The project has a $14.9 million budget primarily funded through savings over the past 10 years and bonds including Measure C.
The school also received a $500k donation from Jamie Hamel De La Cerda of the Diamond Learning Center last October.
DLC is a Clovis-based educational institution where adult students are given the opportunity to be successful no matter their abilities or disabilities.
“Our community partnership enables our vision for lifelong learning to continue to grow and inspire independence,” said Hamel De La Cerda, who first became involved with the Crush athletics program in 2022.
Clovis Director of Athletics James Sewell says that the college and DLC “share a common mission” for growing the community.
“The financial support provided by Jami has been tremendous for our College and Department of Athletics in so many ways, but through our relationship with DLC, our students have been able to better realize the value in themselves, and for that we are truly grateful,” Sewell said.
The project is being done by Darden Architects and Quiring Construction Company. Robert Petithomme (Darden Architects) says he is excited for the future of the project.
“Our goal has always been to design spaces that reflect the spirit of the people that they serve. In this case, the vision was clear to create a sports complex that inspires achievement, welcomes all and enhances the campus for generations to come,” Petithomme says. “Today’s milestone is the beginning of a vision becoming reality.”
The entire complex will be approximately 4,000 square feet.
Sewell is especially excited about the fieldhouse equipped with a new athletic training room, state-of-the-art locker rooms, and showers.
Additionally, there will be bleachers, a press box, public restrooms and a video scoreboard with integrated sound, and other additional amenities. Sewell says ‘enhancing the atmosphere’ is crucial
“We are excited to take our existing resources and people and put them into a state of the art facility like this,” Sewell said.
Clovis is not stopping here. The school has already done preliminary work on plans for a gymnasium on campus that will serve the women’s volleyball team and other potential sports teams on campus, as well as for classes.