St. Andrews unveils first-ever locker room for football

LAURINBURG — For six years, a paper sign hung on a wall next to a doorway inside the St. Andrews Physical Education Center that read “St. Andrews University Football Future Locker Room.”

On Nov. 8, that sign was officially covered up.

The first-ever locker room for football, which had been in the works for four months, was unveiled to the team Tuesday night. The Knights, who played their inaugural season in 2017, had previously been using hooks that were drilled into a wooden board as a place to hang their jerseys and other accessories.

St. Andrews football head coach Bob Curtin said the locker room isn’t cheap, but that it’s value will be well worth the price tag.

“It cost a significant amount of money,” Curtin said. “We’re talking tens of thousands of dollars. We’re still raising money for it. You know, we’re only on phase two of five of this locker room. A locker room to anybody that has played sports, that’s a young man or woman’s home away from home. So, we want to make that special.”

The locker room features three separate rooms; one for the offense, one for the defense, and a meeting room that will be completed next year. Each locker has two hooks, a shelf on top, and a seat that can fold up and be used for extra space inside.

Offensive coordinator Aaron Christensen believes the locker room is a sign that things are on an upward trend at St. Andrews.

“I think it’s something to point out, just to show that the program’s going in the right direction,” Christensen said. “Things are happening and it’s just something tangible to kind of show the guys that hey, look, things are getting better.”

Wide receivers coach Jerome Moody added that he thinks the locker room will begin to “build a tradition.”

“Once a guy leaves, that’s his locker,” Moody said. “And then, everybody that has that locker after that guy, you know, it’s a tradition that we want to start. There’s ownership of the locker and there’s also a sense of pride.”

A big benefit with the new locker room, is that it’ll help recruiting for St. Andrews football in a big way.

“It’s a recruiting tool,” Curtin said. “Young athletes these days care about facilities. You know, we’re a pretty expensive private university, and so what we give them in facilities means almost as much in how we treat them.”

The locker room was made possible with money received from football families, football community, and outside donors. Curtin explained how important those that donated were in creating a culture change at St. Andrews.

“That’s huge to us,” Curtin said. “Our goal is to do it and not cost the university anything. We want to raise the money in-house.”

Curtin and the Knights are continuing to accept donations to help pay off the locker room. To donate, go to @StAndrewsFB on Twitter or visit “St. Andrews University Football” on Facebook, and go to the pinned tweet or post at the top of the page with a link attached. Checks are also accepted, according to Curtin. Checks will need to be written out to “Knights Football.”