UTRGV unveils 45 million dollar Vaqueros Performance Center

EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) held the grand opening for the athletic department's $45 million Vaqueros Performance Center.

The 45,000 square foot facility is the 11th capital project to be completed by the University in the last five years. It includes two practice fields for the football and soccer teams, a state-of-the-art weight room and areas for rehab and academics.

Vaqueros Performance Center (Janelle Tanguma/ValleyCentral)

“This building that we’re here to celebrate, it’s more than a building. It’s a home," Chasse Conque, the senior vice president and director of athletics, said. "It’s a place where our student athletes will fine-tune their trade and invest in their sport. They’ll practice, they’ll rehab and they’ll commit to their academic success.”

The Vaqueros Performance Center has been in use by the football team since the start of the season. Athletes have access to a nutrition center, a hydrotherapy room and a 4,973 square foot locker room and players' lounge.

Vaqueros Performance Center (Janelle Tanguma/ValleyCentral)

UTRGV Football Head Coach Travis Bush said it's a facility that has been improving the daily lives of student-athletes since it opened. Along with the performance center, the university also completed construction on the Robert and Janet Vackar Stadium, where the football team will play its third home game this Saturday, Sep. 20.

“We love Saturdays, can’t wait for them, but in reality, Saturdays, that’s 12 days out of the year," Bush said. "We prepare the other 353 days right here in this building, in this facility; they live in here. We see them more than they see their families. They live in this building more than they go anywhere else in their time here, so to make that daily life the best possible, it’s so special.”

Vaqueros Performance Center (Janelle Tanguma/ValleyCentral)

UTRGV President Guy Bailey also spoke at the grand opening. Bailey has served as president of the University of Alabama and Texas Tech University before becoming the founding president of UTRGV in 2014.

“You can go to Alabama, you can go to Texas Tech — sometimes their performance centers are bigger, but they’re no better. If you look at the weight room here, the one at Alabama is no better than that," Dr. Bailey said.

The Vaqueros Performance Center is mainly utilized by the football team; however, the facility is open for all student-athletes and is located behind the university's baseball stadium.

"The beauty of this facility is that it impacts all Vaqueros," Conque said. "All of our student athletes, with this state-of-the-art equipment, with the facilities that we have here, we're going to be able to open this up to not just football, but all of our programs."

The performance center is also expected to attract athletes from all across the country.

"It's going to help us. It definitely gives us everything we need to be successful now and to keep recruiting top-quality athletes as well," Bush said.