It is long overdue to invest in our Athletics Pillar. Physical activity plays an important role in a healthy mind and heart and provides the opportunity to develop a lifelong habit of a healthy lifestyle. This new facility will not only increase and improve our practice, competition and training spaces but will allow us to expand our athletics course offerings (including new competitive dance and competitive cheer programs) and manage reasonable hours of practices and rehearsals for our students. St. Andrew’s currently has one gym with one competition court on Southwest Parkway. With both men and women’s volleyball programs and men and women’s basketball programs, managing practices and competitions is very difficult. Our practices begin at 6am and others end at 9pm, which is not ideal for Upper School students. Additionally, with only one gym, we do not have home court advantage due to lack of court space, which means our students have to travel to Dallas/Ft. Worth or Houston to participate in competitions. With this new Athletics Complex and Student Union, St. Andrew’s will finally be able to host SPC tournaments and other competitions at home.  In this new complex, a new competition court and six practice courts will be built, providing relief to our practice schedule and elevating our students’ competitive experiences. This new competition gym will also serve as our location for Upper School Graduation and for St. Andrew’s Day. Pep rallies, service projects and more can also be held in this space with room to hold up to 800 guests in the stands. Our existing Weight Room is less than 1,000 square feet and can safely accommodate up to 10 student athletes.  With sports teams averaging in the 40’s and 50’s (and more) it is impossible for our students to train together as a team. We have world-class trainers who do not have the ability to maximize workouts and improve our student-athletes in the way they desire. With our new 5,000 square foot Sports Performance Center, entire teams will be able to take advantage of collective training and workouts to better prepare for their individual sports. Our strength and conditioning programs will also be boosted because more students will have the opportunity to participate. The Student Union will be the first designated indoor community space for students and volunteers on our Southwest Parkway campus. We do not have adequate community space for our students to gather for studying, clubs and other activities. With the completion of the Student Union, which will also include our Spirit Shop, there will finally be a designated space for students to be together indoors in meaningful ways. In short, this Athletics Complex and Student Union will become the heartbeat of our Southwest Parkway campus.