Jim Sabiston Fieldhouse A Space of Opportunity
Duke is a place full of opportunity. The opportunity to immerse and challenge yourself in new and diverse experiences with new people. The opportunity to find a family away from family and the opportunity to create bonds and connections that will continue to afford you opportunities for the rest of your life.
For current members and alumnae of the Duke field hockey program, this past weekend’s opening of the new Jim Sabiston Fieldhouse was a true demonstration of what is possible when opportunity meets persistence.
Nearly six years ago, the Iron Dukes office – the fundraising arm of Duke Athletics – identified the field hockey team’s need for a new and updated locker room and team space and started working to make it happen. Ryan Miller of the Iron Dukes led the initial charge on the effort and secured a lead donation from Susan Sabiston to make completing the project realistic.
With the commitment from Sabiston in hand, the Iron Dukes office enlisted the help of a committee of resolute Duke field hockey alumnae to spearhead the efforts of raising the rest of the money to create an exceptional space worthy of Duke and Duke field hockey.
Amy Fuchs Reydel ’91, Lauren Miller Apple ’10, Donna Wilkinson Zavada ’89 and Terri Farner Burke ’95 – spanning a range of 20 years of Duke field hockey – joined forces and proved to be just the people needed to finally make the Jim Sabiston Fieldhouse a reality.
There is no doubt we wouldn’t be here today without the tireless work of the Duke field hockey committee. Thank you, Terri Burke, Amy Fuchs, Donna Wilkinson and Lauren Miller Apple. They are Duke, they are Duke field hockey. Their commitment and their passion for this program drove us to the finish line. Thank you for building a strong foundation and for being role models for the generations of student-athletes to come after you.Vice President and Director of Athletics Nina King
“There is no doubt we wouldn’t be here today without the tireless work of the Duke field hockey committee,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Nina King. “Thank you, Terri Burke, Amy Fuchs, Donna Wilkinson and Lauren Miller Apple. They are Duke, they are Duke field hockey. Their commitment and their passion for this program drove us to the finish line. Thank you for building a strong foundation and for being role models for the generations of student-athletes to come after you.”
After years of tireless work and staying the course throughout the difficulties of a pandemic, all the design plans and drawings came to life on a beautiful Friday morning. With the team gathered on the sparkling new blue turf preparing for a gameday walkthrough, head coach Pam Bustin let them in on the surprise. Their home was complete, and it was time for them to move in!
The doors opened and the eyes of each of the 26 players grew wide and their mouths dropped to the floor. There were audible gasps of disbelief and too many “Oh my God” mutterings to count. For once, this boisterous group of outstanding young women were speechless. That is until they got into their locker room and broke into their rendition Kernkraft 400 by Zombie Nation.
“Opening up the building on Friday morning to the team is a moment I will never forget,” King said. “I know they won’t. The joy, the excitement and the smiles – it was just all so incredible, heartwarming and touching. I got a little misty eyed. It was pretty incredible.”
The Jim Sabiston Fieldhouse project consisted of completely renovating the interior of the existing fieldhouse and adding 1,088 square feet onto the back of the current building, which houses the new locker room for the Blue Devils.
With the addition of the new locker room, it allowed the team room to be expanded by 45 percent as well as enlarging the existing kitchen. The entire space is equipped with antimicrobial lighting throughout the team spaces and each individual locker is 30 inches deep and 36 inches tall and has its own ventilation system.
With no detail left unturned, the new space provides the Blue Devils a space where team bonding can flourish, while also being a place of wellness and comfort for each student-athlete.
This building has truly elevated Duke field hockey by integrating technology and thoughtful design to provide an ideal space for learning, community building, relationship building and wellness.Nina King
“This building has truly elevated Duke field hockey by integrating technology and thoughtful design to provide an ideal space for learning, community building, relationship building and wellness,” King said.
For the Duke True Committee, the Jim Sabiston Fieldhouse represents opportunity in two distinct aspects. For them, it was a chance to give back to the Duke field hockey program and to enhance the experience of this generation of Blue Devils.
“Duke field hockey is really special,” Burke said. “Being a student-athlete at a great university like Duke is a really amazing experience. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime to meet great teammates to have great support to earn a world-class education. Through the years, to be a part of this program and still feel so connected and still feel like a teammate is really motivating. And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve wanted to give back more to the program and to the young women who represent us so well.”
“What the building means to me are [two-fold],” Miller said. “One, it’s an opportunity to give back and [secondly] it’s an opportunity for the team right now to feel valued and feel seen and I think that’s really important.”
And even though they never had the opportunity to meet him before his passing in 2013, Duke field hockey could not have a bigger supporter of their mission as female athletes than Jim Sabiston. He championed women throughout his life, growing up in a family of girls and after meeting head coach Pam Bustin his wife, Susan, knew instantly Duke field hockey was the match for him.
“I know that Jim would just be over the moon about this [building],” Susan said. “He grew up in a family of girls and all his cousins and he loved to torment them, but he was always so big at pushing women and women’s athletics. He loved Duke. Duke is beautiful buildings, beautiful stone, gorgeous gardens, beautiful landscape, but none of that is what Duke was to Jim and what is to [our daughter] Kristen. Everything about Duke for Jim was the people.”
Susan, upon seeing her late husband’s name on the front of the building, grew emotional. Her vision of the building is that it will foster the friendships and relationships in many facets. Between the already discussed movie nights and team sleepovers once the season is over to game film breakdown, the Jim Sabiston Fieldhouse is emblematic of the Duke.
“That is what this building is and what it is for. It’s a testament to Coach Pam [Bustin] because she’s built this program. She’s the leader. She was here when I saw the building for the first time, and I walked away [from meeting her] and was like ‘That’s it. That is the match for Jim. That’s what he would want here.’”Susan Sabiston
“That is what this building is and what it is for,” Susan said. “It’s a testament to Coach Pam [Bustin] because she’s built this program. She’s the leader. She was here when I saw the building for the first time, and I walked away [from meeting her] and was like ‘That’s it. That is the match for Jim. That’s what he would want here.’”
For the current student-athletes who benefit from a legacy of many women who came before them, the building gives them a home and a sense of community not only with their current teammates, but with all of those who wore the Duke “D.”
“I hope our current student-athletes feel that sense of pride and they feel like they are a part of a bigger community because it represents and entire community coming together in terms of hours, donations, support to make it possible,” Burke said. “We just want our student-athletes to know they are part of something bigger.”
Bustin, standing in front of the crowd gathered for the official ribbon cutting, turned emotional when talking about the building. But it wasn’t the bricks and the new floors or lockers that meant so much, it was the people and the legacy it will leave. It is the feeling of love the moment you walk through those doors that made it hard for her to finish her sentence.
“I can’t thank enough the student-athletes [from the past] to the team who is here now,” Bustin said. “All of you who hung in there and did it because you love Duke. Now to be able to go into a facility like this – Jim is here. I felt him when I walked in. It is with great pride that I welcome you home. You are part of this family. Everyone who has a name in this building, everyone who has a locker. Everybody who at some point wore the Duke D or had a child who wore the Duke D, we are family. That’s the energy we have.”
