The Spanos family provides new support for student athletes.
The San Diego Chargers are no strangers to Triton turf. Starting in 1976, when Chargers owner Alex Spanos arranged to hold the football team’s annual training camp on campus, a family legacy of support has flourished and continues to this day.
With a lead donation of $500,000 from Dean Spanos, Alex’s son and Chargers chairman of the board, UC San Diego is constructing the Alex G. Spanos Athletic Performance Center, slated to open this fall. Situated above Triton Track and Field Stadium, the new building will be an expansion and renovation of the Spanos Training Facility, which Alex donated to the university in 1988.
Our grandfather has been a longstanding supporter of UC San Diego, so to carry on this legacy and that tradition is special.John Spanos, president, football operations for the Chargers
The building will include a strength and conditioning area, outdoor training and performance plaza, and other features designed to support current student athletes and better equip the university to recruit future Triton competitors.
UC San Diego’s entire student body will benefit as well. While most Triton athletic teams currently reserve strength training space and equipment at the shared space of RIMAC, the Alex G. Spanos Athletic Performance Center will free up equipment and provide wider access for the greater student body.
“This area holds a special place in my heart. I can remember being here as a kid during training camps,” said John Spanos, president-football operations for the Chargers. “Our grandfather has been a long-standing supporter of UC San Diego, so to carry on his legacy is special.”
With this donation, the Spanos family has collectively given more than $1.6 million to UC San Diego’s intercollegiate athletic programs, the most of any family or single donor.
“We are truly grateful for the Spanos family’s generosity,” said UC San Diego Athletics Director Earl W. Edwards. “This new center will be a state-of-the-art training facility that will help ensure that our Triton student athletes reach their full potential.”
Watch the official Chargers video from the groundbreaking.
Top photo: Dean Spanos (left), San Diego Chargers board chair, with Earl W. Edwards, UC San Diego athletics director.