Saint Vincent College Prepares for the Steelers

July 24th, 2009

According to Sports Illustrated’s Senior Editor Peter King, Steelers Training camp at Saint Vincent College is, “The best training camp in the NFL, the best venue for watching real football in the NFL, and my favorite place to soak in what sports should be.” This year, the college expects record breaking crowds who want to watch their beloved Super Bowl champs in action and get autographs from their favorite players.

“Saint Vincent is very proud of its longstanding relationship with the Steelers organization,” Saint Vincent College President Jim Towey commented, “and in particular with the Rooney family and Head Coach Mike Tomlin. The road to the Super Bowl has started at Saint Vincent College six times for the Steelers, and we’re looking forward to a seventh. We are delighted to have a new look to our training camp facilities to go with the new Lombardi Trophy.”

The College and the Steelers made substantial improvements to one of its practice fields during the past year by enlarging the field to regulation length, improving drainage,
re-sodding and constructing a new retaining wall along the length of the new field. “The three adjoining fields will provide the Steelers and Coach Tomlin new practice options,” Towey said. A synthetic Field Turf surface was also installed by the College and may be utilized by the Steelers, depending on weather and other field conditions. The two other natural grass fields remain in excellent condition due to rainfall early in the summer and relatively cool temperatures.

According to Larry Hendrick, director of facility management at Saint Vincent, the camp typically requires nearly 1,000 hours of staff services. “The entire staff of custodians, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, heating and air conditioning technicians, groundskeepers and student assistants are involved in supporting literally hundreds of details,” Hendrick explained.

Saint Vincent Dining Services, under the supervision of general manager Reggie Esmi and executive chef Rick Laskie, has been working with the Steelers coaches and staff to finalize the menus for regular daily meals as well as special events and snacks. They have added 40 workers to their regular staff of 75 to ensure that the Steelers will enjoy the same service and hospitality that students and others have come to expect at Saint Vincent.

Open practices are scheduled on campus at 3 p.m. August 1 to 6, 8 to 11 and 15 to 20. An additional practice is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, August 7 at Latrobe Memorial Stadium. All practices and times are subject to change due to weather and other factors. Daily updates are posted on the Steelers web site, www.steelers.com. For more information on Saint Vincent College, visit www.stvincent.edu.