Construction has officially begun for the University of Oregon Women’s Beach Volleyball team’s official facility and court, which will be publicly accessible when not used by the team.
As part of the Hamilton Walton Transformation Project, the piece of land freed following the demolition of Hamilton Hall is the site of the new beach volleyball court. The team currently holds its practices at Grace Community Fellowship, which is approximately three miles from UO’s campus.
In 2023, the beach volleyball team opened a Title IX lawsuit against the University of Oregon, citing the lack of a permanent facility for the women’s beach volleyball team, among other alleged violations. The suit remains open.
Jimmy Stanton, a senior associate athletics director, said in a statement that UO is “thrilled to break ground on our long-planned, on-campus home for Oregon beach volleyball.”
Recently, the locker room for the beach volleyball team was completed inside Matthew Knight Arena, and these new courts are “the next step in reflecting the positive momentum this program has built,” Stanton said. “The new courts will provide our student-athletes with a first-class environment for competition and year-round training.”
According to Stanton, the project is estimated to be completed by late Sep-tember, around the start of the 2026-27 academic year.
Liz Rossi, a sophomore on the beach volleyball team, said the construction of the new facility is “super exciting” and that “the girls in the program have been anxiously anticipating the arrival.”
Rossi described passing by the construction site each day and seeing the progress and the excitement of seeing the reveal of the locker room with her teammates. “Getting to witness these milestones together just makes it all the better,” Rossi said.
According to Rossi, not having an on-campus facility has impacted her collegiate career. She said that many people don’t know where the beach volleyball team has been playing their matches, and it’s not as easy to get to as some of the other on-campus stadiums. In addition, Oregon hasn’t been hosting as many tournaments or matches due to its location being off campus.
“Part of being a collegiate athlete is having people come and watch the games,” Rossi said. Being off campus “makes it harder to reach the student demographic.”
Rossi said she is grateful for all the support from alumni and community members who have fought to get these facilities for the team after many years without them.
“It’s awesome seeing the amount of work being put in to get these courts,” Rossi said. “It makes me want to be a better athlete for the former team members who didn’t get to play on these courts every day.”
Gwen Fife is a junior on the beach volleyball team and a lifelong Eugene resident. As well as celebrating her senior season at a home facility, Fife said she is excited for her team to have the opportunity to host more home matches and to “be a more integrated part of campus” and Oregon athletics as a whole.
When she transferred to Oregon two seasons ago, she knew there would be no on-campus facility, but she “also knew the university had a vision” for the team.
Fife said that having home courts will be a “game-changer,” especially with recruiting. Having a locker room and supportive community behind them, on top of having on-campus facilities, is a “really powerful draw for people coming in… I’m excited to pass the torch to them and see what they do to continue to make this program grow bigger and bigger every year,” Fife said.
In addition to the beach volleyball team getting facilities, the courts and green space will also be open for public and non-athlete use. UO senior Celia Hutsell weighed in on the project.
According to Hutsell, “Hamilton was old and needed to come down,” and putting something in its place that will “benefit recreational or club sports, particularly ones that are predominantly female” is a good decision.
UO senior Rishi Sastry said he was “glad to see Hamilton go down,” and that he’s excited for the green space and courts. He said while he was “hoping for more parking space on campus for students,” an outdoor space is also a “good use of space … as long as it’s not limited to a certain group of people.”
Alex Spencer, a UO student, said that he is a “big advocate for sports” and that the new courts are a good opportunity for more recreational activity, especially for local kids.
“I’ve been playing sports my whole life, and I think that it can really help kids, especially struggling ones. Sports can be an outlet to let them express themselves,” Sastry said.
The courts, storage and restroom facility and surrounding green space will be open next year, and will debut its first beach volleyball season using the new courts in spring 2027.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated where the beach volleyball team currently holds its practice and has been corrected. The Emerald regrets this error.
