BCDA expands National Academy of Sports campus as new training facilities open, student-athletes’ dormitory breaks ground

Filipino student-athletes at the National Academy of Sports (NAS) are set to have more space to train, recover, study, and live as the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) completes another phase of the academy’s campus development in New Clark City.

BCDA formally turned over the newly completed Sports Performance Building, Gymnastics Hall, and Staff Residences to NAS, while also joining the groundbreaking for the academy’s Student-Athletes’ Dormitory, marking the next phase of the campus expansion.

The completed facilities strengthen NAS’ capacity to provide specialized training, sports science, athlete support, and other services needed to develop student-athletes alongside their academic education.

The Sports Performance Building will support conditioning, sports science, and performance development. The Gymnastics Hall provides a dedicated venue for specialized training, while the Staff Residences will house personnel who train, guide, and support the student-athletes.

The next phase will bring student-athletes closer to these facilities through the construction of the 12,490-square-meter Student-Athletes’ Dormitory, which will have 100 units and accommodate up to 400 students.

The dormitory will include a dining hall and kitchen, laundry and utility areas, recreational spaces, a roof deck, pocket gyms, garden strips that support a farm-to-table approach, gender-neutral restrooms, a prayer room, multi-purpose halls, and a dedicated room for student consultations.

Designed as a tropical-brutalist building, the dormitory is targeted to be operational by 2027.

“With the turnover of the completed facilities and the groundbreaking of the Student-Athletes’ Dormitory, we are building a more complete environment for our young athletes, where they can train, study, recover, and live with greater convenience and focus,” BCDA President and CEO Joshua M. Bingcang said.

The dormitory is also expected to make daily life easier for NAS students by putting their living and academic spaces within the same campus.

“This is very significant because once the Student-Athletes’ Dormitory is fully constructed, the students will just walk from their dorm to their classrooms,” NAS Executive Director Assoc. Prof. Francis Carlos Diaz said. “Apart from the physical benefits, these have beneficial effects for our student-athletes.”

The campus expansion builds on NAS’ mandate to develop Filipino student-athletes who can pursue academic excellence while undergoing high-level sports training.

Since welcoming its first batch of student-athletes in 2021, NAS has been building an environment where education and elite sports development can happen side by side. The expanded campus will further support students throughout the demands of training, competition, recovery, and academic life.

Joining the turnover and groundbreaking activities were NAS Board members Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Commissioner Desiderio R. Apag III, Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary for Operations Malcolm S. Garma, and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairperson Patrick “Pato” Gregorio.

The continuing development of the NAS campus reflects the government’s broader effort to strengthen the support system for Filipino athletes by investing not only in training venues, but also in the facilities and services that help young athletes develop both in sports and in school.

For BCDA, the development of NAS forms part of its commitment to using New Clark City as a venue for sports development and to providing the infrastructure needed to support the next generation of Filipino athletes.

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