Opened 3 December 1949 | Capacity 7,500 | |
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Former names Ateneo GymLoyola Center Similar Moro Lorenzo Sports Ce, Filoil Flying V Centre, Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Church of the Gesù | ||
Rp women s u23 light practice april 6 2015 blue eagle gym
The Blue Eagle Gym is a gymnasium located in the main campus of the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, Philippines. Unlike most gymnasiums, the basketball court is oriented perpendicular to the orientation of the building.
The stadium was built in 1949, three years before the Ateneo de Manila moved from its Manila campus to its current main campus in Loyola Heights, Quezon City in 1952. At inauguration in 1949, it was called the Ateneo Gym. From late 1960s to mid-1970s, it was officially known as the Loyola Center. It was in the year 2000 that it was renamed the Blue Eagle Gym.
According to historical records, the gym was constructed under the direction of Ateneo Rector William F. Masterson, S.J., to be an alternative venue to the Rizal Memorial Coliseum for the National Collegiate Athletic Association games.
It is frequently a venue for sporting events of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (pre-1978). Ateneo's games, however, were played at the Rizal Coliseum to prevent any home-court advantage during the NCAA years.
It was also a venue for Philippine Basketball Association games in the league's early years. The Manila Metrostars of the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association also used the Blue Eagle Gym as a temporary home court before moving to the Mail and More Arena in San Andres, Manila.
The stadium played host to the sepak takraw tournament of the 1991 Southeast Asian Games. It was scheduled to be the venue for women's basketball in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, but since the Basketball Association of the Philippines was suspended by FIBA, the gymnasium was not able to host the event.
The gymnasium is the home of the Ateneo Blue Eagles, Ateneo de Manila University's varsity team. It used also as training venue for the 2015 U23 and SEA Games-bounded National Women's Volleyball Teams helmed by the Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas, Inc. (LVPI), which their secretary general Ricky Palou, happened to be the former Athletic director of Ateneo.