A look at the Gary Condron Family Dining Hall inside the Heavener Football Training Center. (Photo: Hannah White/UAA Communications)
Three Meals a Day Takes on New Meaning for Gators
Tuesday, August 23, 2022 | General, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A health-conscious eater who has maintained a lifelong commitment to fitness, Gators volleyball coach Mary Wise took a lunch break last week at a new spot in town.
The options appeared endless as Wise contemplated what to have. At one point, Wise began thinking out loud.
"I can't believe I'm about to eat marinated tofu from the training table,'' Wise uttered to no one in particular.
Standing nearby, Tonya McGowan heard Wise's amazement to find such a healthy and diverse item at a place geared toward busy college students on the go.
"You can get the tofu grilled over here,'' McGowan responded, standing at a nearby serving station.
McGowan is executive chef for Sodexo Live!, the exclusive food and beverage partner of the Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The University Athletic Association's relationship with Sodexo Live! is expanding to provide premium sports nutrition for UF student-athletes at the Gary Condron Family Dining Hall, located inside the new $85 million Heavener Football Training Center that opened to the football team Aug. 14.
One of the many serving stations at the Gary Condron Family Dining Hall, which is set to open to all of UF's student-athletes on Wednesday. (Photo: Hannah White/UAA Communications)
Wise was part of a soft opening for the dining hall that included various UF coaches and university officials. McGowan and Sodexo Live! are ready to serve when the facility opens Wednesday to all of UF's student-athletes.
"They already have two months of menus to mix it up,'' said Chip Howard, UF's executive associate athletics director for internal affairs. "There is going to be something for everybody."
A longtime UAA administrator who was closely involved with the planning and design of the Heavener Football Training Center, Howard has been around long enough to remember when the UAA operated Roberts Dining Hall in Yon Hall on the east side of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium more than 30 years ago. The world has changed a lot since then, and so has athletic training and nutrition. The UAA has eight full-time dieticians on staff to provide meal plans and information for student-athletes looking to use their eating habits as another tool to reach peak performance.
McGowan worked with the UAA's dieticians to develop menus aimed toward that goal.
"They are here for a reason and that's to make sure our student-athletes are being fueled the way they need to,'' Howard said. "They all have diverse eating habits, they all have diverse needs, and identifying the right nutritional values for each student-athlete has really become a science.
"Throughout our travels across the country, we focused on wherever we could go to take a look at the dining facilities on college campuses and also on professional teams to see how the best were feeding their athletes. I can say ours is one of the largest, particularly the seating area where the athletes eat. I think that bodes well in our ability to feed our 524 student-athletes three meals a day."
Chip Howard, UF's executive associate athletics director for internal affairs, speaks to those in attendance at the soft opening of the Gary Condron Family Dining Hall. (Photo: Hannah White/UAA Communications)
The dining hall features a 4,200 square-foot kitchen and dining area open to student-athletes from all sports, coaches, and staff, with an anticipated 300 to 400 guests coming through for each main service (breakfast, lunch and dinner). The serving space includes a mix of self-service stations, served items and, outside of opening hours, a Grab-N-Go area with the option for mobile ordering through the Notemeal app.
The dining hall is located in the front corridor of the Heavener Center and resembles a Gators-themed food court in an upscale shopping mall. Sodexo Live!, which also oversees dining operations at Michigan, Gonzaga, Liberty, West Virginia and Louisiana-Lafayette among others, is eager to expand its relationship with the Gators.
"We're proud of the partnership we've built with the University of Florida over the years,'' said Steve Pangburn, CEO of Sodexo Live! in North America. "We're honored to continue to serve fans while now expanding to serve their elite athletes."
The offerings focus on providing nutritious, well-balanced meals. Station highlights include grill, deli and salad options, as well as smoothies and dessert, plus gluten and allergen-free stations.
Wise, who is set to open her 32nd season at UF on Friday, has witnessed college athletics and UF evolve in so many ways during her distinguished career. The Condron Family Dining Hall is another example in her view of what makes Florida one of the top athletic programs in the country.
"Much like a Hawkins Center, it puts in concrete the commitment to the student-athlete's championship experience that is our core value,'' Wise said. "This dining hall shows it – the commitment to all student-athletes. You might see something similar around the country, but are they for the men and the women?"
And, of course, do they have grilled tofu?
"They clearly brought in the experts," Wise said, "because the attention to detail is so impressive."
