What does the new year look like for Texas athletics?

While fans cheer on the baseball team during head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s first season at Texas or watch as the Texas softball team attempts to make it back to the Women’s College World Series, Texas Athletics will start the new year coming up with new solutions to issues from last year and start new projects.

From new facilities to changes in certain sports, here is what the new year might look like for Texas Athletics:

Beach volleyball’s new locker room

To help the Texas beach volleyball team as it joins the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association, or CSAA, in 2025, Texas Athletics finished construction of a new locker room in late September.

“Beach volleyball needs to be treated like all these other sports and when you come to Texas, Texas treats all the women’s sports like a top-notch sport,” head coach Stein Metzger said to Longhorn Network. “We’re just really excited to have this space for our team so we can build community.”

While Texas beach volleyball got a little bit of time in the locker room in the fall, the long spring season will give the team more time in the new facility. The team will compete for their first CCSA Championshipin 2025.

The Longhorns currently play at the Wright-Whitaker Sports Complex  but that might change soon. Athleticdirector Chris Del Conte would like to eventually have a permanent facility across I-35 by the tennis courts and baseball andsoftball fields.

“In the springtime, you have softball, you have baseball, beach volleyball (is) going on,” Del Conte said. “How great would that be? I’m contemplating calling it Disch Field … (or) Disch Park.”

If the expansion happens, Del Conte plans to make a Bevo Boulevard equivalent, closing down one of the side roads for food trucks, vendors and games.

Continued construction of new indoor football practice facility

While the demolition of the former Steve Hicks School of Social Work was slated to begin in June 2024 to make room for the new football practice facility, protests from Save the Past for the fUTure, led the Texas Historical Commission to give the building a State Antiquities Landmark distinction in July. The distinction is the highest protection of a building in Texas, given to landmarks with historical significance, includingthe Alamo.

Despite the building receiving a state landmark distinction, the demolition took place. The University received a demolition permit from the Texas Historical Commission in September, promising to film adocumentary about the building and salvaging architectural features.

Del Conte said on Longhorn Network that the facility will likely be finished by May 2026. It will have an indoor and outdoor field closer to the athletes on campus, along with an underground parking garage for the student-athletes.

With the construction comes the opportunity to put grass on the field at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

“That’s a coach’s decision,” Del Conte said. “I prefer grass, but a coach may say no. He picks the surface.”

Discussion of potential adjustments to student ticketing

Del Conte will likely be meeting with Student Government in the new year to discuss possible alternatives to studentticketing. With the demand for tickets skyrocketing in the football team’s firstyear in the Southeastern Conference,many students struggled to get ticketsto games.

“I mean, I like the process,” Del Conte said. “Would we rather have that or a ticket pool where everyone camps out all night? I mean people say ‘Well, we’ve got to expand the size,’ (but) the size has been the same size forever. But how do we disseminate a ticket? I think we’ve done a really good job of creating a safe environment for them to get in now.”