<p>Mueh is hoping to add structure within a year</p>
<p>By JAKE SCHALLER THE GAZETTE</p>
<p>Air Force athletic director Hans Mueh hopes to have a new indoor facility for intercollegiate sports teams built within a year, he said.</p>
<p>The facility would be built somewhere on the fields behind the Falcon Athletic Center and would help the department remain competitive with other Division I programs that have similar structures, Mueh said.</p>
<p>The current indoor space in the Falcon Athletic Center is too small to conduct full-field football drills, said coach Troy Calhoun, who has championed the construction of a facility. Calhoun also noted the space is inadequate for baseball and that for several months in the winter, it is occupied almost entirely by the indoor track team.</p>
<p>Mueh said he is confident the facility would be funded completely by donations.</p>
<p>We have a number of pretty high-level donors that have already said, Were there for you, Mueh said.</p>
<p>I am honestly surprised that he would call the FAC small... the first time I saw that thing from the cadet area at SLS I had to pick my jaw up off the ground. That complex is HUGE.</p>
<p>Yeah, the track area gets really crowded in the winter. Right now, Lacross, Track, and some other teams are using it (often at the same time)...then Recondo tries to run there too.</p>
<p>Yep, it seems pretty small when you've got multiple sports (and RECONDO) all practicing at the same time in there. Plus, like hornet mentioned, there's the ice rink and the basketball stadium in there too. </p>
<p>My roomie (a football IC) said that recruitment might also have something to do with building another indoor training facility, since both Army and Navy just got new indoor training facilities.</p>
<p>The indoor facility was brought up Thursday at Mueh’s briefing to the academy’s Board of Visitors (akin to a board of trustees) about his efforts to have the athletic department recast as a nonprofit corporation.</p>
<p>Mueh wants his department to become a federally chartered non-profit organization under Title 36, U.S. Code, so he will be able to generate more revenue, invest reserve funds, solicit donations and more easily put donations to use. Construction of the indoor facility would be expedited if the department becomes a non-profit organization, Mueh said.</p>
<p>Currently, the athletic department is funded partially with taxpayer money. The rest comes from the Air Force Academy Athletic Association, which, in military terms, is called a Non-Appropriated Fund Instrumentality. Rules for such organizations forbid soliciting donations and selling merchandise off academy grounds, which are common ways for most Division I athletic programs to generate revenue.</p>
<p>Another benefit to changing the department’s structure, Mueh said, is he would be able to enhance the contracts of coaches with licensing and corporate agreements and make them more competitive. Mueh said he was contacted by three schools that had interest in Calhoun and that Calhoun was contacted by three other schools.</p>
<p>Mueh is awaiting approval on his proposal by the Secretary of the Air Force. If it is approved, as Mueh expects, it will need to be presented to Congress.</p>