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Dozens of buses en route from 25 Minnesota school districts pause on 23rd Avenue to unload hundreds of students in grades three through six at the 海角社区 Air Structure (aka the Augsburg Dome). The air lock opens, and grinning youngsters wheel, walk, and run into the 360-by-216-by-63-foot inflatable bubble lined with activities to exercise their cognitive, emotional, and physical muscles.

Augsburg has held this one-day Sports Extravaganza for nearly 20 Novembers. Do the math: that鈥檚 more than 4,000 children, teachers, and paraprofessionals who have visited campus, and two decades of Auggies who have applied their health, physical education, and exercise science coursework to the field.

HPE instructor said the event wouldn鈥檛 have started without the dome. 鈥淚magine funneling hundreds of kids with mental and/or physical disabilities into Si Melby Hall via untold batches of elevator trips,鈥� she said. 鈥淲ithout the air structure, this dual community engagement and learning opportunity would have never taken off.

鈥淓very year, teachers tell us that students ask about the event from the first day of classes, and we see that excitement as kids meet others and participate in activities they might have assumed were inaccessible to them.鈥�

AN EXPANSIVE GATHERING PLACE

Sports Extravaganza is one of several community events squeezed into the dome between softball and lacrosse games and practices for baseball, track and field, golf, soccer, and football. Physical education classes, intramural activities, alumni events, and more also vie for the space, which features four batting cages, a driving range net, and four soccer goals.

About 35 campus and community groups schedule the space each year, according to Greg Holker, the men鈥檚 soccer head coach, who helps manage dome schedules as part of his dual role as athletic facilities assistant manager. Thousands of people use the dome for a total of about 3,000 hours during any given year.

鈥淩egular users include our sports teams, HPE classes, camps, the Minneapolis United Soccer Club, and other prominent academies and associations,鈥� he added. 鈥淒uring Super Bowl LII this year, a large corporation hosted a Punt, Pass, and Kick Competition, and the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee fi lmed a commercial in the space.鈥�

Each November, more than 500 student-athletes join coaches, staff, and administrators to erect the weather-proof structure. It鈥檚 a Herculean effort that illustrates the university鈥檚 cooperative, all-in attitude, according to Athletic Director Jeff Swenson 鈥�79. Come May, after 12-hour weekdays and about 18-hour weekend days, the dome is put away in about three hours, again by a campus-wide team. Swenson said the dome has substantially increased Augsburg鈥檚 workout space.

鈥淣obody appreciates the air structure more than our spring sports,鈥� Swenson said. 鈥淎ccess to a climate-controlled regulation fi eld in our backyard gets them in the game earlier in the season without interruptions due to weather.鈥�

The university also is able to offer physical education classes, including golf and soccer, in the spring. Eric Rolland 鈥�97, men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 golf head coach, said without the dome, spring offerings would be limited to indoor activities like bowling. And while Rolland enjoys throwing a strike as much as the best of them, the former All-American golfer said he has enjoyed the ability to teach golf throughout the year.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a lifelong sport that can enhance your career, given that so many business meetings occur on the golf course,鈥� said Rolland, who has taught golf classes for the past fi ve years. 鈥淪tudents make lasting friendships, too, as the dome transforms into a giant driving range where students visit as they perfect their swings.鈥�

鈥淚n 1993, the original Augsburg Dome was installed as one of the first inflatable air structures operating in the Midwest region. In the summer of 2004, the university installed Sprinturf, which looks, feels and plays like natural grass, but it is safer and far more durable than older-style artificial-turf surfaces. A new state-of-the-art bubble was installed in the fall of 2006 with hanging lights, creating a more spacious and well-lit facility.鈥� 鈥� David St. Aubin, athletic facilities director.

THE DOME 鈥楽AVED OUR SEASON鈥�

Talk of spring takes Softball Head Coach Melissa Lee 鈥�04 back to April, when the Twin Cities experienced its snowiest and fourth-coldest April on record, according to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, which reported 26.1 inches of the white stuff and an average high of 47.4 degrees.

鈥淚t was the winter that would never end,鈥� said Lee, who is in her 15th season on Augsburg鈥檚 coaching staff. 鈥淥ther teams in our conference have to rent out dome space or practice on hard gym floors incapable of mimicking competition, so when the weather is bad, those players may catch鈥攐r try to catch鈥攖heir first deep pop fly of the season during a game. We made the playoffs last year, and I believe the dome contributed to that success.鈥�

Then-senior-outfielder Katie Parker 鈥�18 was among the Augsburg softball players who spent the majority of the 2018 season under the dome. Playing inside requires adjustment, she said, with rules against catching deflected balls (to avoid injuries), turf vs. dirt, and many lights, rather than the sun鈥檚 sole beam. But the snowy season didn鈥檛 faze the native of Lakeville, Minnesota.

鈥淚t鈥檚 our home turf, literally, so we practice in the space long before our first game,鈥� said Parker, who graduated in May with a bachelor鈥檚 in elementary education with a focus on special education. 鈥淚 loved the sense of community and cooperation as we worked side-by-side with student-athletes on other teams to take down and set up fence panels and goals, depending on the sport. Coach Lee also worked hard and stayed up late to make sure other area softball programs could access to the dome to finish out their seasons.鈥�

Will this year be a repeat of last season? The Farmers鈥� Almanac indicates 鈥榥o,鈥� Coach Lee said, but the Minnesota native jokes the state鈥檚 weather is as unpredictable as a curve ball. What is not inconsistent, she added, is Auggies鈥� willingness to work together鈥攕now or shine.

Assistant Baseball Coach Zach Bakko 鈥�18 echoed Lee鈥檚 appreciation for the dome鈥檚 ability to bring athletes across Augsburg鈥檚 21 sports together with each other, the campus, and greater community. Bakko spent several seasons fielding balls under the dome lights as an Auggie outfielder.

鈥淲hether it be quarterback Quinn Frisell 鈥�19 throwing out routes to his agile receivers, golfer Brett Buckingham 鈥�21 working on his swing, or soccer forward Ashley St. Aubin 鈥�20 figuring out another way to score a hat trick, I鈥檝e been able to see athletes in other sports work to maximize their potential,鈥� said Bakko. Plus, 鈥淭he space allows our campus to give back to the community and make a positive difference in the lives of young athletes [through camps and clinics].鈥�

鈥淗aving worked for athletics, I鈥檝e met the real heroes of the dome鈥攁thletics administrators, coaches, and all the maintenance staff鈥攎anaging scheduling, cleaning, and every other task that arises,鈥� he added. 鈥淭hat willingness to come together and do what鈥檚 needed, regardless of whether it鈥檚 in your job description, has expanded my understanding of the word 鈥榯eam.鈥欌��

Augsburg community members work together to assemble the dome each fall. First installed in 1993, Augsburg鈥檚 original dome was one of the premier inflatable air structures in the Midwest.

[Top image]: The Augsburg Air Structure鈥攁nd the rest of the Minneapolis campus鈥攍ooked practically otherworldly following a record-breaking April 2018 snowstorm.