For 15 years, Penn State Rugby has looked at home while excelling in all aspects of the game on the field.

The key is finding a place off of it.

In just under two months, the program hopes to ensure the continued success of both the men's and women's teams by bringing its $1 million "Home on Campus" campaign to a close.

Since August, the campaign has aimed to raise $1 million to fund renovations for a new clubhouse and a field development project. The effort has just reached the $800,000 mark, and as the April 23 deadline rapidly approaches, Fund-raising Chair Scott Heckman is confident that the Penn State community will rise to the occasion and come up with remaining $200,000.

"So far in the campaign, we have over 100 donors. About 95 percent of those pledges are coming from alumni, and the remaining from parents whose kids are both currently playing and who have already graduated," he said.

Among the donations from those other than Penn State alumni is a $250,000 contribution made by women's assistant coach, Jim Mathias. When he and his wife decided it was time to secure a permanent home for rugby on campus, they made the first donation to the project in 2000.

"We created the endowment hoping it would be used to fund a project that would nurture and develop rugby here at Penn State," Mathias said.

Following the Athletic Department's suggestion, the new facility will settle into the old ROTC Air Force mess hall, located behind the East Rugby Pitch and IM soccer fields off of Park Avenue. Currently, the building is being used for salvage storage, but 60 percent (about 5,000 square feet) is to be renovated to make room for locker rooms, staff offices, equipment storage, a video editing room, a kitchen and possibly even a weight room.

"This facility is intended to be our home and also a place alumni can come back to and connect with each other and some of the current players," Mathias said.

Along with these efforts, the program is looking to make improvements to the playing field. Mathias said that Penn State rugby is not looking for a stadium, but a venue. To create such a place, the teams are working to gain control over who has access to the field, establish it as a site from which events can be televised, and set up some viewing stands.

In addition to the assistant coach's high hopes for the results that the campaign will bring, Penn State's new Rugby Administrative Director Adrienne Krasowitz is also eager see the effect the new developments will have.

"When completed, I think this facility will provide an anchor for our rugby program because it will create an enormous opportunity to generate and field top players," Krasowitz said. "Right now, we're probably fielding two national championship teams, and the practice and competition space will definitely give both teams the edge they need."

The Ruggers have made the Final Four eight times in the last 15 years, and the Lady Ruggers have brought home three National Collegiate championships since 1997. These new developments should not only encourage the continued success for future teams, but also make the program much more attractive for high school students who are considering Penn State.

According to Heckman, the university will have a tremendous advantage as far as recruiting if it has a facility that is well known to top high school players.

Once the campaign comes to a close at the end of next month, the program is hopeful the facility will be completed sometime later this year and that both the clubhouse and the field will be ready for use by the spring 2006 season.