Canale Arena (formerly De La Salle Gymnasium) is the on-campus athletic facility for

Christian Brothers University Christian Brothers University is a private Catholic university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1871 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, a Catholic teaching order. History Founded on November 19, 1871, it was estab ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Buccaneers

Canale Arena is home to the

Buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateer or free sailors, and pirates particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 u ...

and Lady Buccaneer

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

teams. The Buccaneer basketball team was the

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the ...

champion in 2008.

History

Origin

The original structure was completed in 1950. At that time, it was the largest indoor

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

in the city of Memphis.

Renovation

The arena was fully renovated in 2004. Among renovations were the addition of new stadium seating, bleachers, a hospitality suite, a Hall of Fame conference room, restrooms, a lobby, and Canale Cafe. The arena has a stated capacity of 1,000.

Namesake

The athletic facility was originally named De La Salle Gymnasium in honor of St. John Baptist de la Salle, the founder of the Christian Brothers. The Lasallian Christian Brothers, a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

religious institute In the Catholic Church, a religious institute is "a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public religious vows, vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, a ...

, founded Christian Brothers University in 1871. When the facility was reopened and blessed on December 10, 2004, it was renamed in honor of John D. Canale Jr. Memphis businessman John D. Canale Jr. served on the university's board of trustees from 1970 to 1983 and received the university's prestigious Maurelian Medal in 1994 for his support of and service to the university. Canale's history of contribution to the university includes raising funds in 1949 to build De La Salle Gymnasium. Additionally, Canale donated the funding to build the John Canale Pool on campus in 1986. The pool was named in honor of Canale's father, John D. Canale Sr., a lifelong supporter of the Christian Brothers and

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

of the Christian Brothers College class of 1891.

References

External links

Photographs of Canale Arena

Christian Brothers University Athletics

Christian Brothers University
{{Memphis, Tennessee sports venues Christian Brothers Buccaneers and Lady Buccaneers 1950 establishments in Tennessee College basketball venues in Tennessee Sports venues in Memphis, Tennessee Sports venues completed in 1950