BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After holding training camp at Lehigh University for the last 17 seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles announced Friday that the team will hold its 2013 training camp at the NovaCare Complex in Philadelphia. The NovaCare Complex serves as the year-round training site for the Eagles organization.
The reasons for the Eagles’ decision are rooted in the evolution ofan organizational philosophy regarding the development and training of their team, which is predicated upon consistency, a far more extensive use of technology and a belief that productivity is more likely to emerge from behaviors that follow purposefully established routines.
“There are so many people at Lehigh University who went above and beyond to accommodate us and to make Training Camp a special place for fans to travel each summer to get an up-close look at the team," Eagles president Don Smolenski said in a press release. "We especially want to thank and recognize Joe Sterrett, Dean of Athletics, who opened the doors for us 17 years ago and has been supportive every step of the way and Mary Kay Baker, Director of Conference and Special Housing Services, who was there for us on a daily basis to make sure everything ran smoothly. It’s people like them who made this such a difficult decision for us.”
"Lehigh University and Lehigh Athletics has been proud and privileged to host the summer training camp for the Philadelphia Eagles,” said Lehigh Dean of Athletics 
Joe Sterrett. “Our staff have done a wonderful job of making the organization feel at home and able to accomplish meaningful work during their camps. We understand and respect the basic rationale for the decision they have made to conduct camp in their year round training complex, especially given the sophisticated equipment and technology available at the NovaCare Center. We wish them well, thank them for their sensitivity and sincerity in working through this decision, and express our appreciation for their openness to sustaining some kind of meaningful relationship with Lehigh and the Lehigh Valley in the years to come."
The Eagles trained on Lehigh’s Goodman Campus for 17 straight years beginning in 1996, with the team utilizing Lehigh’s athletic facilities. The team lifted weights in the A. Haigh Cundey Varsity House – Lehigh’s strength training center and practiced on Lehigh’s three natural grass fields.
Lehigh and the Eagles have agreed to continue what has been a strong working relationship, although specific details of that relationship in the future have yet to be determined.
“The Eagles and Lehigh University recognize that their long standing relationship is changing but not ending,” Smolenski said, “Both parties have expressed a desire to explore community programs in the future.”