ASHLAND – As Ashland City Schools prepares to vote on funding for the construction of a new fieldhouse, a few coaches spoke with board of education members Monday about the need for such a facility.
Among the top needs, they said, is more weight room space.
Retired teacher and current football coach Carl White said ever since the district received a grant about eight years ago to outfit the weight rooms at both the old middle school and the current high school, more coaches and athletes have been using weight training.
“Now we’ve got a lot of numbers every season and it’s almost to a point where kids who are not athletes don’t get a chance to be in the weight room because it’s just too full,” he said. “When you start getting a bunch of kids in the weight room, it really becomes a danger because they’re close to another person that’s lifting, and the iron isn’t forgiving.”
Andy Tabler, a football coach and strength coordinator, said the district had 200 students come through its weight room in 2 1/2 hours Monday afternoon.
“Today I think was a prime example of a need for another space,” he said. “We have 11 lifting stations and you can comfortably fit four kids at a station, so we’re talking about 44 kids at a time.”
During another recent school board meeting, board vice president James Wolfe recounted a list of points he said were instrumental in his decision to support the new fieldhouse.
First, he said, with the opening of the district’s new buildings, Ashland went from having four gyms to having only two. This has resulted in later practice schedules for many student-athletes.
“We have kids practicing until late in the evening and then going home at 9:30 or 10 at night they’re starting their homework,” Wolfe said. “There’s a definite academic advantage of having kids practice after school.”
Another point was strong donor support, including a substantial lead gift, with private donations totaling $1.3 million.
Third, Wolfe said, having additional weight room and practice space can help even the playing field for sports like wrestling that tend to take second fiddle to more prominent sports like basketball.
Fourth, athletes in more sports are using the weight room facilities than ever before.
A fifth benefit of the fieldhouse is that it’s handicapped-accessible restrooms would be available during football games.
The current plan for the fieldhouse includes three, full-size basketball courts that would double as volleyball or tennis courts as well as a baseball and softball hitting area. There would also be a weight room, locker rooms, restrooms and a concessions area on the ground floor.
A second floor would contain a wrestling room, classroom and meeting area. There would also be space upstairs for an indoor track, which could be added later.
District officials will interview prospective contractors Wednesday and then will make a recommendation for board approval of a contract at the board’s next regular meeting March 26.
