Students express their concerns towards the weight room
Students use dated equipment for their workouts.
March 19, 2020
The BSM weight room has been around since 1986 and has been providing an area for teams to grow as a family as well as in strength. It has been a hot topic within the athletic programs for the past half-decade as the old weight room technology has started to become outdated in many people’s eyes.
Many athletes find it hard to believe that their weight room at school is so beaten up and battered down. “It is god awful. Rusty, dirty, and old equipment in a cramped space,” senior Joe Marinaro said.
Issues surrounding the size and technology have grown with each passing year. Suggestions have been made for what exactly needs to be done. “We need a bigger area because right now the maximum you can have is around 20-30 people working out, which means only one team at a time,” sophomore Jeff Raymond said.
Issues with the weight room also sparked a concern with the general training/trainers area, located by the boys’ locker rooms. “There should be no reason that the trainer sits in (the trainer’s room) a filthy room with no hot tub and cold tub for athletes to heal,” football coach Joe Creer said.
The rehab of the athletes is a big concern for many coaches, but this specific weight room may not offer the correct tools to heal. A new weight room would allow for that process to go more smoothly. “We should have certain areas for certain parts of the body for rehab and the safety of our athletes,” Creer said.
Others see the weight room as adequate enough for athletes to get a good workout in and see results. “It is serviceable and I have seen many athletes put in time there and get bigger, faster, and stronger,” Athletic Director Jerry Pettinger said.
Due to the fact that the football program spends their spring, winter and summer mornings in the weight room situation has been a concern for them. “Jon Hanks has gone to the president of the school with this issue, but nothing has come of it,” Creer said.
The football team finds themselves at a disadvantage while their opponents spend millions of dollars on their facilities. “We are behind every single opponent we play because of our facilities. It is more difficult to compete with schools that spend millions of dollars,” Head Football Coach Jon Hanks said.
School tours at BSM show off the areas like the atrium and theater, but pass by beaten-down spaces like the weight room. “It’s so bad that when the school does tours that they don’t bring them down there to the weight room,” Creer said.
Although the weight room is beaten down, there are so many other areas in the school that also need upgrades which have made it difficult to get a plan in motion. “You can’t just push for a new weight room because there are plenty of parts of this school that need to be upgraded, but you can’t just push one thing in front of another,” Pettinger said.
During the last few years, BSM has built the Atrium, new science classes, and they are planning on building an inclusive learning center where students can feel relaxed and study. “Once these projects are complete we will evaluate all other areas of the school and go from there,” Pettinger said.
