Athletes and students participating in sports at school should be able to have an enjoyable, safe time while taking part in their activities, right? Well, the school’s auxiliary gym limits these factors tremendously.
Although most P.E. classes and sporting events take place in the main gym, which is in a healthier condition than the auxiliary gym, the auxiliary gym still holds P.E. classes and practices for sports teams. Due to the main gym being the primary place for such activities, the auxiliary gym gets neglected in terms of keeping it in good condition. This leads to the auxiliary gym not being up to par in terms of safety and makes the overall experience of using the auxiliary gym less enjoyable.
People may not believe that the auxiliary gym needs renovation because it gets the job done. Technically, it is still a functioning gym that gives athletes and students a place to participate in and practice sports. “The aux gym isn’t perfect but at least it gives us a place to practice when we can’t use the main gym because of events or sports games,” sophomore varsity basketball player Joseph Waldron said.
However, what must be brought to people’s attention is the fact that the auxiliary gym poses safety risks for anyone who uses it. One of these risks is a few floorboards that are sticking up from the ground, which can be found near one of the corners of the gym. “Something that has to be fixed in the aux gym are the pieces of the floor that are sticking up. When we were getting shots up in practice I stepped backward onto one of the pieces of floor and almost rolled my ankle,” junior and varsity basketball captain Chase Mitchell said.
Another faulty aspect of the auxiliary gym that causes major risk to students and athletes is how old and worn-down the flooring is, making it slippery. Using basketball as an example, which requires you to stop on a dime at any moment, the poor flooring, which no longer has any traction, can easily cause people to slip, which may end in injury or lead to worsened play. “The court is so slippery, I always have to be careful when I plant my feet to stop because I might slip. It makes playing harder because you can’t commit to certain movements with all your force,” Mitchell said.
The replacement of the flooring within the gym would eliminate these harmful factors that are currently impacting both students of P.E. classes and athletes playing their sports. The safety of the users of the gym would increase without the possibility of injury due to slippery or uneven flooring. New flooring would also allow athletes to practice more effectively as they would be able to commit harder to certain movements with confidence that their feet won’t give out beneath them because of the slippery floor. Investing in better flooring isn’t about the gym, it’s about student safety and athletic excellence.
