This past June, Greater Latrobe Senior High School’s main gym suffered from a massive flood. Water overflowed from the swimming pool, through the connecting doors, and into the gym destroying the wood floor. The locker rooms and team rooms located downstairs below the gym also encountered water damage. With only two months until the start of school, construction started immediately. “It was a lot, they had to demolish the entire floor. They had to take out all of the boards to the point where the floor was nothing but the concrete slab,” says Athletic Director Mr. Heide.
Even though the situation was not ideal, the timing was. Getting a head start on construction before the beginning of school helped the tedious process. “This could not have happened at a better time,” said Mr. Heide.
The original expectation was that the gymnasium would be fully used around November. While it was a challenge, the gym classes were able to work around this obstacle, “My class will be the only one using the gym this year, so thankfully we still had the aux gym we can use and the other gym classes are all in the weight room this year so if it had to happen, we were lucky that it happened this year,” said gym teacher Miss Livingston.
In the case of the girls’ volleyball season, they weren’t so lucky. A week before the preseason, the girls were told that their entire season had to be played in the auxiliary gym. The team voted on whether to hold their games in the Senior High School auxiliary gym or the new gym at Latrobe Elementary School. They ultimately decided on the auxiliary gym to avoid confusion for the fans and opposing teams.
Ashley Deniker, senior captain of the girl’s varsity volleyball team exclaimed, “My initial thoughts were that it was unfair that our senior season was the one to get affected by the incident.” This mishap wasn’t just a disappointment for the team but impacted the rest of their season.
This year, between the JV and Varsity teams 33 girls were practicing in the auxiliary gym at the same time. Due to the smaller size, this was proven to be difficult. The main complication of playing on a smaller court is the dimensions were different during away games. “It’s been seen in games that we are missing more serves and I think it’s because it is so different,” says Coach Rodgers.
The limited space also decreased the number of people showing up to games. “During games, we struggled to find places for people to sit and have a den,” explained Deniker. This changed the atmosphere because fewer people were coming to support and cheer on the team.
After being told again and again there was no chance they would get to play in the new gym this season, the gym was finished the day of senior night which was the last regular season home game. “A few things went in our favor as far as the delivery of the wood and all the supplies which allowed the process to finish sooner,” said Mr. Heide.
On October 15, the varsity volleyball team swept Connellsville in 3 sets in the brand-new gym. Not only did they secure a win on their senior night, but they also recorded the first win on the new floor. “It was incredible playing in the main gym, considering we were the first team and the first win in that gym. It’s amazing to think we’re a part of history at Latrobe,” said Deniker.