Last spring administrators began to discuss the idea of adding a new team room inside the girls’ locker room.
Less than a year later, the room is now a reality, providing coaches for teams like basketball and volleyball a private space to go over strategies with players on game days.
During the construction of the room, many factors had to be taken into account to ensure it functioned properly, administrators said. One of the main considerations was how to make the room accessible to both female and male coaches in a way that wouldn’t require going into the actual locker room.
“On our girls’ basketball team, Manny Steffen is the varsity coach; obviously being male, he couldn’t just walk into the locker room,” athletic director Rick Ellis said. “Inside the locker room there’s no door to access — it’s only [accessible] from the outside.”
Other than this decision, the design team also had to decide what the room was going to look like and what part of the existing girls’ locker room could be removed to create the space for it.
“Our staff took out the lockers, and then we had to pay someone to come in and chisel out the concrete pedestal that lockers sit on,” assistant principal Matthew Torrens said. “Then some company had to move some electrical outlets in the room so that the teams could plug in a stereo or TV.”
The room was later painted red by the staff with other furnishings added such as a bench and a whiteboard for drawing up plays and outlining strategy.
One of the benefits of the new team room is that the visiting team can now use the regular team room near the athletic trainer’s office or the girls’ locker room for some privacy as well.
The new room is a private space that the team can use throughout the whole season, designed just for them.
“I’m excited, I think it’s going to be really fun for us,” sophomore small forward Kaili Lepava said. “We’re planning on decorating it and making it really fun inside for us to just hang out and have a good time.”
There are also new lockers built inside the room, so athletes can have a designated locker instead of using a randomized locker in the traditional locker room.
Ellis said, “You spend a lot of time on the field learning skills, but then there’s that part of athletics that is like the classroom, where you can scheme and learn different plays. So, [the room] provides that ability to have that classroom setting.”
