Impending renovations force New Brockton volleyball to the road

By Jeremy Wise

Published: August 1, 2008

The roof is leaking, the paint is peeling, the floor is darkened from years of use and the bleachers are old and in need of replacement.

New Brockton High School’s gymnasium is a fixer-upper, and it will soon get that needed facelift.

However, it will not be in time to not impact the New Brockton Lady Gamecocks’ volleyball season.

Because of the impending renovations, the Lady Gamecocks are not scheduled to have a home game until Sept. 9, three weeks after the volleyball season begins.

First-year head volleyball coach Karie Striplin said she altered the schedule to move games to the road to begin the season.

The Lady Gamecocks are scheduled for eight games in seven home dates, but they are not assured of all of those.

“We may have an all-road schedule,” Striplin said.

It all hinges on how fast some construction projects are completed.

In April, the Coffee County Board of Education approved reroofing and air conditioning bids for both the Kinston and New Brockton gymnasiums.

Included at Kinston was a new roof for the lunchroom. Part of Kinston School’s lunchroom is underneath the gymnasium roof.

Coffee County Schools Superintendent Dr. Linda Ingram said since the Kinston project included the lunchroom, it was started first.

Ingram said since some mechanical issues were involved with Kinston’s project, part of the lunchroom would be without air conditioning without a new roof.

She said the mechanical issues have slowed the project since Acme Roofing, the contractor, had to wait on some parts.

Meanwhile, New Brockton’s gym roof is to start after Kinston’s roofing project is completed. Ingram said as of Thursday, the Kinston project is 30 percent
complete.

Without a new roof, New Brockton’s renovations are on hold since the leaks could ruin the improvements.

“There are just several things that have to be done in a certain order,” NBHS Principal Gary Glass said. “With work on different campuses, it was hard to set a timetable.”

Glass said due to a short summer break, the project was unlikely to be completed before the start of the 2008-2009 school year.

Ingram said New Brockton’s gym roof can be done in a hurry since no mechanical work is necessary to complete the project.

After the roof is in place, interior painting will begin. Ingram said the leaks have caused the paint to bubble up and peel.

Once the new paint is on the wall, work on the floor will begin. Glass said the floor will be sanded, repainted and refinished.

Ingram said those parts of the renovations should be done before basketball season.

She also said it is unknown if there will be time to remove the old bleachers and put in the new ones before the start of basketball season.

The impact of the construction work and not knowing about being able to play home games is affecting the volleyball team.

“I just wish they could tell us something,” senior volleyball player Anna Beth Sawyer said.

The girls, however, are preparing for a tough road ahead.

“Even a few road games in a row is tiring,” Sawyer said. “It’s gonna be tough since we practice here and are so use to being here.”

“We’re gonna miss out on the home fans,” senior Chelsea Smith said.

The girls said every Thursday after football players finish practice, they will walk to the gym to support the team. They say the football team cheers loudly.

Some of the seniors are worried about the prospect of not getting a home game.

“If I don’t get a home game in my senior year, it’ll be upsetting,” Vannessa Stuckey said.

Smith said it would be “crushing and sad,” especially if Senior Night was on an opponents’ floor.

Striplin, though, believes her squad can deal with the possibility of not being home much.

“I think it’ll be pretty hard at first, but they seem to be able to adapt to things well,” she said. “They’ve adapted to me well.”

With the current schedule, the New Brockton varsity is set for eight road games, eight home games and one tournament at G.W. Long before postseason play.