In our newest issue, we profile Miller’s new Endurance Team, including the process that coach Peter Hufnagel’s squad went through in creating the actual Endurance Room that houses the team. In high school sports, location matters more than we often realize.
Whether it’s a major capital project by the city or a small group of people coming together to carve out a simple room for a grassroots-developed program, the places where high school athletes compete or train are special spaces.
They can foster a program’s development or renew a program’s sense of pride. They can make life easier and competition safer. Here’s a look at three newer spaces that have or will have a seismic impact on the high school athletes that they serve.
1. William Monroe’s wrestling room
It’s quite simply the house that Sizemore built. Mike Sizemore is largely responsible for the development, from scratch via his youth program in the county for William Monroe’s wrestling program.
Sizemore, who grew up in Ohio and was the youngest high school head coach in that state’s history when he took over at 19 at his alma mater, has brought a little slice of the wrestling-obsessed Midwest to Stanardsville.
Sizemore originally came to the area back in 1994 and coached at Albemarle back in the late 1990s when Monroe didn’t have a program. But he put together a youth club in Green County back in 2001, obtaining a mat from Leonard Bernstein, former head coach at UVa. In 2007, Monroe got a wrestling program after Sizemore appealed to the Board of Education.
But the journey was far from over. The first couple of years, the Monroe wrestlers drilled in the cafeteria on rolled out mats, then started practicing in the football locker room.
Wrestling teams, almost by necessity, need a space. in areas like Ohio and Pennsylvania, wrestling rooms are sacred spots, single-purpose rooms that can generate champions in a sport that requires immense discipline, repetition and sacrifice. Sizemore started lobbying for that room when it was announced the football team would get a new fieldhouse, and the next use for the old fieldhouse was unclear. Eventually, he was okayed to revamp the upstairs into a mat room. Sizemore and his assistant coach Ryan Roman demoed the room, and along with a lot of booster club, community and school help, put in recessed lighting, padded the walls and installed a water fountain. They repainted everything including a Greene Dragons mural on one wall and even installed a stuffed boar’s head above one door, instantly giving a newly-minted room character.
“To have four square walls you’d think no big deal,” Sizemore said. “But there’s more thought that goes into having the wrestling room you want.”
The next step will be adding a little more decoration to the walls. The young program has a space dedicated on the walls to district, region and state champions.
“I’ve yet to put any names on there, but I’m assuming this year we’re going to put our first ones up there,” Sizemore said.
It’ll be the next step for a fast-moving program that now has a home where it can keep developing.
2. Smith Aquatic and Fitness Center
Diving and swimming venues are hard to come by in winter. Fairview Swim Club puts up a bubble over their outdoor pool to create a spot for teams to practice, UVa’s Aquatics and Fitness Center requires a rental fee and is usually only brought into play
But the addition of the Smith Aquatic and Fitness Center’s competition pool should have a big impact on the high school swim and dive scene. The facility, which officially opened in the Fall of 2010, will host the diving portion of the Jefferson District and Region II swim meets and has served as Charlottesville High’s home pool.
Built on the plot of land that includes Buford Middle School and the new Boys and Girls Club facility, built almost simultaneously with the Smith AFC.
In addition to the competition pool that’s outfitted with an electronic timing system, there’s a pair of waterslides, a current channel (think lazy river) and a beach-entry leisure pool. There’s also a state-of-the-art fitness room in the facility.
“It’s something this community needed and deserved — and they’re using it,” said Charlottesville Parks and Recreation director Brian Daly, who has overseen three major facility openings in his 5.5 years of total service with the department.
Smith will have a widespread impact on the city, but one exciting piece of the puzzle is the impact on prep swimming and diving. That should be felt for years to come.
3. Charlottesville High’s Gym
Before 2008, Charlottesville High’s gym was badly in need of renovation. Everything down to the very playing surface was substandard.
That all changed with an investment just north of 300,000 dollars, an impressive feat considering the scope of the project.
There’s not much left from the old gym. There are new bleachers (that, in a nice touch, spell CHS in large block letters when they’re collapsed against the wall) and a new floor. The walls were cleaned and repainted throughout.
It was a critical move for Charlottesville, a team that boasts a pair of basketball programs with storied histories, and it’s had a big impact on the program’s sense of pride and morale.
“It has made all the difference to our programs,” said Charlottesville athletic director Rick Lilly. “For years, we had superior teams playing in an inferior facility. We now have a facility that is representative of the teams that are playing in it and we are able to host more, and bigger events. From physical education classes to the finals of the Daily Progress Holiday Tournament or AND 1 basketball games, we have a facility that meets all of our needs.”
