This summer, North’s gymnasiums underwent some significant changes, with new flooring in both the main and auxiliary gyms. Getting new flooring is an expensive and time-consuming task that had been getting planned for three years before construction began this summer. Talk of installing new gym floors started around when North’s current athletic director, Mr. Benoit came to North in 2022.
“Pretty much immediately in my conversations that first summer with our coaches and some of our PE teachers, it was determined that the surface of the floors was not performing the way that we would hope it would for our students during PE and our student athletes,” said Benoit. “Everything from the grip to some of the areas on the floors where the electrical covers are needed to be addressed and looked at.”
This change brought some challenges in terms of scheduling summer camps and activities that would normally take place in the gym, and now had to be relocated. But, for the most part, all activities worked around this and ran camps like usual.
“Any of our indoor sports were all located off campus. So, we were over at Thompson, at Wredling and at Anderson Elementary. [We are] really grateful for those three buildings opening their doors to us and our coaches and student athletes throughout the summer,” said Benoit.
There were even benefits to being relocated to other gyms this summer, specifically because of the air conditioning in both Anderson and Thompson’s gyms, which a lack of at North makes camps in the summer pretty hot.
“Volleyball camp was moved to Thompson this summer, and even though the gym is a lot smaller, the air conditioning was super nice and made camp a little easier. It’s also nice that we now have stickier floors for practice,” said junior Anna Bryniczka.
Some camps did have a little trouble with the location switches, though.
“[The badminton camp] was supposed to be in the main gym, but then the lines were getting redone,” said Keya Patel, sophomore and North badminton player. “They decided to move the camp to Wredling, but in Wredling, they don’t have badminton lines drawn on the gym floors.”
Overall, Benoit and the sports teams agree that the gym floors are a nice update to North and will serve its athletic teams and students well over their lifespans.
“Now it’s just about keeping them clean, ensuring that our kids that are coming in for PE and for athletics are wearing appropriate gym shoes, so that we’re taking care of the floor,” said Benoit.
