Football team left without temporary swing space

By Efrain Valdez, Sports Editor

To compensate for the long-awaited start of the $29.5 million athletic facilities renovation, the majority of the athletic department, which was housed in the Gym Annex Building, has been relocated in order for construction to begin.

However, the football team has not been moved out of the building because a temporary swing space has yet to be found for the squad.

“To be honest, I haven’t heard of any new developments,” Comet football coach Pat Henderson said.

He said about a month or two ago, he heard that the team could be placed in the R Building in the section that used to house Police Services.

As of now, Henderson has a desk in AA-109, the rest of the coaching staff is in the GA Building, films sessions are being held around campus and the weight room is being shared with some of the classes.

Athletic Director John Wade said the football team will still be stationed in the GA Building, but there have been plans to move them to R Building.

“They’re still in the Gym Annex Building, but we’re trying to get them to the old Police Services area. That’s to be determined because they (the team) might not want to go that far (from the football field). They have to do a lot of things on the field,” he said.

Even though the football team is finding it hard to adjust to the movement from building to building, they are trying their best to make the most of the situation.

“I feel like it is (the situation) hurting us, but sometimes you have to go through some hurt to be able to persevere. You have to have some mental fortitude when you know you can’t do certain things one way, while being able to take extra steps to be where you have to be,” Comet quarterback Jaylen Tregle said.

Wade said the football team, until they are in the R Building or anywhere else, will have to figure out the logistics of getting to Comet Stadium and doing some of their activities out there.

“That’s one of those things that, until they are in it, they’re going to have to figure it out,” he said.

Henderson said the planning committee and the athletic director haven’t had many answers for him thus far.

“I haven’t heard of any new information about what’s going on with that move. Earlier on, we heard of a few different options, but since then I haven’t heard much of anything,” he said.

Tregle said that the hardest part of this situation has been trying to get film sessions in.

“I think the hardest thing about this is the film situations and just being in different classrooms. Other than that, we’ve been doing this for about a year, so we’re used to it,” he said.

Henderson said that the day-to-day activities have been rough to transition into because they are so far from their regular location on campus.

“For us, being so detached from our area, the athletic facilities and field makes trying to schedule times for conditioning, weight lifting and finding meeting places taxing,” he said.

For new players, the extra movement has been something they have had to adjust too. Many were well aware of the situation here before deciding to play for CCC.

“We try to warn them (the recruits) ahead of time that things here are going to be a certain way, so they don’t get attached to the idea that things are going to be different,” Tregle said.

He said the new players are taking it harder than the old players because the old players are already used to it.

“Everyone understands the circumstances, but nobody likes it,” he said.