Overcrowded wrestlers are forced to squeeze together to all fit
in the wrestling room
How many wrestlers does it take to overcrowd one of San Benito
High’s wrestling rooms? Well, the answer is the same amount of kids
there are in your average physical education class
– about 50.
There are 60 wrestling team members.
Overcrowded wrestlers are forced to squeeze together to all fit in the wrestling room
How many wrestlers does it take to overcrowd one of San Benito High’s wrestling rooms? Well, the answer is the same amount of kids there are in your average physical education class – about 50.
There are 60 wrestling team members.
For the past three years the Physical Education Department has been vying for the School Board’s approval to start a major renovation of San Benito High’s athletic facilities.
“What we are proposing is not new. We have been trying for a little over three years now, and have stood in front of the board seven times,” said Randy Logue, who coaches junior varsity wrestling, freshman football, and teaches PE at SBHS.
What Logue and the other members of the Physical Education program, such as Chris Cameron and Matt Olejnik, are asking for is simple: more space.
“We are proposing the construction of a new wrestling room, and a new weight room.” Logue said. “The current facilities are just too small for the numbers of kids that use it daily.”
There are also safety and competitive issues with the current facility, as well as being a motivational drain on the athletes.
“Wrestling, for example, has not won and is not likely to win the section title because our athletes cannot practice techniques that will enable them to compete at higher levels of competition.” Logue said.
There are 490 students enrolled in the school’s weight training class. With an average PE class size being 50 students, that means there should be 10 different classes, each with about 50 students. But the school’s schedule only has seven periods, so the weight training classes are claustrophobically overcrowded, and then shoved into a small weight room that does not have enough equipment for good conditioning for each student.
With the new addition, the old wrestling rooms could be turned into classrooms, or given to the dance program at the high school, which also is in need of more space.
With a permanently matted room, the physical education program could expand its curriculum, adding activities such as yoga, self-defense, wrestling and dance. The school’s cheerleading, color guard and Junior ROTC could all use the matted space for varying activities.
The school district’s architect has drawn up a blueprint depicting two big rooms, some small offices and a bathroom – spread among 8,000 square feet.
“We originally had a plan that called for 10,000 sq. feet,” Logue said. “But 8,000 is more than we have and we will gladly take it.”
The cost of the project totals roughly $2.4 million, which has sent toward the bottom of the trustees’ to-do list. But Logue says he has a plan that would cost significantly less, and be a better building.
“We presented the idea of a steel frame building to the board, and it would have cost less than $900,000,” Logue said. “But the district says that a steel frame building would not be approved by the state; however, we have found information that suggests otherwise.”
The district is faced with four major construction projects, and only enough money to pay for three, so Logue and his colleagues are defending their project in hopes of making the final cut.
In addition to the sports facility, the list includes constructing new classrooms for the special education program, an extension to the auto shop and a new library/media center in the school’s “new campus.”
When Logue was athletic director two years ago, he proposed a plan to the Board that designed a whole new track and football field, a pool, tennis courts and a weight room – all for $2.5 million, but only if the weight room could be made with a steel frame.
“We are the only school in our league without an all-weather track and artificial turf football field. Some teams refuse to compete at our school because of our poor facilities; it’s giving our kids a competitive disadvantage, which I doubt the city of Hollister would appreciate,” Logue said.
If the new wrestling and weight-room building is approved, it will be one story and located on the outside basketball courts behind the Mattson Gym. The basketball and tennis courts are part of the long-term new campus plan, which will rebuild them in the property between the new campus and the main campus. The architect is designing the building to slightly resemble the Mattson Gym.
“We are looking to do something other than putting a Band-Aid on a big problem. We need to upgrade for our growing enrollment. Our teams are not going to be getting smaller, this school is just going to continue to grow and we need facilities that will last for 20 years or more to fit the student’s needs,” Logue said.
