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This leg-extension machine shows signs of wear and tear. Most equipment has not been updated for some 20 years.
This former storage room provides space for half of the school's training facilities.
Missing floor tiles spurred Chancellor to raise funds for a new weight-training room with updated equipment.
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High school sports are a serious business these days, and athletes from football to field hockey train in ways unheard of a generation ago.
The students and faculty at Chancellor High School in Spotsylvania feel that their weight room is below standard, and they're raising money for an extreme makeover.
Weightlifting is basic training for nearly every athlete these days. For years, Chancellor students have made do with a makeshift lifting area, mismatched weights and unsafe equipment. A tour of the facility reveals peeling and missing floor tiles, threadbare benches, missing mirrors and rickety weight racks.
"We needed to do something, because our athletes were getting injured," Principal Jacqueline Bass-Fortune said. "We figured it would benefit us to come up with a weight-training program for the kids."
"Most of the equipment is unsafe and out-of-balance. It's just not functional," volleyball and basketball coach Rod Crooks said. "We started by looking into new flooring last year, and we raised a little money for it, but a closer inspection led us to consider a full renovation."
Recent belt-tightening by the county had already put Chancellor's scheduled track renovation on hold, so Crooks knew he was unlikely to get financial support from the county. The school decided to pursue funding for the new weight room on its own. Crooks estimates it will take about $80,000.
"We're looking for donations and corporate sponsorships," Crooks said. "We have a lot of fires burning, but haven't gotten anything big yet. The only negative is complacency, but once people see some action, I think support will roll in."
Athletes raised about $1,000 by selling snacks during exams, and Crooks has drafted a letter for students to take into the community to ask for support. The school also is applying for grants, because the facility will benefit special-needs students as well as athletes.
The current weight room is tucked into the old wrestling room and a former storage room. Plans call for transforming the auxiliary gym into the new weight-training facility, and returning the old wrestling room to its intended purpose. The new weight room will feature state-of-the-art strength and cardio equipment. Best of all, it will be spacious, clean and organized.
Crooks and Bass-Fortune hope the facility will be ready when the school opens next year, but would be thrilled if they could get the room finished, if not equipped, by graduation this year. Both realize this is a difficult time to ask for money, but are undeterred.
"We're going to go forward," Bass-Fortune said. "We need to show the students that we're serious, so we're working hard to try to get money together--we're not getting discouraged. We want something the kids can have pride in."
To reach Jonas Beals: 540/368-5036
Email: jbeals@freelancestar.com
