Lack of locker rooms creates a mess for student athletes

Imagine that you are an athlete and you need to change for practice. The logical idea would be to go into one of the locker rooms and change there, right? Unfortunately, that’s not a possibility Perry’s campus due to a shortage of locker rooms, especially for sports that require large equipment.

For the majority of the school’s golfers, tennis players and baseball/softball players, their favorite teacher’s classrooms transform from learning environments to equipment rooms.

— Ryne Edmondson

Sports like golf, softball, baseball and tennis require bulky equipment – which most schools provide adequate locker space for – yet PHS only provides lockers for football, basketball, volleyball and wrestling.

For the majority of the school’s golfers, tennis players and baseball/softball players, their favorite teacher’s classrooms are honored with the unwanted transformation from learning environment to equipment room. Students store their dirty, sweat-stained practice and game gear in their math and English classrooms because there is nowhere else to put it.

For the athletes that drive, the trunks of their cars suffice.

Granted, the school never intended to have an “overload” of students (current enrollment vs. what school was built for), but that isn’t a viable reason for the lack of athletic facilities.

Two out of the three major sports seasons, including basketball, football and volleyball, have locker rooms for their seasons, while baseball and softball do not, an odd statistic considering that certain positions in baseball and softball, such as catcher, require more equipment than any other sport on campus.

Without a locker room, athletes are forced to endure an embarrassing change in either the parking lot or a bathroom – a hassle no one should have to go through.