The saying “Everything’s bigger in Texas” happens to be true in Mansfield. The school district’s new bond holds promise big things. And now after 10 years, it’s out with the old and in with the new.
The new bond passed for an athletic facility on campus five times the size of what athletes have now. It’s plans say to include two floors, and a little over 40,000 square feet.
“This facility will be state of the art. It will be the best training facility in all of Texas,” Head Coach Chris Melson said.
Even though construction does not start until May of 2018, the project schedule on MISD’s website says to have it done by the beginning of next school year in 2019.
On the first floor, there will be a weight room and training room triple the size of what they have been using. So, no more waiting on others to finish, or getting crammed in the training room. Everything will run smoother and help athletes to reach their full potential.
Right now, the weight room used lacks enough size which causes the players to take longer on their workouts because they don’t have enough room and have to wait for others to finish. Then, the training room cramps when multiple people need treatment and some people don’t have enough time, so they leave without getting what they need. But the new facility shows signs of big changes.
The second floor only sports brand new things. New locker rooms, new coaches offices, new meeting rooms. Even a new laundry system allows trainers to clean dirty practice gear and have it waiting for them in a locker the next day.
The facility will also have six meeting rooms the teams don’t have now, including rooms for each position to meet in. This addition will help because some players have met in the laundry closet this season. Players even get a new 1,700 square foot team meeting room. The coaches will also have there private meeting rooms for themselves.
There will still be three locker rooms for each team, but each one will have its own bathroom and showers. When players leave to go back home after practice, on their way out they can stop by a cubby and put all the dirty laundry in there, where it will be washed overnight, ready to be used again.
“All the athletic coordinators for the district met and we designed the overall plans for the facility, and we tried to make it the best for our student athletes,” Melson said. “It has the possibility to help us become the best team we can be.”
