Extra gym at Oconee County High School made provide fitting monument to a time gone by
The practice gymnasium at Oconee County High School had to have made some other nearby principals jealous from its sudden and secretive arrival on the scene of secondary education.
This brand spanking new practice gym is a certified money maker for the county coffers as the Northeast Georgia Premier Basketball League has rented the facility for the last two weeks at least, bringing in visitors from at least three neighboring counties and even parents and families from Oconee County multiple times in the same soggy Saturday.
The sparkling court floor is immaculate and can handle dozens of dribblers in a day long frenzy of fast break full court action. The four rows of seats pull out and are comfortable for bleachers.
The irony is that this is exactly the kind of semi-public facility to which I would be an ardent supporter, yet the apparent manner in which this was planned, promoted, built and publicized just seemed to somehow be off the radar of the local media and bloggers.
I would have love to have attended a ribbon cutting or dedication for this facility, and I am not for certain that there ever was not one, just that I must have missed the invitation for that in the mail as well.
One well known local developer and farmer told of another tract of land that the county BOE purchased for one central facility for all the future needs just below his family's $18,000.00 a year tax imbuing property in Oconee County. He thought this new gym was well over a million dollars in cost and was equally aghast at the recent purchase in downtown Watkinsville.
The new facility could be something we are all proud of, or it could serve as a millstone around the neck of the Board of Education. I would like to know the rate of rental of this or any other facility in the BOE arsenal. I think they should be used more often by any interested parties. I commend the BOE for their cooperation with the Oconee County Recreation Department and the obvious symbiosis thereof.
The second time around for this assistant coach and his son's team was to hang well with a bunch of older kids from St. Joe's but to come up a little short on the scoreboard. Another excellent aspect of this new gym is a modern and highly visible scoreboard. There are multiple dressing rooms that looks like they could comfortably accommodate four full basketball teams. It is on the far eastern part of the expansive campus of Oconee County High School.
I know I am glad that we have this kind of gym for our kids to play against kids from Morgan and Clarke counties in basketball. I am a gym rat, as anyone knows who came to the Herman C. Michael gymnasium for open gym from 1989 to 1994. I still run into people who I played ball against lo these many years later. Here Chris Pittard points out some of the finer aspects of the full court press to the Athens Academy White Shadows 4th grade team from Saturday's action at the Practice Gym.
I love basketball and am grateful for the opportunity to coach my son at this advanced level. His talent and grace blows the mind of his parents. Look for us on a court near you soon. I look forward to having games at Veterans Park as we have only been in there when they were setting up and not yet actually playing. I was very impressed in how quickly the OCRD staff set up the place for a serious full court tilt, and we are fortunate to have some of the best basketball facilities in the whole state of Georgia at our near constant use.
This brand spanking new practice gym is a certified money maker for the county coffers as the Northeast Georgia Premier Basketball League has rented the facility for the last two weeks at least, bringing in visitors from at least three neighboring counties and even parents and families from Oconee County multiple times in the same soggy Saturday.
The sparkling court floor is immaculate and can handle dozens of dribblers in a day long frenzy of fast break full court action. The four rows of seats pull out and are comfortable for bleachers.
The irony is that this is exactly the kind of semi-public facility to which I would be an ardent supporter, yet the apparent manner in which this was planned, promoted, built and publicized just seemed to somehow be off the radar of the local media and bloggers.
I would have love to have attended a ribbon cutting or dedication for this facility, and I am not for certain that there ever was not one, just that I must have missed the invitation for that in the mail as well.
One well known local developer and farmer told of another tract of land that the county BOE purchased for one central facility for all the future needs just below his family's $18,000.00 a year tax imbuing property in Oconee County. He thought this new gym was well over a million dollars in cost and was equally aghast at the recent purchase in downtown Watkinsville.
The new facility could be something we are all proud of, or it could serve as a millstone around the neck of the Board of Education. I would like to know the rate of rental of this or any other facility in the BOE arsenal. I think they should be used more often by any interested parties. I commend the BOE for their cooperation with the Oconee County Recreation Department and the obvious symbiosis thereof.
The second time around for this assistant coach and his son's team was to hang well with a bunch of older kids from St. Joe's but to come up a little short on the scoreboard. Another excellent aspect of this new gym is a modern and highly visible scoreboard. There are multiple dressing rooms that looks like they could comfortably accommodate four full basketball teams. It is on the far eastern part of the expansive campus of Oconee County High School.
I know I am glad that we have this kind of gym for our kids to play against kids from Morgan and Clarke counties in basketball. I am a gym rat, as anyone knows who came to the Herman C. Michael gymnasium for open gym from 1989 to 1994. I still run into people who I played ball against lo these many years later. Here Chris Pittard points out some of the finer aspects of the full court press to the Athens Academy White Shadows 4th grade team from Saturday's action at the Practice Gym.
I love basketball and am grateful for the opportunity to coach my son at this advanced level. His talent and grace blows the mind of his parents. Look for us on a court near you soon. I look forward to having games at Veterans Park as we have only been in there when they were setting up and not yet actually playing. I was very impressed in how quickly the OCRD staff set up the place for a serious full court tilt, and we are fortunate to have some of the best basketball facilities in the whole state of Georgia at our near constant use.
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