Niles West Athletes Get More Elbow Room

The Niles West High School boys gymnastics team had to train behind the upper bleachers in the main gymnasium, in a small area just large enough for all the equipment but with barely enough room for any athlete to actually move around.

The girls gymnastics team practiced in a room adjacent to the boys' area, a more confined space so small that the floor exercise competitors had to train at Niles North High School.

All of that will change with the addition of a new gymnasium dedicated to gymnastics -- a west side wing scheduled for completion in December. The construction is part of a multimillion dollar renovation of many of Niles West's athletic facilities, including the field house.

"It's an ambitious project, unprecedented for the school district,'' said Niles West Athletic Director David Rosengard.

The gymnasium will be a 10,000-square-foot addition to the school's facilities and will not only improve preparations for the gymnastics team, but will have a domino effect on the rest of the Wolves' athletic teams.

"Nine teams will benefit by this new facility,'' boys gymnastics coach Steve Foerch said. Beyond the two gymnastics teams, he listed the boys and girls track team, which will use the new pit system in the building for jumping events; cheerleading, which will use the tumbling areas; boys and girls diving, which will use the facility for "dry-land' training; and the cross-country teams, which can use the pit for resistance training.

"Overall, this gym will be a quantum leap from the current gymnasium logistics in the areas of utility, organization, efficiency and most importantly, safety,'' Foerch said.

The new gymnasium creates extra space everywhere, as equipment is moved from within the old walls to the new building.

The back of the bleachers is being converted into a batting cage for the baseball team. The room the girls gymnastics team used has been converted into a cardio lab, with a long stretch of new exercise bicycles.

The old exercise bicycles, which were in a Wolves' training room, have been moved, thus creating space in the training area for aerobic work.

Also, a new care facility for athletic trainers has been built in a causeway between the field house-gymnasium and the new gymnastics wing. The school's athletic trainers will have more space that includes a new tub room for ice and heat treatments.

Then there's the field house, which has a new track, a new basketball floor and a new paint job that features the school's new logo. The field house is used by baseball, softball, volleyball, basketball, track and field, and badminton teams, just to name a few.

"The field house floor hadn't been replaced since 1993,'' Rosengard said. "The training room was too small to accommodate the athletes we had. The gymnasium gym didn't really exist, and behind the bleachers wasn't adequate."

The physical expansion expands the reach of the school outside of its students. Foerch said the new gymnasium will also be used for feeder programs and summer camps, part of Niles West's massive program for all varsity sports.

"I think everyone will benefit,'' Rosengard said. "We now have state-of-the-art facilities that match most other schools in the area."