As an athlete on the women’s basketball team, I have come to realize one very disturbing aspect about this school, the floor upstairs in the Student Center.
We who use the gym regularly know exactly what this is about, but for those of you who do not, an explanation is needed.
The so-called gym floor we have in our facilities is probably one of the worst floors I have ever played on in my life and I have been playing basketball for 10 years.
Most gym floors are made up of hardwood and lacquer, but not ULV’s floor. It is made up of rubber with a plastic wrap. I need not mention that half the plastic is tearing off at this very moment.
Basketball courts should be nice and shiny with boarded wood, not one big rubber square with some plastic on top of it, so when you run down the court you almost trip over the plastic that is tearing away.
ULV’s court is absurd and I know many athletes who agree with me. I have even heard talk that the men’s volleyball team would prefer to use the Old Gym once in a while because the gym in the Supertents is just so bad.
Is this what it has come to? Going down into the smaller, colder, dirty, dustier, old gym, because despite all the things wrong with that gym too, it is still better than the gym upstairs.
La Verne is known for its wonderful atmosphere, unique buildings, and beautiful grounds. This is all true, ULV is a beautiful school with the exception of that ugly old green floor we call our basketball court.
Every other sport at La Verne has great places to compete, and they should because they deserve them, but why not now try to improve the Student Center gym. This would be not just for men and women’s basketball, but men and women’s volleyball, some physical education classes and other school activities such as intramural basketball.
La Verne students are paying for their own education of $14,460, which does not include anything but the actual tuition. With about 1,000 undergraduate students going to ULV and paying that much money, you would think a new floor plan for the gym could at least be talked about for the future. It would not only be for the athletes at La Verne right now who have to play on the unacceptable court, but also for the future athletes of La Verne.
I am not asking for much. I could go on and explain how it sucks to play in that gym for other reasons like the lighting, air conditioning and heater, the smell of the Spot at dinner time during practice and the annoying sound of the cheerleaders practicing their routines over and over and over again, not to mention the sororities chanting their names so loud the tents are shaking, but I will not.
Also, a number of injuries have occurred in that gym, especially this year. All kinds of injuries to ankles, backs and knees. Some of the injuries have led to surgery (including my own), therapy, time off, red shirting and just hours and hours in the training room. The women’s basketball team alone had five different players injured this year in the Supertents, which lead to them missing at least one or more games.
All I am saying is that a new gym floor would probably cost around 20 students’ tuition. This may seem like a high number, but the benefits would be worth it.
It would not only help out athletes playing on the court, but it would also help boost enrollment just a little, and is not that what the University wants?
The school distributes its money any which way it chooses, so why not scoop a little toward the reconstruction of a new floor.
Laura Czingula, a junior journalism major, is sports editor of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at czingula@ulvacs.ulaverne.edu.
