College gym floor almost ready
The damage done to the Saddleback college gym floor, which occurred when a water pipe broke before the current semester started, has done more than just physical damage to the indoor surface of competition.
The minds and bodies of the athletes who compete indoors have been worn as well. Indoor sports have been forced to practice at other venues due to the blown water pipe which caused the wood to swell, requiring a complete re-surfacing of the gym floor.
By practicing at other venues student athletes have been required to add travel time to everyday they practice, which in turn has limited overall practice time.
Everything should be back to normal by the first week of December according to Saddleback’s Dean of Athletics Tony Lipold. The Gauchos men’s basketball team is scheduled to host the Saddleback Classic From Dec. 13-15.
“We were on schedule, but we found additional moisture underneath one of the layers,” Lipold said. “We had to have a company come in and test the percent of moisture because there are certain regulations and we didn’t want to put in a new floor and have the same problem happen.”
While the damage has proved costly, Saddleback’s wallet had minimal impact.
“There is approximately $200,000 in damage and the insurance covers a good portion of that along with renting facilities for the teams to practice in” Lipold said.