“The competition gym is shared by a greater number of PE classes than it was intended for and, as one of the only large open spaces in the building, is also used for student assemblies, marching band practices, and various other school activities. MHS is unable to host many sports tournaments mostly due to space limitations.”
Troy Parola, MHS Athletic Director
“In years past, MHS didn’t have boys or girls’ lacrosse and the enrollment was smaller. Since then, we’ve added a number of sports and activities and provided more opportunities for kids. But we haven’t added additional space. So, it puts more pressure on the spaces to host these events. The gym is the only option we have for activities that need a large open space. We added two robotics tournaments that shuts our gym down on Saturdays during a time when we have eight levels of basketball.”
Troy Parola, MHS Athletic Director
“We run 12 spring sports and we don’t have enough space to get all levels of those sports practice time. For instance, on a typical weekday in March, we have people starting at 6 a.m. and then after school until 10:00 p.m. We try to rotate who gets the late time.”
Troy Parola, MHS Athletic Director
“We’re one of the few schools that can host home gymnastics meets because we have the equipment while some other schools have to rent costly equipment. So, when we host a home gymnastics meet, we’re shutting down our gym which displaces people going to a location where we can practice.”
Troy Parola, MHS Athletic Director
“In January, there’s a window where we have girls’ and boys’ basketball, wrestling and gymnastics which all utilize that main gym. We also have the Incoming Freshman Night that shuts the gym down for one night. It creates a domino effect. In a given week, we could have a boy’s game on Monday, a girl’s game on Tuesday, wrestling on Wednesday, the Incoming Freshman Night on Thursday and at no time can any team practice in that space. We don’t have the extra court space.”
Troy Parola, MHS Athletic Director
“Because we have so many programs and so few options, we’re having to go and rent space at facilities like the Libertyville Sports Complex and Santa Maria Del Popolo School. We get the Carl Sandburg gym sometimes, but it’s not always available. The elementary school gyms are too small - you can’t have a full varsity practice there. So, we’re renting places. We paid more this year than in the seven years I’ve been athletic director.”
Troy Parola, MHS Athletic Director
“We’re wanting to offer intramural sports. So, in the evening we’ve got open gyms for the spring sports and intramural basketball. Then when we need to close the gym down for student testing or other groups can’t be outside because of bad weather, we just don’t have alternative spaces for practice. Teams will go into the spin room or the weight room because there’s nowhere for them to practice. Or the lower-level teams will just cancel practice that day.”
Troy Parola, MHS Athletic Director
“Other schools with a similar number of sports and a similar number of student-athletes have the ability to get their kids home at a reasonable time. People don’t realize the toll it takes on our student-athletes at MHS. You have to get up at 4:30 in the morning to get here by 5:30 for a 6 a.m. practice. Sleep, homework, side job, family life, it impacts it all. It’s huge. It’s hard on parents.”
Troy Parola, MHS Athletic Director
“We host our dance Invitational on a Sunday. Nobody wants it on a Sunday, but it’s the only window we have where it does not affect everyone else. So we’re having to do things on Sundays to allow us to do things we would rather do during the week or on Saturday.”
Troy Parola, MHS Athletic Director