Jul 12, 2018New Weight Room Opens
Last week, Fountain-Fort Carson (Colo.) High School unveiled its new $170,000 weight room. According to The Gazette, Jared Felice, Athletic Director, said the room was intended to give the student-athletes the tools they needed to succeed and it was funded from a budget for capital improvements.
“When you have a big cost like that it’s something we have to work on ahead of time,” Felice said. “The district will look at it and we just need to provide justification for it. For us, some things were starting to break down equipment wise. And really, it’s easy to have the conversation when you have people at the top who listen and understand.”
The weight room features 10 weightlifting racks with Trac-X & Cord Systems, and can accommodate 80 student-athletes. The room also has turf floor with Hip-X machines that can build leg strength.
Two strength coaches were hired who will develop weight-lifting programs for each sport and also work with physical education classes.
“Our goal is to provide the most dynamic strength and conditioning program the state has to offer,” the program’s mission statement says. “We pride ourselves in improving all athletes both physically and mentally that will best prepare them for the battles they will face on and off the field.”
Fountain-Fort Carlson also built a field house five years ago, as well as a two-field baseball softball complex three years ago. Felice said that 70 percent of his school’s students are from military families, and thus have to relocate fairly often, so he wants to ensure they have a good experience while at Fountain-Fort Carlson.
“Our district knows our kids are coming from difficult situations, moving around all the time, sometimes it’s their fourth school in four years, so we want to create a home for them,” Felice said. “We are going to spend money the right way to give them the best experiences and the best practices for success.”
