This fall, as renovations at the Milken East campus begin, many Milken sports teams that use the East Campus are seeking solutions to work around the construction.
The existing facilities and sheer size of the Milken East campus make it a tantalizing resource for many Milken teams, clubs, coaches, and teachers. Last year, these facilities played a crucial role in Milken sports, providing athletes with consistent practice areas and access to valuable resources.
As a result, many teams have come to rely on the resources at the campus for their practices and workout sessions.
“This year we’ve really committed to our weight-lifting program, and so we go to the east campus weight room on Mondays and Wednesdays,” said Ms. Crane, the school’s cross country coach.
The East campus weight room is one of the many areas that will be renovated as part of the current and upcoming campus construction projects. In the long run, these updates will create a larger space for training and new athletic opportunities. However, the construction that needs to be done on the weight room to make these benefits possible has left a short-term impact on teams by taking away their access to the room.
“It [the construction] is going to significantly impact our ability to lift, but we haven’t figured out what that solution is going to look like yet,” said Ms. Crane.
That said, many staff members are focused on the long-term benefits of the new campus.
“We have a weight room there now, but it will double in size after construction. We’re also working on adding a golf simulator and a huge athletic training office,” said Mr Sanchez.
In the meantime, some coaches are already adjusting what practice will look like for their teams when they only have the current campus’s resources.
“We’ll just be using the [weight room] over here, which is much smaller than the one at Milken East, so that makes it more challenging for us to get all our guys in there,” said Mr. Turner, the varsity football coach.
While Milken coaches are working out the details of this obstacle, many students are looking forward to what the plans for Milken East will offer for their sports.
“I am most excited for Milken East to offer bigger dance rooms and a bigger theater for us to perform in,” said one student.
Another student, Cricket Abouaf, 28, said, “I’m very excited about the new swimming pool that’s being built. I think it will give the swim team a more comfortable environment as they won’t be sharing the pool with other teams.”
As construction on Milken East continues to renovate existing spaces and build entirely new ones, it’s clear that the practice may face disruptions in the short term, but the long-term vision promises to enhance both Milken Athletics and academics.