Fairfield High School Continues Work on FATC

BY EMILY STEWART
SEPT. 25, 2007

Fairfield Senior High School is putting the finishing touches on its Fairfield Athletic Training Complex (FATC) this week in hopes of officially opening by mid-October.

The high school, in a partnership with the Fairfield Community Foundation, undertook this donation-based project in March to expand the existing weight room for both physical education students and student-athletes.

“My impression is that the previous weight room was too small and overcrowded for the large number of students the high school has now,” Fairfield Community Foundation Executive Director Betsy Hope said. “The high school really sold the concept of a new facility to the community very well, and the Fairfield community has responded in sound donations to the project.”

The high school put up a certain amount of money for the facility, and FATC drew more than $80,000 in additional individual and business donations since it broke ground in March. Interim Assistant Superintendent Rob Amodio says the FATC wouldn’t be a reality if it weren’t for the outpouring of support from the Fairfield community.

“We’re going to have a donor board in the complex with the names of those individuals and groups that helped make the FATC possible as a way of recognizing them and saying thank you,” Amodio said. “Local businesses like Jungle Jim’s were really helpful in raising money, but we got the bulk of the money from individual donations.”

This year marks the 10th year the high school has been open at its location on Holden Blvd. in Fairfield. The weight room has always been one of the most used rooms in the building. It is used all four periods of the school day, and about two to three hours after school. The room was initially used for students and athletes combined. After the school received a grant from the National Fitness Foundation, the athletic department transformed the space into a fitness center with treadmills, bikes and elliptical machines for physical education students only.

Then in 2001, the athletic department built a separate weight room called “The Cage,” adjacent to the Fairfield arena and wrestling room. It became the space where student-athletes could do physical training as part of the “Bigger Faster Stronger” program using free weights and weight machines. It was so small, though, that no two athletic programs could use the facility at the same time.

The FATC is more than double the size of “The Cage,” and has enough equipment to allow multiple athletic programs to train at the same time. It also features more free weights and machines given its larger size. The focus of the FATC is strength and speed training, and the high school is in the process of hiring a speed/strength coach to work with any and all athletic programs.

“Everyone, from marching band to golf teams, will be participating in the new facility,” Assistant Athletic Director Randy Hambrick said. “We’re still going to utilize the weight machines in the original weight room, but we’re looking forward to implementing the speed/strength training for all sports similar to the programs colleges use.”

Hambrick, a Fairfield graduate who has worked as assistant athletic director the last three years, has been involved in the project since day one. He said the FATC was supposed to open in June, but problems with lights and floors delayed its completion.

“We’re getting the lights hung this week, the carpet and rubber floor are being donated in kind, and the weight machines are getting painted as we speak,” he said. “We’re hoping to officially open in two weeks, and we’re anxious to get the students started using it.”

The Fairfield Community Foundation is still accepting donations for the FATC. If interested, contact Betsy Hope, executive director, at (513)-829-6355.