Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake sports teams have had to reschedule games and move practices away from the high school due to continuing construction.
Athletic Director Bob McGuire said, It’s been a trying process.
Currently, all morning practices are taking place at the middle school. Only the tennis team is allowed to practice at the high school because of construction.
McGuire said all contests prior to the start of school on Sept. 11 will be moved off site.
The first home football game will be played at Union College on Sept. 1, the first girls soccer tournament has been moved to Maalwyck Park in Scotia, and McGuire said he still hasn’t figured out where the girls invitational volleyball tournament will be.
McGuire said he has been on the road looking at facilities and on the phone talking to people trying to figure out where each team will go while they are displaced.
`It’s a major process right now. We’ve only had a short time to work on this, and we’ve made over 50 changes in the last week,` McGuire said.
The swim team has borne the brunt of the rescheduling headache. The pool has been affected by the work being done to the heating system at the high school. McGuire said construction crews had to focus on completing the classroom areas, so the pool area probably won’t be finished until October.
McGuire said pool time in the region is sparse. `There aren’t too many pools around, and each one is being used for physical education, community swim, interscholastic sports and adult classes,` he said.
McGuire has gotten pool time for the swim team until Sept. 18. The team has been practicing at the Woodland Club for the last two weeks. The team will be at Niskayuna High School for a week and at Union College after that.
`We hope to be in the pool by Oct. 1, but we’re taking it week by week,` McGuire said.
Girls swim team coach Matt Turner said the changes haven’t affected his team at all. He said if anything the girls have bonded over a shared annoyance. Turner added he gives the administration a lot of credit for dealing with the rescheduling worries. The district will provide transportation for the team to their practice destination once school starts.
For the rest of the teams, McGuire said if they were scheduled to be home, they are now scheduled to be away until the start of school.
McGuire said the changes have had no real effect on the sports teams, but if the teams still have to practice off site once modified and freshman teams start, it will become a problem.
`It could get really confined with using one facility. Some teams may have to practice until 10 p.m.,` he said.
McGuire said he is confident that once school starts, teams will be allowed to practice at the high school. Then, it just becomes an issue of juggling time slots and deciding what team will practice where.
McGuire is beginning to look ahead to the problem with storage. The fitness equipment is now in the wrestling room and around the school. Soccer coaches have been carrying balls in their trunks.
`It’s been a little inconvenient, but we’ve been dealing with it, and everyone has been very pleased,` he said.
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