ASHEBORO — Many of Asheboro High School’s teams will be on the move this school year, playing at alternate venues while a construction project is ongoing at the school.
The changes largely will impact volleyball, basketball and wrestling teams, though some teams that play at outdoor venues also will be affected.
“There’s a lot of moving parts right now,” athletics director Steve Luck said. “Everything is going to be OK, but we haven’t started doing anything yet other than practice. … There’s changes just about every moment. I feel like I have my head on a swivel like a linebacker.”
The volleyball team, with a schedule that begins this month, will compete in home matches at North Asheboro Middle School. Basketball and wrestling teams will have home events at Asheboro Recreation Center – often referred to as old McCrary Gym.
Capacity at the downtown facility is about 600-650, meaning less than half of the capacity of the high school gym’s 1,700. That’s the largest such facility in Randolph County.
“If we draw 600, that would be good,” Luck said. “Hopefully we’ll fill gyms up and have to turn people away. We could with girls’ basketball because of the interest after last year when they went to the state finals.”
The wrestling team will practice at Teachey Elementary School.
“Everyone is trying to chip in and help the high school,” Luck said.
Outdoor sports teams also will have to make some adjustments. The football team is practicing at South Asheboro Middle School, while several teams won’t have indoor options if there’s inclement weather.
Former Asheboro athletics director Charlie Chapman is the commissioner for the Mid-Piedmont Conference, so he’s aware of the various venues that the school’s teams will use during the coming year.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” Chapman said. “But I know the coaches at Asheboro and I know Steve Luck. They’ll get through it.”
Chapman said it will be important to communicate the sites being used to opposing schools so their fans know where to go for certain sports when Asheboro is the host.
The Blue Comets begin this coming school year with a new conference affiliation. That includes teams from Davidson County plus Oak Grove and Montgomery Central. Many of the non-conference competitions will be against schools in Randolph County. “This new conference we’re in, these teams travel,” Luck said of the potential for sizable crowds.
Asheboro teams played at old McCrary Gym in the 1950s. The renovation project will involve only minor work in the high school gym, though Luck said that space is mostly off limits because of the scale of the renovations and the type of work being done in other parts of the building. He said the gym will mostly be getting some “freshening up.”
This part of the project could make the gym unavailable for up to 18 months, meaning the 2022 volleyball team is likely to play off campus as well. Luck said he hopes the gym is available by the 2022-13 basketball season.
