HARRISON, Ohio — Harrison High School football coach Derek Rehage can’t say enough about the school’s new weight room.
“Just an awesome space,” Rehage said.
The Wildcats open the season Friday night against visiting Loveland — the first of three consecutive home games to start a new school year. The strength and conditioning to prepare for a season has certainly been key to the team's preparations for the season.
“The new room has transformed our entire school’s mentality on lifting,” Rehage said. “Just not for the football team but everyone including all students. We have a strength training class where 200 students lift in here on a daily basis.”
Between the morning lifts and after school, 300 students are using the weight room.
“The feedback has been tremendous,” Harrison assistant principal Kris Niehaus said. “Their excitement to lift has risen to another level. Parents have also given great feedback and shared excitement for their children having the opportunity and resources to push themselves even further. Coaches are also ecstatic for their athletes to have ‘the best’ for their athletes to train with.”
The renovation project was launched in February and the fundraising, design and installation came to completion on Aug. 7. The total cost of the project was nearly $300,000.
“It was funded by a 50/50 split of district funds and private donations,” Niehaus said. “Many community members, staff, and local businesses contributed either monetarily or by service to the project.”
The weight room is housed in the same stand-alone building near the stadium. However, what's inside is now a state-of-the-art facility. It is also a classroom seven periods a day.
Not only does the new equipment help with time management for student-athletes, but it also has been much more welcomed by in-class students as a more attractive place to be.
“Sorinex is one of the leading weight room companies in the country,” Niehaus said. “They have completed numerous professional and collegiate weight rooms. Working with them, we were able to provide our students with the best equipment to be had.”
Rehage said the room has "the best equipment around."
"It is amazing know our kids at Harrison train with the same equipment at the pros," said Rehage.
