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The Socorro Middle School Lady Braves volleyball teams hosted their first home matches in the brand new gym on Monday, Aug. 25.
It was a slow start for Socorro Middle School sports as the seventh graders lost in two sets to Los Lunas Tigers; although, they did play a really close 2nd set before losing 23-25.
Then the eighth graders lost their 1st set 20-25, and it was looking grim for opening night in their gym. The eighth graders fought back bravely, though, and took the 2nd set 25-23, forcing the tie-breaking set. High spirits and energy carried the Lady Braves to a 16-14 win for the set and a 2-1 victory in the match. Both the seventh and eighth grade teams are now 2-1 for the season.
The Lady Braves did their part to bring the winning spirit to their brand new home gym. They were already enthusiastic about the space before the games, but especially after the exciting effort they showed. Those feelings about having a home gym of their own are shared by other students and staff alike.
“It’s great!” SMS assistant principal Denise Gilson said, “It’s kind of one of the last things that we needed ready for the building. Now that we’re going 100% I really feel like our student body is thankful to be here. I think the gym was kind of the final crown jewel on the whole building.”
Gilson used the word beautiful several times to describe the facility and the natural wood floor.
“You can see the grain of the wood,” Gilson said.
While the new Socorro Middle School was ready for the students’ first day on July 31st, some delays pushed back the opening of the gym. Joshua Martinez, director of Operations for Socorro Consolidated Schools, said the delay was due to waiting for parts for the bleachers.
“Yes, we knew that we were anticipating a delay. It just shouldn’t have been the two week delay. Some parts came in late, but they’re nice motorized retractable bleachers,” Martinez said.
Everything is top of the line: the scoreboard, the natural wood floor, the motorized bleachers, handicap-accessible bathrooms, and a curtain to separate the halves of the gym with a flip of a switch. Martinez said the curtain is great for picture day and other events where they would want to have two separate activities going on in the gym space.
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The gym is a smaller space than what they had at Sarracino Middle School, but Gilson said it meets their educational needs.
“Everybody was highly engaged, having a lot of fun, watching everybody feeling involved in what was happening in the game.” Gilson said.
The volleyball teams were holding their practices in the old gym at Sarracino and even played their first “home” matches in the high school gym.
The physical education teacher split time between the library and the outside basketball courts for classes during the first few weeks of school. The gym became available for physical education classes last week as well.
“Middle schoolers need that, they need a place that’s their place.” Gilson said.
Check out the new gym and see the Lady Braves volleyball team in action Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. versus Ruidoso.
