THE EAGLE PASS ACTIVITY CENTER ( EPAC ) IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND SHOULD BE OPERATIONAL BY LATE 2010: BUT WILL THIS FACILITY LEAD TO SUCCESSFUL AND WINNING ATHLETIC PROGRAMS IN THE EPISD????

By Morris Libson, Jr.

 

 

The construction of our modern and state of the art Student Activity Center which will include athletic facilities and a fine arts center is underway with most of the facilities due to be operational by late 2010. But do we as residents of Eagle Pass and Maverick County really understand what the function and use of the Eagle Pass Student Activity Center (EPAC) brings to our community?

The EPAC will surely allow for our various high school sports to play their varsity games in modern facilities that will be comparable if not better than most facilities that are operational in other school districts and communities in Texas. Having such a complex will surely allow our community the opportunity for the hosting of sporting and cultural events that will undoubtedly bring economic and social benefits.

Having made the above statement, the question needs to be asked: What is the next step needed to achieve successful and winning athletic programs within our school district??

For those of us that have played or coached any sport, be it in youth leagues or high school sports, we know that the objective of any athletic competition is to win. And the truth is that the building of the EPAC will not be a guarantee that our athletic teams will win.

Teams with the ability to win will not be made on game day at the EPAC, winning teams are made on the practice field, in the weight room, on the practice court and in on-campus up-to-date and adequate athletic facilities that each one of our high schools at the present time DO NOT HAVE.

We split into two high schools not too long ago, and while we may have been prepared to do so for academic and discipline reasons, we were not prepared to do so as far as athletic facilities at each campus were concerned.

Our athletic facilities are sub-par at each of our two high schools: the dressing rooms are not enough and the ones that we have are too small, there are not enough restrooms and showers, weight rooms are too old and too small to accommodate all the athletes of the different sports, there are not enough athletic offices for the many head coaches of the different sports, there are not enough lockers in the dressing rooms for all the athletes to be able to safeguard their belongings when they change for practice and the lockers that do exist many you cannot lock, and our outside practice facilities such as football fields and other practice facilities lack lights that will allow later practices to prevent having to practice in the blistering heat of the early afternoon.

There is talk that new field houses will eventually be built at both high school campuses that will house new facilities that will alleviate the aforementioned situations. When will the construction of these new campus facilities stop being just talk and become reality?

We have taken the first step toward putting our athletes on the same playing field with athletes from other high school programs, next we must provide the facilities at each of our high schools to adequately prepare our athletes to not only compete but also win.

As parents, as coaches, and as supporters of our high school athletic teams, we must request that our school district administration and our school board immediately implement a plan for the up-dating and/or construction of the needed athletic facilities at both of our high schools. We have charted our construction of new schools with good foresight and planning to achieve academic growth and success; we must now do the same and implement a plan to achieve athletic growth and excellence. THE TIME IS NOW, AND IT CAN BE DONE!!!