By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
Kevin Vargyas knows a good deal when he sees one and when the chance came to close a deal for lockers for the Buckeye Central field house he didn’t hesitate.
“Thanks to our board, we were the most aggressive and we got it,” said the Buckeye Central athletics director. “We had wanted to do this for a while. We got two locker rooms for the price of one.”
The lockers came from the Kent State University football program and are approximately five years old. The individual units attach together. Buckeye Central got 100 locker units for less than $20,000. Each unit has two spaces that can be locked, a towel bar, seating area, clothes hooks and shelves.
The good price and number of lockers will allow Buckeye Central to remodel both the home and visiting team locker rooms meaning the Bucks’ football opponents will have as nice a locker room as their hosts.
That also goes for the girls track team at Buckeye Central who use the visitors’ side in the spring. Both locker rooms will have white boards and the home side locker room will have televisions too. Buckeye Central’s coaches will also enjoy new lockers as those remaining will go into their room.
The fate of the old lockers will be left up to the public. “We’ll be auctioning those,” Vargyas said.
Vargyas said he found out about the lockers’ availability through an email from the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s Northwest District. Administrators were holding their breath and stayed tightlipped until the school district’s bid was accepted.
When that happened the athletic department had to move fast and, unfortunately, Vargyas was in Washington, D.C. chaperoning a school field trip.
“We had a week to get them once the bids closed,” Vargyas said.
Vargyas credited football coach Jeff Niedermier and boys track coach Joe Wiles for their assistance in securing the lockers with some help from Minute Maid.
The only downside was the home locker room doubled as the wrestling room, in part because the old lockers could be moved. The new ones, when attached, will remain in place and another spot located for the wrestlers.
“These won’t move for 30 years,” Vargyas said with a laugh.
The lockers aren’t the only recent improvements at the field house and surrounding athletic facilities. The weight room now has a coded lock and community members who wish to use it can get a key fob to open the door. There has also been a large cement pad poured between the home stands and the concession stand. Another area will be poured near the ticket booth.
The Bucks will look different on the football field as well with some changes to their uniforms in the fall.