During the Oct. 22 pep rally, the Silver Spurs perform a dance routine in the main gym. Their current practice space is not large enough for the girls to move side to side.
Proposition C: Room to move
Dance, NJROTC struggle for space to practice
When the Silver Spurs prepare for contest season, their biggest competition is not for trophies and titles.
It’s for practice space.
Dancers have little room to move freely when practicing for football games and competitions, and they have to share the junior varsity gym with basketball.
“At the moment, whenever we practice with our teams, we are not able to practice how we would [move] horizontally.” varsity dance coach Melanie Phillips said. “We don’t have enough space side to side.”
Proposition C in Comal ISD’s Nov. 2 bond election could fund a new field house including a dance studio, weight room, locker rooms and a Junior Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps shooting range.
Adding a field house would support the dance and cheer teams in addition to wrestling, soccer, baseball, football, and other related athletic activities.
ROTC also faces difficulty because the current shooting range does not provide the necessary space for drills and practice.
“We have a shooting range right now, but other teams are allowed in.” sophomore Laynie Garza said. “We aren’t allowed in while others are in there. It’s an inconvenience.”
If granted more space for drill practice, fewer distractions would occur for the group and avoid safety concerns resulting from a lack of space.
“It sure would help if we had more space.” Garza said.
Dance team has to ask for space from coaches with access to the JV gym, but adding another practice space would allow for fewer distractions and avoid complications with scheduling the gym.
“Hopefully with the bond, we’ll be able to have a gym sized studio,” Phillips said. “That way, we don’t have to ask for facility space from the coaches with (the) JV gym. That would also really benefit cheer (too).”
Dance does not earn priority over other sports for gym time. Basketball season and competition season overlap, causing problems that could be solved with a new space.
“(These renovations) are necessary,” Phillips said. “The main reason is because we don’t have enough for contest season. Our team is very competitive. We love football season, but we spend so much of our time with contest season. That requires us sharing our space with the gym and that obviously they get first priority it being basketball season going on at the same time.”
Additionally, providing a space with accurate markings on the floor allows for the dance team to choreograph dances more effectively, especially during competition season.
“(When) we go to compete, we compete on gym floors, so we set our dances to the lines that are on the floor,” Phillips said. “Having a space that is big enough and has those lines would be amazing.”