With many of the high school's athletic facilities damaged or destroyed, Streetsboro administrators and students are proud of their ability to cope as the new year begins.
Streetsboro volleyball coach Bill Smerglia, center, gets a drill underway for his team, which must practice at an elementary school nearby to the high school, which was seriously damaged by a summertime fire. Essentially all of the school's sports teams have had to scramble to find practice facilities and sites to hold games. "It is what it is, Smerglia said. "You have to handle what you can handle. ... (The athletes) have pulled together as a team and are trying to be successful." The athletes are wearing a T-shirt that states "Carry on the tradition, no excuses."STREETSBORO, Ohio -- Shortly after he saw the smoke billowing and the flames dancing across the roof and the fire trucks roaring through his neighborhood on June 1, Streetsboro football coach John Arlesic began doing what coaches do.
He began leading.
"My first thought wasn't, 'Oh, woe is me, what are we going to do now?' It was more like, 'What do we have to do?'" said Arlesic, who was taking his 10-year-old son, Ty, to his baseball game when a fire broke out at the high school just a short drive from the ballpark. "People aren't going to feel sorry for you, and if you start feeling sorry for yourself you might as well pack it in."
So, the day after parts of Streetsboro High burned to the ground, destroying three classrooms, the cafeteria, the gymnasium, locker rooms, wrestling mats, high jump pits and other pieces of athletic equipment, Arlesic rallied most of the fall sport coaches, who continue to be affected by the fire.
He put together an action plan of where and when the fall sports teams would practice, utilizing the gymnasium and cafeteria at Streetsboro Middle School and parts of Defer Intermediate School, if needed. He presented the plan to Principal Eric Rauschkolb and Superintendent Linda Keller. It was approved and the Streetsboro community began moving forward.
The cause of the fire remains unknown and the investigation is ongoing, Streetsboro fire inspector Kevin Grimm said.
With help from the administration, 13 double-wide trailers were brought to the school grounds. Eleven serve as classrooms, two as locker rooms. Six of the modular classrooms also serve as the cafeteria. The trailer that will serve visiting football teams -- starting Friday in the home opener vs. Ravenna -- came equipped with two small showers, but Streetsboro players will walk about a quarter mile to shower at Streetsboro Middle School, which they did throughout two-a-days.
View full sizeWith the high school gymnasium and locker rooms heavily damaged by the June fire, the football team dresses in portable classrooms before heading out to practice. "I am proud of every kid in this school, not just the football players or the other athletes, but all the kids," said football coach John Arlesic. "They have faced all this adversity and I haven't heard one student complain.""I am proud of every kid in this school, not just the football players or the other athletes, but all the kids," said Arlesic. "They have faced all this adversity and I haven't heard one student complain. I think it says a lot about the type of people we have in this community."
Normalcy has been the target.
"Our theme is that we are going to make this school year as normal as possible," said Rauschkolb, whose hiring was approved three weeks before the fire. "No events that were normally held in our gymnasium will be canceled. That means pep rallies, dances and games. They might be moved, but they will not be canceled."
Of the fall sports teams, the highly successful volleyball squad has been affected the most. Matches are held in the middle school gymnasium, while it frequently practices in the middle school cafeteria.
"The kids have been fantastic," said Rauschkolb. "The volleyball team has endured the most because they have been displaced the most. Every practice and every game has been moved. But, they have been very flexible."
The soccer teams, cross country teams and the football team did not lose their practice facilities and Gillentis Stadium, site of Friday's football game, was not damaged.
Looking ahead to the winter season, the middle school will host wrestling matches and girls basketball games, Rauschkolb said. Home boys basketball games will be played at nearby high schools, such as Kent Roosevelt and Ravenna, although a decision on a specific schedule has not been reached.
Volleyball coach Bill Smerglia, whose teams have won five consecutive Portage Trail Conference Metro Division titles, has taken a logical approach.
"It is what it is," he said. "You have to handle what you can handle. There has had to be some jostling around, from site to site. Our players have had the opportunity to get down, discouraged and disgusted, and early on they talked about it. But, they have pulled together as a team and are trying to be successful."
Junior Alex Todd, a 6-4, 285-pound lineman, believes he and his teammates will benefit from the incident.
"I think it has brought us all closer together and I think it's teaching us that you have to overcome adversity," he said. "We realized right away what we had to do. You hear about these things happening at other places but you never think about it happening at your school."