No place like home
Sundevils return to their own gym for first time after electrical fire five weeks ago rendered it unusable
“No tables tonight!”
When the Española Valley boys basketball finished their first practice in its very own Edward Medina Gymnasium on Monday, that was the exclamation one Sundevil made. The team had spent the past month practicing at Alcalde Elementary School after an electrical fire led to the destruction of the gym’s sound system, overhang scoreboard and the middle of the hardwood floor in early November. In order to practice while the gym underwent repairs, the players and coaches had to move the lunch tables at the gym, which also serves as the cafeteria, off and on the floor.
Española head coach Gabe Martinez said the statement was made in jest, adding he appreciated the cooperation from district administrators and Principal Kiva Duckworth-Moulton in giving the winter sports teams spaces in which to practice.
The boys basketball team was at Alcalde, the girls at Eutimio T. Salazar Elementary, while the wrestling program made Carlos Vigil Middle School its temporary home. The cheer squad was at Tony E. Quintana Elementary.
“It was funny because we had gotten used to it over the past four weeks or so, putting them out and setting them back in their place,” Martinez said. “It presents challenges, but, to me, what in life doesn’t present challenges?”
Monday represented the first time the basketball and cheer team practiced at the high school this year, while the wrestling team returned Tuesday — the same day the boys basketball team had its first official “home” game against Valencia. Boys and girls teams had home games at Pojoaque Valley High School in November.
While the players and coaches were happy to be in the comfort of their home, there were clear signs that not everything was how they remembered it. The center
of the floor, which had several holes from the fire, and other areas that had been sanded were a different color compared to the rest of the hardwood. The new scoreboard is a 75-inch screen that sits behind the scorer’s table for coaches and players to observe, while speakers for a makeshift sound system sit on opposite sides of the table.
Gone are the school banners that outlined district and state championships of its various sports, as they suffered smoke damage from the Nov. 3 fire that hit the gym. So, too, are the soundboards that hovered just below the ceiling that suffered a similar fate.
Those weren’t the only changes, which Lady Sundevils head coach Joe Estrada said excited his players — for a moment.
“They got they walked in here and looked around and the walls aren’t red anymore — they’re white,” Estrada said. “The rail aren’t black anymore, they’re yellow. So we just kind of stood here and looked around for a little while. We said, ‘Wow, it looks nice.’
“And then we went to work.” It was a refreshing respite, compared to the challenge all of Española’s winter sports programs endured after in the early morning hours of Nov. 3.
Española Public Schools facilities director Aaron Abeyta said a wooden speaker atop the scoreboard caught fire, which then set the scoreboard on fire, which then sent it crashing to the ground and smoldering the middle of the hardwood floor.
When the custodian arrived around 6 a.m. that day, she discovered the gym engulfed in smoke. Española athletic director Matthew Abeyta said when he observed the security footage to understand what happened overnight, he likened it Zozobra — except no one was celebrating this fire.
“There were sparks flying from that scoreboard,” Abeyta said. “And the scoreboard is substantial in size, and as it burned, debris from the PA and the scoreboard fell onto the court. Of course, the court was damaged, as well.”
The fire left about four sizable holes on the court, and smoke damage was practically everywhere in the gym. Aragon feared the worst — that no Sundevil or Lady Sundevil would get to practice or play in Medina this season.
“I was concerned,” Aragon said. “But once you started digging into everything, and you look at the smolder in the center of the court, and you’re thinking, ‘Well, that’s an easy fix.’ But then, you don’t see the bigger picture with the smoke damage, and that is what really caused a lot of the damage.”
Aragon did not know the exact figure of the damage since it is still being tabulated, but estimated the fire caused several hundred dollars’ worth of damage. However, the repairs were covered by the school’s insurance, minus a $15,000 deductible.
A bigger concern was whether repairs could be made in time for the winter sports to use the gym. Aragon and Abeyta both said they shared concerns about delays caused by national supply-chain issues that have hampered the country for months. Still, Aragon talked with adjusters and contractors about the district’s timeline to get the major repairs to the floor finished — by no later than the second week of December.
Crews worked through the weekend to ensure that deadline was met.
“We were expecting the lumber that was necessary to do [the repairs] to take weeks upon weeks to come in,” Abeyta said. “We were very impressed and very grateful with the folks that were able to get us a lumber to get that done. I thought all those all those crews that came in there and worked for the last five weeks to get it where it is today did a great job.”
In the meantime, the winter teams had to deal with new surroundings. Both Martinez and Estrada said practices were challenging because the ceilings are not as high, which made it difficult for some players to shoot the ball. Estrada said the ventilation system at Salazar made it impossible to practice corner shots.
Sundevils head wrestling coach Aaron Salinas said he lost a few wrestlers who could not find rides to the middle school, which is on the opposite side of town, and he wasn’t able to field a full team so far this year. He added the team had to share the auxiliary gym with a physical education class, and some students wrote on the mats the team left for practice
“It was very uncomfortable, like it was like spending the night at somebody’s house more than you wanted to,” Salinas said.
However, Estrada said the circumstances teams faced so far this season are good tests for athletes to learn how to adapt and overcome them.
“We always talk about in athletics, giving kids and opportunity to learn how to deal with adversity and challenging situations,” Estrada said. “These girls, they’re fine. We’ve gathered and we practice hard. We did the best we could.
“And I think this goes way beyond this stage. I mean, it’s been two years of adversity [because of the coronavirus pandemic].”
Martinez said starting the season with nine games away from Medina might have helped his team, which is a contender in Class 4A. The Sundevils are off an 8-1 start heading into Tuesday’s game and won Capital’s Al Armendariz Tournament.
“That’s going to really prove helpful to us at the end of the season,” Martinez said. “Historically, we play really well at home, but I don’t want to jinx anything.”
After what the winter sports teams have gone through, it’s better not to chance it.