H.S. FOOTBALL: JCM getting shower facilities at school

The football team at Jackson Central-Merry is close to having its own facilities for showering after practice and games after renovation is complete in a gym at the school, according to Jackson-Madison County Schools Superintendent Dr. Verna Ruffin.

“We went through their facilities and evaluated what they had and needed about a year ago and looked into how we could resolve the situation,” Ruffin said. “And there is a smaller gym at the school, not where the basketball team plays but a smaller one, where the team can have locker rooms and showers.

“It hasn’t been used in a while, and it looked like it hadn’t been used in a while, but we’ve gone in and refurbished it. I think it will look very good and will be a good place for the football players to have for their own.”

Ruffin said the gym is in the back of the school close to the Cougars’ practice field. The current fieldhouse is at the corner of Allen Avenue and Royal Street across the road from Oman Arena, where it’s been since 2010 when the previous fieldhouse in the basement of Oman Arena was flooded.

JCM head coach Orentheus Taylor declined to comment, saying his concentration was on making the team better on the field and letting others worry about the fieldhouse.

Jackson mayor Jerry Gist said he gave the OK for the Cougars to move their fieldhouse back into the basement and simply operate under the same rules as Madison’s basketball program: Pay the operating costs of monthly bills.

Ruffin said she appreciated the move by Gist and the city government, but the school system wanted to come up with a more permanent plan.

“We felt it would be best to try to put the football team somewhere on the school’s campus, and I was glad this gym was available because I didn’t even know about it until it was brought up as an option,” Ruffin said. “It’s been fixed up and air conditioning installed, and the project is nearing completion.”

The basketball gym at JCM has also been fixed after the Cougars had to play their home games nearly half the season at Tigrett Middle School after the harsh winter caused leakage problems in the gym. Ruffin said the gym has been fixed and is ready to go for basketball season.

“The gym has been fixed and fixed up as well,” Ruffin said. “It’s not a brand new gym, but it looks like one.”

Brandon Shields, 425-9751