RIO VISTA — The Rio Vista Eagles and Lady Eagles are going to have refurbished set of facilities heading into the 2009-10 school year.
Rio Vista athletic director and head football coach Craig Carpenter has teamed up with Booster Club President Diana Morris to create Operation Eagle Pride for the community and athletes.
“It’s going to be the week of July 13,” Carpenter said. “Starting Monday through Friday, we’ll work from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It’s a collaboration of efforts from our coaching staff, our district personnel, maintenance, parents, athletes and the community of Rio Vista.
“What we’re doing is trying to utilize all of our resources that we can do to improve our athletic facilities.”
Nothing will be torn down completely during the week, Carpenter said, but plenty of things will be improved.
“We don’t have any wrecking balls,” he said. “The work is going to be done in the field house, coaches’ office, locker rooms and we’re working to relocate to a training room, create a meeting room and we’re building an equipment room.
“We’re reorganizing our storage space and we will paint in the locker rooms, gym, fieldhouse, and then if we’ve got enough help, we’ll try to work on the baseball and softball fields, the press boxes, our weight room and building weight platforms in there.”
Carpenter said these kinds of events are something he’s accustomed to and knows of no better way to attract community involvement than by having the community get hands-on experience alongside the athletes.
“I guess there’s two main points,” Carpenter said. “There is an obvious need in our facilities. And, during the two interviews that I conducted with Rio Vista in the process, I was hit with a question twice about how do you get community involvement. This work week is something the coaching staff is used with, and we always had a week before school where we did anything that was needed.
“It just kind of hit me that it’s a great opportunity for our athletes, parents and community members to come in and not only donate their time and resources, but to get to know the new coaching staff and become more acquainted and involved with the program. It’s a good opportunity to build some pride and have a cooperative effort between our staff and the community.”
With Eagles and Lady Eagles who are just entering their high school careers, Carpenter said their participation in helping to rebuild facilities that will shape their athletic careers will pay dividends by the time they graduate.
“I think any time you invest your time and energy into something, you take more pride in it,” Carpenter said. “We’ll have some athletes in the locker room and they’ll be painting and doing manual labor. Not only does it help us, but it inspires them to take pride in those facilities and take care of them.
“We truly believe with the week we put in and the work we do, we’re going to build some chemistry together. [Diana] Morris has put in countless hours and phone calls by taking support and donations for lumber and sheetrock and paint or whatever.
“What we’re in the process of doing is finalizing our wish-list and people can donate money. They can go to Rio Vista Hardware and put down money or help supply the paint. We’ve got members that are coming up that are electricians, welders and they’re just investing their time. Our goal is to have a fresh new look.”
Sports
Operation Eagle Pride set to begin the week of July 13
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