Hurricane Ian took a toll on sports in Southwest Florida. Youth, high school, and college athletics were put on halt for weeks after the storm. When the athletes were able to retake the field, they were greeted by severely damaged facilities. Now, a year later, some facilities are better than ever, while others still have months of work to do to get back to where they were.
Port Charlotte High School is an example of rebuilding better than ever. The storm tore down the lights around the Pirates’ football field, ripped open the roof of their weight room, forced them to workout outside for months, and replaced plenty of equipment. The damage was so bad the Port Charlotte football team had to play their final six games of the season on the road.
“It was definitely an experience we’ll all remember for the rest of our lives,” Port Charlotte Head Coach Jordan Ingman said.
However, thanks to swift action from Charlotte County and private donations from individuals and businesses around the school, the Pirates facilities are now top-notch and even better than before. Port Charlotte has new LED lights that allow them to do a light show in the middle of games, a beautiful new jumbotron, and a state-of-the-art weight room.
“We owe the county a lot,” Ingman said. “They took it seriously. They understood how important football is to our guys, to our staff, and to our school.”
“We now have a beautiful facility that’s, in my opinion, second to none,” he added.
Port Charlotte’s quick bounce back isn’t the reality for all Southwest Florida schools. Ida Baker High School in Cape Coral is in a much different situation. The Bulldogs are still feeling the effects of Hurricane Ian 365 days later.
“We were the hardest hit school in the area when it comes to athletics,” Ida Baker Athletic Director Dan Butler said.
Ida Baker’s bleachers were picked up, mangled, and thrown onto the field. The scoreboard was completely pushed over and totaled. The track was torn up and still has potholes in it. Even the indoor gym was damaged as a torn-up roof allowed water to get in and warm the wooden floor.
The majority of those issues are still prevalent at Ida Baker. The Bulldogs are still working on fixing all of the problems and will be at it for months more.
“Before the end of the school year, we’ll be fully 100% back up and running,” Butler said.
One of the reasons the rebuild is taking so long is the cost. Butler estimates Ida Baker took on hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. The school attempted to get private donations but couldn’t. Now, the Bulldogs are waiting for FEMA funds but are in a county with numerous needy schools.
“15, 20 schools completely damaged by this,” Butler said. “It was a group effort to help every school out because we just wanted to get the kids back on the field.”
While Ida Baker and other schools like it finish their rebuilds, they can look at places like Port Charlotte as a sign of a better tomorrow.
“The hurricane turned out, from a facilities standpoint, to be a blessing for Port Charlotte High School,” Ingman said.
The post Some Southwest Florida sports fields better than ever a year after Hurricane Ian, others still rebuilding appeared first on NBC2 News.
