Before fall break, a decision was made to replace the basketball hoops in the high school gym. The original hoops have been in the gym since 1970 when Delphi High School was established. While they were getting a little ‘wear and tear,’ most people believe they added to the character of the gym.
The hoops were attached to the wall, leaving a huge open space beneath to display our senior athletes and our school motto, “Onward Delphi.” The new hoops have bases on the ground, as well as mats covering them, which covers up a portion of the display unless you’re on the side. Also, with the open space under the rims, players were never worried about running into anything on a fast break. With the season about to start, multiple players have expressed their worries about running into them.
While it is sad to see the original hoops being replaced, there are many opportunities attached to the new ones. Our administration purchased the new hoops from Harrison High School in Lafayette. We are now able to roll them out and set them up for basketball season and take them down when needed, making the gym more multi-functional. The old hoops were never able to be folded up, which sometimes interfered with volleyball matches as well as viewing for wrestling meets. During graduation, the hoops were often just covered up by a black cloth to try and “hide” them, so having them be portable allows our graduation to seem more formal. Since the hoops have been here since the 70s, the poles holding them up were starting to bend. To fix this issue, cables were added to both sides of the pole to help keep them up, but it was more of a band-aid rather than a permanent solution. To see the original hoops leave may seem like a shock to most people, the new ones do make our gym more multi-functional.