New locker room, workout facility energizes Bishop Canevin football program

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, September 27, 2020 | 11:01 AM

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The Bishop Canevin football program had hit a wall.

The Crusaders were a combined 7-23 the last three years, including a 1-9 record in 2019.

With the hiring of Richard Johnson in the offseason, Bishop Canevin had its fourth coach in four years.

But the school is hoping to build a contender again.

Thus, Bishop Canevin has announced the unveiling of both a new locker room for the football team at the school and a new workout facility for all of the school’s athletes.

The new fitness center is a total renovation of a space just off the school’s main entrance, while the locker room is a subsection of the boys current locker room area.

“The construction on the fitness center has recently gotten underway and should be completed sometime in October, barring any types of setbacks,” Bishop Canevin athletic director Dale Checketts said.

“We began the locker room construction in late August and actually should be completing this project in the next couple of weeks. We have had a number of players, parents, teachers, and alumni volunteer to help to complete various parts of the room and are really excited for the total transformation to be completed.”

When completed, the fitness center will be a state of the art, air conditioned fitness and exercise facility that will provide treadmills and exercise bikes as well as strength conditioning stations and free weights. The room will be rebuilt from the ground up, complete with new windows, electrical and lighting.

“The fitness center was something we began raising funds for prior to the covid-19 situation,” Checketts said. “Patty Gorski was our lead donor as she wanted to honor her late brother, Michael Maloney. With total project costs exceeding $250,000, the fitness center was fully funded by 105 additional donors in addition to Ms. Gorski.”

Checketts doesn’t know when the football locker room at the school was last renovated, but he admits it’s been a while.

Johnson admits it didn’t take long for him and his staff to realize something needed to be done.

“The locker room will instill pride back into our program. We will showcase our history,” Johnson said. “Right now, we can’t really showcase our past achievements, but after it’s done, they will have a feel for what it means to be a Crusader.

“Also, when a prospective student comes to check out the school, they will see that the program is heading in the right direction. They will also see that we have a rich history here.”

Bishop Canevin will go back to the future when they rededicate the new football locker room in honor of legendary Crusaders coach Bob Jacoby.

“When people think about Bishop Canevin and Crusaders football, the name they think of is Bob Jacoby,” Checketts said. “Bob was a part of our school community for 45 years as a teacher and coach. He helped to shape the minds of numerous students in the classroom and on the football and softball fields. Our original football locker room was dedicated to him, but rededicating this new locker room will allow us to connect our present team with those teams of the past. Throughout the years, Bob Jacoby has meant a lot to Bishop Canevin and the to the Crusaders football program.”

Johnson agrees.

“You can’t mention Canevin and not think of Coach Jacoby,” he said. “We want to get back to our roots and that’s him in a nutshell. He deserves it.”

Tags: Bishop Canevin