PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WMBB) – Nothing beats the feeling of stepping out onto a new basketball court. That’s what the Arnold boys basketball team got to do this week now that their court is finished.
“Walking in, smelling that new varnish, seeing the new colors, it’s really exciting,” Arnold head boys basketball coach Josh Laatsch said.
“Its new and it’s just amazing. We came in the first day and it just felt so much better and it looks good,” Arnold basketball player Carson King said.
The court needed some upgrades. The “A” in the middle was an old logo and the colors were slightly different to the ones they have now. The court was even damaged some during Hurricane Michael.
“We are making progress, we are getting past the Hurricane Michael days one step at a time. When we pull out these bleachers, there won’t be skid marks on the floor because the floor under it is bubbling with water and all kinds of damage,” Laatsch said.
While the court was getting worked on, the boys basketball team kept conditioning at Breakfast Point Academy.
Even though the team hasn’t played a game in four months, they are still looking at the positives and are trying to fine tune their skills so they are better than even when the season comes.
“That’s the blessing in disguise as well, a lot of times in June we are focused on the team aspect where some of that skill gets pushed to the side sometimes,” Laatsch said. “But now we are able to focus individually on how we can improve individually to help the collective efforts, so I’m really proud of how they have handled it.”
However, the team is still hoping for the chance to compete on the court this year.
“I just want to be able to play this season. I’m fine if it gets delayed and all that I just want to be able to play this year,” King said.