Hundreds of students walk past the Wildcat Den every day, and yet very few have ever seen the inside. If you aren’t an athlete, in fact, even if you are, you probably don’t have a clue what the Den is. It has been around for many years but does not service the majority of the student population.
Located across from the Main Gym, on the right side of the hallway when students walk in through the band doors, the Den serves a limited purpose.
The Wildcat Den is a glorified locker room, with several lockers lining the side walls, and a row of lockers cutting through the middle. A row of benches separate the lockers from one another. There is a small storage area, complete with a fenced sliding gate, locking away old equipment that hasn’t been used in years, including old basketballs, gymnastic mats, empty ball crates, and more.
A small shower area is located on the right side of the locker room, next to the entryway, followed by a small bathroom on the far end. Compared to a regular gym locker room, there is not a big difference between the two. According to senior starting center on the basketball team, Joe Borcia, the Wildcat Den is “nothing special. We just use it as a place to change before practice and we have our halftime meetings in there.”
According to Borcia, the Den is not used for anything during school hours besides storage. Most athletes use this space to keep after-school sports equipment during the day, however the availability of the Den is not always consistent. Many times students will arrive to find the Den is locked, which leaves them scrambling to find a place to keep their gear. Athletes have to search out a coach who can open up the locker room for them. If none are available, students then must drop their bags in a teacher’s room or their LST.
After school, the varsity basketball team uses the Wildcat Den the most, especially in the winter months. This is their designated locker room for all home games. At halftime, the team heads back to the Den to regroup and talk about second-half adjustments.
Although varsity gets the most use out of it, there are others who take advantage of the space: “some underclassmen also use the Wildcat Den to change before practice” said Borcia.
The sophomore football team uses this space in the fall to keep schoolwork and bags during practices and games, as well.
“There is nothing special about the Den,” said sophomore football player Lucas Rossetti. “The only thing that is special about it are the speakers to play music but they’ve been broken for awhile.”
Many baseball players will also take advantage of this space in the spring to change for games and practices.
The most beneficial part of the Wildcat Den is the location. Steps from the Main Gym, and a short walk from the parking lot (and football practice fields), the Wildcat Den is located in a efficient spot. This allows students a quick transition time in between the end of the school day and the beginning of their scheduled practice time.
