Yahoo Sports A spike in frustration: Hopedale volleyball on hold until gym floor repaired
Volleyball players in Hopedale, Labrador are worried their skills are getting rusty after not being able to play at the town's community centre for months due to a damaged gym floor.
It all started when staff at the Nanuk Community Centre noticed one of the Volleyball net poles wouldn't properly fasten in the bracket in the floor.
"It's supposed to be straight up and perpendicular to the floor," said Catherine Shears, the recreation manager with the centre. "Now it's got about a 10-degree angle going inward towards the gym."
Volleyball is hugely popular with young people in Hopedale, and many were looking forward to two upcoming tournaments which bring in dozens of people from elsewhere in Labrador.
Those tournaments are now in jeopardy, and players are getting frustrated because they have nowhere to practice and nothing to do during the cold winter months.
"Volleyball is our biggest draw so we're getting a little impatient," said Shears. "We want to be able to offer volleyball because it gets kids into the building and that's what we want."
Students under the age of 18 can still use the local school's gym, but insurance issues mean that older players who aren't students are not allowed to play there.
Wait and see
Shears and other staff aren't exactly sure what caused the bracket to malfunction, but they suspect it may be a result of frost that crept into the concrete slab that makes up the foundation of the gymnasium floor.
Staff are still waiting for contractors to come and take a look to determine if there is a quick fix or whether the entire floor will need to be replaced.
Right now, the poll wiggles around and doesn't properly hold up the net, which raises safety concerns. That, combined with fears that further damage could be done, led staff to close the facility.
"It could be very simple, could be very complex. The more complex, the longer it will take to fix," Shears said. "At this point it's a wait and see, and we're hoping we will have some more information in a couple of weeks."
