The athletics programs for Athens High School received an upgrade to their pursuit of excellence after the completion of their new and improved weight room.

The new facility is located at the old Athens Recreational Center, near the high school football field and middle school baseball fields.

The bench bars are etched with the Golden Eagle insignia on the side and also on the top of the cushions for the benches.

The words “Golden Eagles” are also written on the sides of the new benches.

According to Athens High School, the size of the facility is around 6,600 square feet.

There are 32 racks that can service 100 athletes at a time.

Head football coach for Athens High School, Cody Gross, helped oversee the completion of the new weight room, and is pleased with where Athens athletics is headed.

According to Gross, the realization of the weight facility is the realization of a “vision” that dates back multiple coaches.

“Honestly, it is something that goes back a long, long way. You go back to a vision that Larry McCoy had when he was on city council. He envisioned that Rec Center becoming vacant and becoming property of the school system, knowing it could be something beneficial to the athletic programs at the High School” Gross said. “There is a tradition here. There are a lot of people here – not just coaches, but a lot of people in the community – who are invested in this school. There was a combination of funds: school system, football program, booster club and individuals in town who stepped forward.”

The completion of the “state of the art” facility now gives Athens athletics a huge advantage in the fact they have multiple weight rooms at their disposal now, which will benefit all aspects of their sports programs with more room to practice and compete.

“The thing is, we kept the other weight room intact,” he said. “So, right now, we actually have three weight rooms and we have a Middle School weight room. So, we have invested in our weight program and we have a certified strength coach on our staff that runs it, Chris Massaro, who has been tremendous … now, (athletes) can go in whenever they want to.”