Eagles’ athletics program tackles weighty issue

Boulder City High School unveiled its new weight room this summer, a facility that rivals those of other high schools in the area.

Athletic director Alex Moore said head football coach Chris Morelli was instrumental in spearheading the fundraising efforts on behalf of the school and coaching staff, which paid for the project.

“We’re all very excited about our new weight room,” Moore said. “We’ve made a lot of improvements to our school in the last year and this is the newest. All the credit goes to Coach Morelli for helping get this idea off the ground.”

With Boulder City High becoming one of the top high school programs in Southern Nevada regardless of classification from a facilities standpoint, the new weight room accompanies last year’s renovations to the football field, which included state-of-the-art grass turf and a new press box.

Over the past decade, the gymnasium and softball and baseball fields also have been improved.

“The great thing about our school and this community is that we’re always looking for ways to improve and give these kids what they truly deserve,” Morelli said. “When you drive around our campus and see our facilities and our fields, it’s starting to look like we run our own junior college program out here; it’s that nice. We take pride in improving our school and the athlete experience.”

The approximately $28,000 cost for the weight room was paid for through donations by Boulder City Sunrise Rotary, which Morelli called the backbone of the project, as well as local businesses and club members.

“Honestly, without their generosity, this project doesn’t get done,” Morelli said. “When I went in there to pitch the idea and told them the advantages it would provide our students, they were more than happy to help us out. We honestly can’t thank them enough for helping us improve our school.”

Jeff Breeden, who was president of the Rotary club when Morelli spoke, said members were impressed with his presentation and donated more than $10,000 on the spot.

Providing the Eagles’ football program with a clear advantage over its previous facility, Morelli was adamant that the weight room would benefit all sports programs at Boulder City High School.

“When we thought of renovating the weight room, the football program wasn’t even in mind,” Morelli said. “The idea came about during flag football season because our girls were getting pushed around and we needed to get them in there. We asked the girls if we made improvements and made it nicer if they would come and work out and we even showed them mocks of what we wanted the new room to look like and got great reception. At the end of the day, this new weight room is about helping all our programs grow stronger.”

The head coaches from many of the school’s teams worked together to make the dream become a reality. Morelli was joined by Moore, John Balistere (basketball), Jim Cox (wrestling), Steve Roe (track), Kevin Ruth (flag football) and former baseball coach Bobby Reese over a three-day period to complete the weight room.

“A huge thanks to those guys for all pitching in and helping with the work,” Morelli said. “There was so much insulation to put in. Also a huge thanks to B&H construction for all their time donated. Together, everyone played a role in building this beautiful facility for our high school.”

Truly a weight room for all students, not just student-athletes, Boulder City High School purchased a PLT4M membership this year. An online program designed for high schools by educators, PLT4M offers personalized and professionally crafted fitness plans designed to help students stay fit or improve their performance.

“The weight room will be used for weight training as well as after-school programs,” Morelli said. “Whether you play a sport or not, we encourage all of our students to stay active. That’s the main reason we bought the PLT4M program for our school. Any student who is interested in staying active can ask coach Moore how to download the app and then either use our gym or any gym they like. Our job at the end of the day is to help better these kids and I’m happy with what we’ve been able to do.”

Contact Robert Vendettoli at BCRsports@gmail.com.