PARK CITY — Since a December windstorm ripped roof pieces off of Park City’s school gymnasium, the Panthers have had to figure out how to keep their winter sports seasons in play. Thanks to some nearby help and a nomadic schedule, they’re managing well.
"Week to week, we don't really know, but we've been practicing at Laurel and Fromberg and Special K (Ranch), and I'm grateful those people are letting us use their gyms," girls basketball senior Jordan Stepper explained to MTN Sports.
Senior teammate Macy Witt agreed.
"It's been kind of chaotic. That's the one word I would use to describe it. There was definitely a lot of confusion," Witt said of multiple chess moves continuing even weeks later.
See how nearby schools are helping displaced Park City teams keep their seasons in play:
The gym still isn’t accessible, so a handful of these interviews were conducted roughly a block away inside the school’s weight room.
Just a couple hours later, Park City’s boys hopped onto a bus and hit the interstate toward Laurel’s new intermediate school gym where they could sneak in practice time between 6-8 p.m.
"They're really nice people to let us do that because we are just kids who want to play basketball. So, they understand that," senior Corbin Lucas said during a break from the workout.
Sophomore teammate Landry Streck said he was actually inside the gymnasium as a P.E. aide when the December chaos hit.
"It's like the insulation started falling. That was the first sound and then 10 minutes later you hear the roof,” Streck recalled. “And then we get out of there and I'm going through another door, and our principal is out there saying, 'Go back in!' So, I run into the ball closet with, actually another player on our team, and we were like, uh oh, what happened.”
The immediate aftermath left students and staff scrambling for safety.
Mitch Ward, Park City's principal and activities director, was surprised at how rapidly neighboring schools offered support.
"Right when this happened it was just really cool because I had so many athletic directors, superintendents, principals reach out and say, 'Hey, what can we do?'" Ward said with appreciation.
Among those offering assistance was Laurel athletic director Andrew Torgerson nine miles away, who quickly provided practice slots for the displaced teams.
"I said, 'Yeah, here are some times I can give you.' You really do it for the kids and make sure that they feel like they're at home away from home," Torgerson said.
And Ward is truly grateful to the Special K Ranch about halfway to Columbus and another district roughly 30 miles away.
“Fromberg Public Schools … Mrs. (Jennifer) Hickok, Mr. (Levi) Lowery are letting us host all our home games in their gym,” Ward said.
The Panthers hosted Northern Cheyenne's boys and girls in Fromberg on Saturday.
Though challenging, the circumstances have created some encouraging benefits, according to Park City girls coach Nate Bailey.
"I think the girls are spending more time together, obviously on the buses, going to practices and a lot of away games. So, I feel like that bond is getting stronger," he told MTN Sports.
Players are also finding advantages in the diverse environments.
"We get to see a lot of gyms and (learn) court awareness," Stepper said a laugh.
Roof construction won’t be finished in time for Senior Night. But it turns out exactly one game date happened to be open inside Laurel’s larger high school gym. So, Park City will celebrate a date with Forsyth on the eve of Valentine’s Day.
"It is kind of sad that I've been playing in my own gym since my freshman year," Lucas said. "It's alright, I mean, you work with what we've got. There's going to be a lot more people there at Senior Night because it's a bigger gym,"
In a winter of adversity, it turns out the strongest structure isn’t a roof — it’s a group of reliable neighbors.
