Murphy Health & Fitness won’t cover pool this winter.
Murphy – When local high school swim coach Frank Bachteler stopped in at Murphy Health & Fitness, he was surprised and disappointed to find out that the club would not be covering their pool this upcoming winter.
The decision, which comes after a winter season plagued by issues with the pool’s cover, leaves Bachteler and the various swimmers from Andrews, Murphy and Tri-County that he coaches without a venue for them to practice for this year’s season.
An employee at Murphy Health & Fitness confirmed to the Cherokee Scout that they would not be covering the pool with a dome this winter, stating that the dome caused many issues last year, and that it was too late in the season to order a new one.
“The toughest thing is that we have a couple of kids that are set to be state qualifiers,” Bachteler said.
“Gage Gillespie out in Andrews has been a state qualifier all three years, with this being his senior year. And we have a couple of other kids who are definitely going to go to regionals. Where are these kids going to be able to get in the water?”
The issue of finding another pool to practice at won’t be an easy one for Bachteler, who said that the nearest pool in Blairsville already said that the Cherokee County teams would not be able to practice there.
The next closest pool would be at Franklin Health & Fitness in Franklin, which would mean the students would have to travel more than an hour away over the mountain for practice.
Last season, the pool was closed for a considerable amount of time during the swim season, leaving the swimmers with no where to practice heading into the post-season competitions.
Bachteler also said that the team almost lost the one competition they hosted at Murphy Health and Fitness last season because of the conditions in the pool.
With uncertainty swirling around the high school sports seasons heading into the school year, Bachteler said that he is hopefully that his swimmers will have a chance to compete this school year.
“I’m extremely disappointed,” Bachteler said of Murphy Health & Fitness’s decision to not cover the pool this winter.
“I was hoping that maybe we could get to Blairsville (Ga.) and have pool time there, but all of this is predicated on if there are going to be high school winter sports this year. Not having a pool is only a minor piece to what we have to deal with trying to get students back into school safely.”