Student opinion: Unsuitable girls’ locker room causes distress

Reagan Wilson|November 10, 2022

If you have ever played a sport or been in a P.E. class, then you would know the importance of a quality locker room. However, the female athletes at Yutan do not get the pleasure of having a locker room that is suitable to their needs. Not only is there not enough space for everyone and their gear, but the girls’ locker room is very dirty and outdated. This is not a new issue, either, but it seems that it’s an issue that continues to be overlooked. 

First of all, the girls’ locker room is way too small. During the fall sports season, there are softball players, volleyball players, cross-country runners, and cheerleaders who keep their gear in the locker room. Not only do we all keep our gear in the locker room, but some of us also have to change for our practices there. There is not nearly enough space for both softball and volleyball players to get dressed while also trying to avoid stepping on other girls’ things.

I have become all too familiar with the lack of space in the locker room. On many different occasions, I would be forced to change on the floor in one of the bathrooms because there is simply not enough room. I’m not the only one that has been forced to get creative when it comes to alternate space, either. Some girls have resorted to changing in the junior high girls’ locker room, and still, there is not enough room in our girls’ locker room. 

Another problem with the size of our locker room is that it is much smaller in comparison to the boys’ locker room. People have argued that it’s simply because the boys need extra space for their football pads, but the girls have football players too. Not only do we have football players, but we have softball players with bags full of gear, volleyball players with bags full of gear, cross-country runners with their changes of clothes and cheerleaders with their bags in the locker room. The only possible fall sports for boys are football and cross country, but girls can do football, cross-country, volleyball or softball. This adds up to a lot more girls needing room for their equipment and a place to change than boys, so I think that it’s time for the girls to get a locker room that is at least the same size as the boys’. 

Not only is the girls’ locker room too small, but it is dirty and outdated. The showers are old and disgusting, the lockers are too small to fit anything into and there aren’t enough bathrooms.

First off, the showers are in serious need of either a deep cleaning or a remodel because they are covered in grime. Nobody wants to take a shower when they not only have to worry about getting themselves clean but also trying to avoid the brown muck that is encrusted into the floors and walls. There are also problems with the water temperature and pressure. The water pressure is so high that it feels like you are getting pelted with BBs, and the water is only warm if you get really close to the shower head. So our options are to either take a cold shower or feel the pain of the water pressure. 

The lockers are also a serious issue. Part of the reason there isn’t enough room for the girls is because the lockers are simply too small to fit anything into. The lockers in the locker room are about ¼ of the size of the lockers in the hallways, meaning that we can barely fit our clothes and shoes in there, let alone things like softball equipment, volleyball bags, cheer bags and many other things. If we had bigger lockers, it would make the problem of the actual size of the locker room a lot easier to conquer. This would free up space on the floor so there would be more space for everyone.

Bathrooms are another problem with the girls’ locker room—actually, the lack thereof. There is only one stall in the girls’ locker room, meaning that we have to use the other bathrooms around the school. This is an issue because when we are in a hurry to get ready for practice and we have to run around the school to use the bathroom, it can have an impact on the amount of time we have to get ready. It can also affect whether or not we make it to practice on time, especially for softball and basketball players, who have to leave the building to get to practice. 

Most of these issues would take time, effort and money to fix, but that is a price the school should be willing to pay for the greater good. At Yutan, girls’ sports are constantly overlooked compared to boys’ sports, including the quality of the locker rooms. It’s time that the school makes a change and puts forth an effort to express its appreciation for the girls by renovating the girls’ locker room. All of the girls who are in sports or P.E. that use the locker room are willing to work hard during practices and games, so the school should be willing to help us out by providing us with a suitable locker room.