Favorite Gyms in the Midwest Athletic Conference and Western Buckeye League.

B

Blue Jay Fan

Well-known member
Other than your home gym, what is your favorite MAC gym and WBL gym? Any why? A lot of the gyms in both conferences are new so if you'd like to mention an older/previous gym you can.
 
 
Blue Jay Fan said:
Other than your home gym, what is your favorite MAC gym and WBL gym? Any why? A lot of the gyms in both conferences are new so if you'd like to mention an older/previous gym you can.
Click to expand...
The Vatican in Delphos....
And my favorite is Celina s Fieldhouse. The elevat3d 3 side seating...so close to the floor....

If Celina could ever get it together that place would be the ultimate home court advantage.


Also....Celina stadium...my favorite football stadium
 
No knowledge of the MAC other than St Johns. It's just entirely too small for the crowds that NW Ohio teams bring. In the WBL I'd say Van Wert except they have the worst sound system in the history of basketball. Gotta go with Elida (since I can't say OG lol). Great lighting and when it's full for a District final it's loud!
 
Not sure how much longer the Celina Fieldhouse will be around. Certain school administrators are pushing for a new gym in the new high school that will be started in late 2024. If you go to www.bulldogbuildingproject.com and go to the Progress tab, you will see the new high school plans and a quite large gym. Back in February or March it was stated in the Daily Standard that community meetings would be held to discuss.
 
ctown14 said:
Not sure how much longer the Celina Fieldhouse will be around. Certain school administrators are pushing for a new gym in the new high school that will be started in late 2024. If you go to www.bulldogbuildingproject.com and go to the Progress tab, you will see the new high school plans and a quite large gym. Back in February or March it was stated in the Daily Standard that community meetings would be held to discuss.
Click to expand...
I thought they were just going to make upgrades to the gym/locker room area but then again, I was not following it too closely.

The large cavernous gyms...not a fan.
 
ctown14 said:
Not sure how much longer the Celina Fieldhouse will be around. Certain school administrators are pushing for a new gym in the new high school that will be started in late 2024. If you go to www.bulldogbuildingproject.com and go to the Progress tab, you will see the new high school plans and a quite large gym. Back in February or March it was stated in the Daily Standard that community meetings would be held to discuss.
Click to expand...
If you zoom in it says the new gym will seat 2000. Bigger than their Fieldhouse, but not what I would consider "quite large" by any means. For comparison the gym at OG holds 2518 since they expanded it by adding the seating on the end. It was right around 2000 before the expansion. 2000 seems about right for a school like Celina. Big enough to handle any regular season game....even if Celina does at some point end up with a better basketball program. An additional smaller gym was the best part of the OG school expansion project, which it looks like Celina will be adding also
 
Thavoice said:
I thought they were just going to make upgrades to the gym/locker room area but then again, I was not following it too closely.

The large cavernous gyms...not a fan.
Click to expand...
That was initially discussed, but things have changed. We shall see where it goes. Will not be too many happy Celina folks if they get rid of the Fieldhouse.
 
tcgobucks said:
There will be a lot of visiting fans very happy lol
Click to expand...
True, but no one is asking hahaha

I remember when Ottoville opened their new gym and originally the visitors section was where the students sit and they had 2 small sections labeled for visitors under the birds nest media area. I don’t believe they ever hosted a game with that set up, but I remember they had “visitors” painted on the wall.
 
tcgobucks said:
No knowledge of the MAC other than St Johns. It's just entirely too small for the crowds that NW Ohio teams bring. In the WBL I'd say Van Wert except they have the worst sound system in the history of basketball. Gotta go with Elida (since I can't say OG lol). Great lighting and when it's full for a District final it's loud!
Click to expand...
I can't remember the last time we had a sell out or close to it. Visiting teams typically bring 200-250 fans at best.
ctown14 said:
True, but no one is asking hahaha

I remember when Ottoville opened their new gym and originally the visitors section was where the students sit and they had 2 small sections labeled for visitors under the birds nest media area. I don’t believe they ever hosted a game with that set up, but I remember they had “visitors” painted on the wall.
Click to expand...
DSJ played at Ottoville and the visitors side was the entire side that was only 6-8 rows high. Might have been the first year of the new gym. I was kind of shocked anyone would build a gym with that kind of bleacher set up.
 
Have been all of the WBL gyms. My preference is for the Elida Field House and Defiance's gym. I only went to Celina once and never wanted to go back.
 
Blue Jay Fan said:
I can't remember the last time we had a sell out or close to it. Visiting teams typically bring 200-250 fans at best.
Click to expand...
Just like at Marion Local, I think the lack of available seating (plus the cramped quarters) keeps visitors away. Plus, Delphos is a long haul for most MAC fans.
 
Blue Jay Fan said:
I can't remember the last time we had a sell out or close to it. Visiting teams typically bring 200-250 fans at best.

DSJ played at Ottoville and the visitors side was the entire side that was only 6-8 rows high. Might have been the first year of the new gym. I was kind of shocked anyone would build a gym with that kind of bleacher set up.
Click to expand...
So it was the whole one side. Thanks
 
Van Wert’s gym at the Goedde building was a neat place for D-4 sectional games.

Elida will always be the pinnacle of gyms IMO.
 
My all time fav was The Pit in Coldwater.

Wanna day 650 capacity and opposing schools would only get 50 tix. There would be a line for some games well.befofe the JV started!

Some schools like OG would not play there and instead the CW 'Home' games were played on celjna, ft rec...wanna even day SH one time but I've landed a few times too hard my memory escapes someone answer that phone sometimes.
 
The largest gyms (approx. seating capacity) in the WBL are Elida - 3,200, Defiance - 2,500, Wapak (2,500), VW -2,400, OG - 2,200 (not 2,500), St. Marys - 2,300 (maybe a little more). Celina's gym is a settlemental place but way outdated.
 
Thavoice said:
My all time fav was The Pit in Coldwater.

Wanna day 650 capacity and opposing schools would only get 50 tix. There would be a line for some games well.befofe the JV started!

Some schools like OG would not play there and instead the CW 'Home' games were played on celjna, ft rec...wanna even day SH one time but I've landed a few times too hard my memory escapes someone answer that phone sometimes.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a personal problem if OG refused to play there. Spencerville used their gym that sat like 850 until 2006. That visitors section was tiny and Spencerville had good teams in the early 2000s
 
ctown14 said:
Sounds like a personal problem if OG refused to play there. Spencerville used their gym that sat like 850 until 2006. That visitors section was tiny and Spencerville had good teams in the early 2000s
Click to expand...
Unless they could site a legitimate safety concern, refusal to play games at the opponents gym should have resulted in a forfeit.
 
CedarBuck92 said:
Unless they could site a legitimate safety concern, refusal to play games at the opponents gym should have resulted in a forfeit.
Click to expand...
Now......

make no mistake, it was agreed upon by the two schools. It wasnt like they schedule it, threw a hissyfit and stated they wouldnt visit The Pit as it would have been agreed upon.

Who knows....maybe CW was fully on board with it as well to make more $$$ with the bigger venue knowing the Titans would bring a large crowd!
 
Thavoice said:
Now......

make no mistake, it was agreed upon by the two schools. It wasnt like they schedule it, threw a hissyfit and stated they wouldnt visit The Pit as it would have been agreed upon.

Who knows....maybe CW was fully on board with it as well to make more $$$ with the bigger venue knowing the Titans would bring a large crowd!
Click to expand...
That is exactly why the moves happened
 
In the MAC, I would say the favorite is The Palace. It's spacious, yet the court is always in great shape. Plus, I'm biased in that's where Parkway won it's sectional title in 2020. I would say Elida is my favorite WBL gym.
 
Love Wapak. Not just the gym itself, but they are tremendous hosts, both in football and basketball.
 
Definitely Defiance for me with Elida being a close second. I don’t know why anyone would mention OG. It is awful and I have never cared for it.

As for the Mac, probably Coldwater. Not very many nice gyms in that conference.
 
Thavoice said:
My all time fav was The Pit in Coldwater.

Wanna day 650 capacity and opposing schools would only get 50 tix. There would be a line for some games well.befofe the JV started!

Some schools like OG would not play there and instead the CW 'Home' games were played on celjna, ft rec...wanna even day SH one time but I've landed a few times too hard my memory escapes someone answer that phone sometimes.
Click to expand...
DSJ played "at" Coldwater in 1982. DSJ was 17-2, I believe Coldwater was 18-0. Game was played at St. Henry. DSJ won 67-54.
 
Celina hands down.
MAC gyms are that gymnasiums not bball "courts". Never been to the "Vatican". This move to these multi purpose gyms kill atmosphere, 1000 people in a 2500 seat gym. At Ft. Loramie "not a MAC school" you almost need binoculars to see the players, the bleachers are that far away from the floor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top