As piles of storm debris continue to grow outside people’s houses and homes still await power, storm problems extend beyond just the neighborhoods of Tampa Bay. Here at Robinson, students and faculty accommodate to the campus changes from the recent hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Although not nearly as pressing as more drastic storm rehabilitation such as flooding or house damage, the saddening reality of the effects of the storm on daily life is beginning to set in for the Robinson baseball team. After the storm, coach Alex Barron returned to absolute chaos on the team’s beloved field. Fences down, storm debris widespread throughout the field, and coaches and teammates crushed.
“It’s disheartening, it’s frustrating…that field and what we do means so much to our players and myself. To see it in a destroyed situation, causes much uncertainty in a program bedded on a rock of certainty”, Barron said.
While the state of the field is bothersome, it doesn’t pose any current threat to the safety of players.
“We should be able to practice. It just depends on whether the county’s going to allow us”, Barron said.
With the field in such disarray, hope of possible field recovery is on the mind of players and those concerned with the team.
“As of right now I don’t know of any plan to fix the field up. Hopefully the county can help us out. I know we’re not the only school concerned with damage, but we’re the only school that we’re concerned with. So, it’d be nice if they show us some love”, Barron said.
As all of Tampa recuperates from tragic losses and consequences of the storms, the matter of the Baseball field is put on the back-burner.
“There’s so many other issues right now, so many people have lost homes and possessions. While what happened is upsetting, I think time for people to rebuild their lives takes precedence over repairing our field”, Barron said.