Gibbs has been on the road throughout the season and will stay there for a long, long time.
By BOB PUTNAM
Published October 10, 2003
The Gibbs players trudge their equipment nine blocks along the Pinellas Trail to practice at Childs Park. Along the way, they walk past classrooms located where their stadium used to sit.
With the campus undergoing a $44.5-million facelift, the team is temporarily homeless. The students are staying on campus during construction, but the football team plays and practices somewhere else.
And they will do so for the next two years.
The situation is hardly ideal for a team with playoff hopes, but the players and coaches are bearing it.
"It's the same plan every week," Gibbs offensive coordinator Dave Cleppe said. "We get dressed, get on a bus and go to a field. We'd just like the games to be a little closer to home."
The Gladiators (2-3) played their first three games on the road before playing "home" games at Boca Ciega and St. Petersburg the past two weeks. Tonight, they travel to East Lake, their longest trip of the season.
But it's practices, not games, that are the biggest burden.
With the field house also doomed to the wrecking ball, the team had to say goodbye to amenities it normally would take for granted. There are no chalkboards to diagram plays, no lockers to store equipment, no offices to gather and watch game tape.
"We have to haul a lot of stuff such as equipment and water for the kids," Cleppe said. "It's an obstacle we have to overcome, but there isn't too much complaining about it. I think the kids have responded well."
Once the construction is complete, the new stadium and athletic fields will be where the parking lot now sits.
"That's the reward," Cleppe said. "We just have to wait a while to see it."
