It didn’t take long after word had spread about flooding in Columbus East High School that one local business stepped in to assist some Olympians athletes.
Toyota Material Handling Vice President of Aftermarket Operations Bret Bruin, who shares a backyard with East football coach Eddie Vogel, sent Vogel a text saying he was looking into seeing if the football team could use the T+Rex fitness facility at TMH. A couple of hours later, Bruin sent Vogel a text saying it had been approved.
“That was an outstanding gesture,” East athletics director Pete Huse said. “They came to us immediately. As soon as they heard we were not going to be able to lift, they reached out to us and said, ‘How can we help?’”
TMH offered the Olympians use of the facility each morning for the rest of last week, but as it turned out, East needed it only on Thursday. The Olympians normally worked out on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays in June. They were off Wednesday and Friday, and this week is the IHSAA’s moratorium week.
The T+Rex facility is about the same size as the weight room at East, only with more cardio equipment, where East’s is mostly weights. So about 20 players were able to work out for an hour, then another 20 for the second hour.
“We just kind of staggered when guys came in,” Vogel said. “We kind of stuck with the same workout that we’ve been able to do. They have all the equipment we have. Guys did auxiliaries, guys did squats and bench and then they just flip-flopped. We did everything we do in our gym. We just kind of had to do it in shifts.”
Although the weight room at East was not damaged by the flooding, a sewage backup led to the building’s closure.
“Since it was sewage backup, they were worried about the air quality,” Vogel said. “They had kind of closed the building down until they could get the building back to where it needs to be. We’re hoping we can have the area open after the moratorium. It would be ideal just to be back in the weight room, but we’ll evaluate when we get back and see where they’re at with the sanitizing and cleaning of the building.”
The floor in the auxiliary gym suffered the most damage in the flood, and the school is hoping the floor in the main gym can be salvaged. The volleyball and boys basketball teams worked out at Central Middle School last week and may be back there after the moratorium ends on July 5 if the main gym floor isn’t playable.
Vogel, a longtime assistant, is taking over the football program from Bob Gaddis, who retired after coaching the Olympians the past 20 years. East traveled to New Palestine on July 21 for scrimmages with Bloomington South and Castle.
“I think we did OK,” Vogel said. “We were missing some guys who were down in Florida (with the wrestling team). But I thought we competed well. We had a chance to see what we were good at. We got a chance to see how we stacked up against some pretty quality 5A teams.”
The Olympians practiced on the football field the next day and worked out at TMH on Thursday.
“We’re happy to offer our facility to help the Columbus East football team and give them a place to train while their gym is closed,” said Bruin, who had a son play sports at East and a daughter play at Columbus North. “Toyota’s founding principle, the reason we exist, is to contribute to society. We’re always looking for ways to give back to the communities in which we live and work, and this is a small way to help our local student-athletes.”
Vogel and his players were grateful for the gesture.
“It’s just unreal, the community support,” Vogel said. “In Columbus, people just step up and help. They were awesome to work with. That facility is tremendous out there. We feel pretty blessed that we have a community that’s able to step up and help the way they did.”
