
By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Construction is underway for football and track facility improvements at Larned High School. However, the $2.1 million project did not include one important upgrade: locker rooms. First-year football coach Brady Keith gathered nearly four dozen of his football players and his coaching staff to do something about it.
"It didn't make sense that we're going to have a nice football field, then we'd have a terrible locker room," Keith said. "Our locker room has been in pretty dismal shape for many, many years - probably 20 years. That's something I've always believed is you can tell a lot about a football program by the state of their locker room, how they look after that thing. It's something I really wanted to do in year one, is give them a space they can be proud of."

The Larned community came together to raise funds for the majority of the project, which includes new wooden lockers, a new floor, fresh paint, and some remodeling to utilize space.
"The old locker room was next door and there was a wall between the coach's office and our meeting space and the old locker room so we couldn't see what the kids were doing next door," said Keith. "We had a window cut in the coach's office, and we basically moved the locker room into the side of the building that the coach's office is in."
Keith said every football player on the team has contributed to the remodel, which will be completed soon. The team spent up to five hours a day over five days getting the work done. Keith said the hands-on nature of the new locker room makes it extra meaningful.

"I think it helps them take pride in their space," he said. "It's like your house. No matter what you have, you need to make sure you're doing whatever it takes to be proud of your space. If that means putting in a little work on your own, then you do that. At the end of the day, you want to be proud of what you have.
"Also, I think it gives the kids a little stake in it. It's not just that this was a gift given to them, they also feel like they were a part of it and did something to make their situation better."
The wooden lockers were made by local contractor Jeromy Bartz. Smith Dental Clinic donated a washer and dryer, the Shaver and Ramsey families donated a new TV, and Haynes Electric donated new lighting. Rick Regan donated and will install the new flooring.
