theYARD

Corbett Sports Center Pool re-opens

Ameer Robertson, TheYARD Editor

February 15, 2022

After two years of Corbett’s pool being closed, N.C. A&T Office of Student Affairs has hired Courtney Adams as the pool manager in order to make the pool a viable asset to the University.

Courtney Adams was hired in Dec. 2021 and has always had a passion for swimming and water. Adams plans on eventually creating an adult learn-to-swim program because of all the students, staff, and faculty members on campus who do not know how to swim.

“It is important to address [the] swimming deficit among black and brown communities,” said Adams. “Black people can swim, I am a black person and I swim. I have a lifeguard staff of 13, all from N.C. A&T and they all can swim.”

Club Corbett’s pool has been on N.C. A&T’s campus since 1978 and it holds 298,000 gallons of water. The pool was once home to the Aggies women’s swim team, but they were dismantled in 2016. Shortly after the swim team was taken away from the University, the pool officially closed in 2019 even though it was constantly used by students.

“I think this is awesome [that the pool is reopening]. It is just a cool place to be,” said Myles Miller, a senior business IT student. “My freshman year, the students had a pool party. We had fliers, a DJ, and help from the lifeguard staff… If you are looking to host an event at the pool make sure you structure out a plan and contact whoever is in charge before acting on anything.”

The center re-opening was scheduled to take place on Feb. 1. However, due to unforeseen circumstances and prolonged repairs, the opening is scheduled for the week of Feb. 21, and it will be available for students, staff, and faculty members.

“I think the opening is a great thing, and a lot of people have been waiting on it. It is a resource that many people didn’t have available to them, especially everything going on with COVID-19,” said Journey Barsh, a sophomore mechanical engineering student. “It’s another bragging point for our school, and it adds to the appeal of A&T. I am excited about the pool opening.”

The Office of Student Affairs will be collaborating with the Campus Recreation Center in order to run the pool efficiently. There will be 25 slots available per hour because that is the capacity size for one lifeguard. The sign-up for the pool will be on the campus recreation center Instagram, like the gym sign-up, but it is not updated yet.