New look Liberty Lions

Liberty Middle School eighth-graders Carson Styles, Trevor Makarov and Frank Herring show off the new burnt orange uniforms in the new field house at the school.

A new school year usually means new clothes for students, but athletes at Liberty Middle School got much more than that this year as they now have a new field house and a new color, trading in the Halloween orange for burnt orange.

The 3,750-square-foot field house officially opened its doors Monday, Aug. 30.

“It’s amazing,” said eighth-grade football player Trevor Makarov. “We’re lucky to have something like this.”

Liberty head football coach Kip Hodge said the athletes at the school were previously confined to a makeshift field house, which consisted of a few classrooms transformed into a weight room.

The functionality of makeshift field house was limited.

“It really couldn’t help the kids get better,” Hodge said.

Now, the Lions’ athletic teams have a state-of-the-art facility with a new weight room, a locker room, bathrooms and coaches offices.

“The kids are so excited,” Hodge said. “This has brought the kids together as one, and it has helped us all come together.”

Although the football team currently occupies the building, which cost approximately $285,000, it will also be used for other sports. There is even a pull down wall so that both the boys’ and girls’ athletic teams can share the space.

In addition to the new facility, the football team is sporting a new color this fall.

Prior to the team’s jamboree games Aug. 19, Hodge pulled out a new set of burnt orange uniforms, similar to what the University of Texas wears.

“They love it,” Hodge said. “They were shocked when I pulled them out of the box. They had no idea.”

Hodge said other sports are expected to follow suit with the new color.