A high school gym that is both functional and beautiful is a rare item.
Los Alamitos has one.
The school’s new gym is the best high school gym in Orange County. It is impressive looking on the outside, with its dramatic lighting and a large red-white-and blue Griffin mascot on a wall under “Griffin Center” lettering.
The entryway foyer from the building’s front doors to the playing area is akin to a newer college facility.
The interior’s wood floor is of a lighter tone than most, with a large Griffin in a darker hue at center court. The lighting might seem too much at first, but later perception is that it is about the correct level of brightness – very illuminating with no glare.
The room is big, too. In some gyms, especially the older ones, the ceiling is so low that a volleyball player sometimes has to guess where the ball is going to come down after it rattles around the lights or the rafters. That won’t be a challenge at Los Alamitos, where the ceiling is very high.
The Los Al gym has bench seating on both sides. Courtside chairs also are available. Mid-court tables are on both sides with plenty of room for scorekeepers, scoreboard operations and media.
The place has a spectator capacity of 2,000. It would be a fine venue for CIF Southern Section or CIF Southern California Regional basketball and volleyball championships.
The project cost $30 million, according to Los Alamitos boys basketball coach and athletic director Nathan Berger. A bond measure provided the funding.
Blake Hyepock, Los Alamitos assistant principal in charge of the school’s athletic program, had a say in some of the design ideas. Hyepock has a sports background – he played quarterback at Orange Lutheran and was an assistant athletic director there – so that helped.
The structure includes a large weight room that has 24 racks of free weights, 16 more than the school’s older weight room could contain.
“The weight room is so big,” Berger said, “that we can have multiple programs in there at the same time.”
The older gym still exists, so there is plenty of gym time available for all the school teams that need gym time.
“That’s my favorite part of this,” Berger said. “It’s a massive upgrade for all of our students. There’s no more complaining about getting to use the gym.
“Our girls volleyball program is very successful and they always go deep into the fall playoffs. So it used to be that our basketball team would get only maybe 12 to 15 hours in the gym during fall. Now, that’s not an issue at all.”
League and CIF championship banners are still to be added. Some sort of Griffins Hall of Fame is to come and would be a perfect addition to the foyer.
Corona del Mar boys basketball coach Jason Simco, whose team beat Los Alamitos 78-77 in a sensational Sunset League game Monday, was impressed by the Los Al facility.
“That grand entrance they have there is beautiful,” Simco said. “I love the team rooms and the weight room that’s attached to them. There’s nothing like that place at any public school around here.”
One more item that is an unusual one for a high school gym: The Los Alamitos gym has a designated locker room for game officials. The sign outside of that room reads “Referee” in capital letters.
“Referee” also is inscribed in Braille on that sign. Yes, as it is said, some jokes just write themselves.
NOTES
Aliso Niguel hopes to begin interviews next week for its football head coaching vacancy. The goal is to make a hire by mid-February. Michael Calahan resigned in December after six seasons as the Wolverines’ head coach. …
Two quarterbacks have left JSerra, which recently underwent a head coaching change. Former NFL linebacker and Oakland Bishop O’Dowd coach Hardy Nickerson has replaced Victor Santa Cruz. Gino Wang, a sophomore this school year who played the most quarterback minutes for JSerra in 2025, transferred to Servite. Freshman Koa Smith-Mayal transferred to Santa Margarita. …
Wrestling season ramps up this month. Many Orange County wrestlers will compete in the Doc Buchanan Invitational on Friday and Saturday at Clovis High in Fresno. Among them are several Fountain Valley wrestlers, including Vinnie Gutierrez, who CalGrappler.com ranks No. 4 in the state at 138 pounds. Also competing will be the Barons’ Hunter Jauregui, who is ranked No. 5 in the state at 120 pounds. …
The annually excellent Five Counties wrestling tournament is Jan. 16-17 at Fountain Valley. It’s a highlight of every high school sports year. …
Outstanding speed and athleticism were on display in the Servite-JSerra boys soccer game Wednesday at JSerra. Servite, No. 4 in the Orange County rankings, beat No. 1 JSerra 2-0. Senior forward Gregg Gonzalez scored both goals. …
The Lute Olson Legacy Classic is a fine-looking, all-day boys basketball event Saturday at Long Beach City College. The showcase honors the late-great Olson, who was best known nationally as the coach at Arizona. He got his start in Orange County as the coach at Loara and Marina. The event Saturday includes Arizona’s Compass Prep (that’s where ex-Mater Dei forward Demarcus Henry is now) vs. Georgia’s The Wilson Academy at 7:30 p.m. Fairmont Prep will play San Gabriel Academy in a San Joaquin League game at 6 p.m. …
The Nike Extravaganza returns to Mater Dei on Jan. 23-24. Among the games is Mater Dei vs. St. Mary’s of Arizona on Jan. 23. St. Mary’s features Cameron Williams, a 6-11 senior who signed with Duke. The nine-game schedule on Jan. 24 includes Servite vs. Los Alamitos at 3 p.m.