Gaston College's athletic future will be based on adding, upgrading facilities - and plans are already in place

Gaston College's athletic program is celebrating an anniversary this fall as the program became official on Nov. 16, 2020 after it was approved by the school's Board of Trustees.

Then, the school approved an athletic program of women's cross country, men's basketball, baseball, softball and beach volleyball.

But there's more to come as far as new sports and new facilities.

The school that opened in 1964 off U.S. 321 has used basketball gymnasiums in Gaston County and Cleveland County over the years and is currently using three local high school facilities - Dallas' North Gaston High School, Gastonia's Piedmont Community Charter and Lowell's Gaston Christian School.

The future, as Gaston College president Dr. John Hauser sees it, will be an on-campus gymnasium and athletic facility that also could house the entire program.

"We're in the process," Hauser said. "We've got some preliminary conceptual designs for that facility. We're working on developing the funding mechanism to make that happen. That's probably two or three years out. For now, we're going to continue to work with our community partners. They're excited to have what we have. Obviously, we want to be on campus - and that'll happen soon."

And while the baseball program will benefit from the Sims Legion Park facility that is three miles south of campus, other sports are expected to use facilities near that historic baseball stadium that was first opened in 1950.

A softball stadium and a soccer stadium are to be built based on the long-term plans Gaston College has made with the city of Gastonia. Additionally, the Sims Legion Park facility itself that has gone through changes in the past - most notably switching from a wooden structure to a concrete structure in the 1970s - is currently undergoing locker room upgrades.

"The goal in our partnership with the city of Gastonia is to have a softball team out at Sims as well as a future soccer team," Hauser said. "That's the long-range plan and, hopefully, that plan is not too far out. We're thinking in like a two- to four-year window."

Currently, basketball is using three high school gymnasiums, baseball is using Sims Legion Park, softball is using Gastonia's Martha Rivers Park and the beach volleyball program will play in an on-campus pit that will be built in the near future.

"We're excited to be able to play throughout the county and showcase our basketball team in different areas of the community and get folks involved," Hauser said. "Playing in different communities allows us to engage different communities. But we're also looking forward to having on-campus facilities. It's all a part of the process of building our athletic program."