After being home to many teams at Lake Forest Academies for over 70 years, the Athletic Department has made continuous strides in developing a modern environment for student-athletes to demonstrate their talents.
In the spring of 2023, LFA began constructing the new athletic facility, and thanks to many generous donations and support from the community, the new facility has been wrapping up on final projects. On September 6 the ACE gymnasium had its first open gym for the LFA community.
The new facility not only provides more space for athletes to hang out and just take a break from physical activities but also includes an indoor track, a new weight room, many basketball courts and bringing much excitement to the community, LFA’s first ever squash courts.
When speaking to squash player Hamza Jafrii ’26, he expressed his excitement by saying “I think this program is really going to take off. We already won state last year, and now, with more opportunities to train, we can represent squash in the Midwest.”
Adding three basketball courts is a meaningful development for the five basketball teams at LFA, who have shared one gym for many years. The basketball courts have addressed a huge time dilemma for many student-athletes. “Before this new athletic facility we had to share one gym with 5 teams, so we don’t have to practice during dinner or right before study hours,” Paulius Karvelis’25, a varsity basketball player, said.
One of the captains of the varsity boys volleyball team, Jaden Kim ‘25, said “having a new court that includes a drop-down net definitely excited our team. Hopefully, this will allow us to practice more and more throughout the school year.”
On September third, Girls junior varsity and varsity volleyball played not only the season home opener but also the first game in the ACE gymnasium. For the first time, the community gathered at a new location to watch a great 2-0 win for the Caxy’s against West Lake Christian High School. Despite the “Glore Roar” being forgoned, LFA showed great spirit, volume and support in the new field house.
