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The Beulah varsity volleyball team has been forced to play all its  games on the road this season due to Beulah constructing a new gym.

The Bobcats are currently 1-2, and the fact that they have no home games has proven to be difficult for head coach Allison Aikens.

“It’s been a little bit of a challenge,” Aikens said.

“We’ve been practicing in our old gym. It’s feasible, but it’s just not set up for games.”

Beulah’s old gym has rubber mat flooring that works for practice, but it isn’t in good enough condition to play games on.

“We’ve put down tape for different reasons, so there’s tape residue,” Aikens said.

“Certain parts of the flooring underneath have a dip, so it’s not level flooring. If you bounce a ball in a certain area, it’s not going to bounce the way you expect it to.”

The Bobcats had to cancel a few games, but they’ll play some opponents twice on the road instead.

“We had to cancel a few games because it wasn’t feasible,” Aikens said.

Aikens also feels like playing only road games is a major disadvantage for her team.

“We play close teams like Lanett and Valley, but our area changed too,” Aikens said.

“We play Dadeville, which is a good 45 minutes to an hour away. We play Alabama Christian and Prattville, who are a good hour and 15 minutes or hour and a half away.”

The travel not only affects how their team plays, but it affects the girls as students.

“They’re spending so much time on the road and getting back so late,” Aikens said.

“I feel like it’s affecting us more than a regular season would. I get motion sickness. I couldn’t do homework on a bus.”

As for when the new gym will be done, Aikens is unsure. She’s optimistic it will be done by the end of the month.

“I haven’t been told a specific date of when it will be done,” Aikens said.

“I’m hopeful that we might get our last games maybe at the end of September or in October, but that’s being hopeful. Our principal, Adam Johnson, has been great. He keeps checking for us, but some things are even out of his control.”

Aikens mentioned that certain things like weather and part backorders have thrown off the construction.

Despite all the challenges her team has faced, Aikens praised the fans and her team for their support this season.

“We have great parent support and fans who do travel and support our girls,” Aikens said.

“It gets hard when we’re not playing in front of a home crowd. When they’re close games, our student section has a good turnout. If we’re traveling an hour or so away, we don’t get the support of other teams as well.”

Beulah will travel to Prattville Christian on Thursday, which is an hour and 20 minute drive.