Every day, students at Hollis Brookline High School rely on the shelves outside the locker rooms to hold their bags until it is time for practice. It has become increasingly difficult to find a spot on the shelves, or to find bags at the end of the day due to the amount of students using them. So, is it time for a new system?

It is important that the school has a designated spot for sports bags. Lockers are just too small to hold them, and the locker room hallway is too narrow to leave equipment on the ground. “Before the shelves went up, it was a big pile, which wasn’t so great,” said Tracy Gray, a fitness teacher here at Hollis Brookline High School.

Despite the shelves, some students still cannot find a space for their bags, leading some athletes to throw their bags onto any small space available. Unfortunately, because of the disorganized way the bags are placed, the contents of the bags sometimes spill out, and instead of taking up one spot, they take up three. “Sometimes I can’t find any spots so I have to put my stuff in my locker,” said Zoe Penta ‘20, who is on the varsity crew and swim teams HBHS.

Another problem with the shelves is that it is hard for students to find their bags once it is time to pick them up. “It’s a mess…once I didn’t remember where I put [my bag],” said Kail Arthur ‘21. Due to this incredible lack of organization, some students even go as far as to think their bags were stolen. Luckily, “[t]here are cameras in the hallways (not sure everyone knows this) which I think cuts down on a lot of the suspicious activity such as stealing,” said Gray.

Due to the lack of organization, some students have lost their bags. These bags can stay on the shelves in-between seasons which leads to another issue: smell. If students leave their bags, or do not wash their clothes/gear, “it makes the hallway smell quite terrible,” said Gray. If students cannot find their equipment, they also cannot wash it

Arthur believes that one way to increase the level of organization is to categorize the shelves by sport. This would allow athletes to find their bags more quickly, making them less likely to be late to practice. Students would also be able to find misplaced bags, and not forget gear in between seasons. This would also help to eliminate the remaining odor.

Another way to make available space on the shelves is to keep bags upright. Much of the equipment falls over, or gets placed on its side, decreasing the amount of spots left for others. Also, if bags were left upright, other athletes would also be less inclined to move bags around to create space, allowing students to find their equipment faster.

Lastly, to maximize space, students can use more of the provided shelves. Most of the bags are dropped off close to the beginning of the hallway. Sometimes, the end of the shelves have no gear on them at all. If girls put their belongings outside of the girl’s locker rooms, and boys did the same outside of their locker room, more of the available space could be used.

Overall, a new system would benefit students. After every season, more and more forgotten gear is left behind, filling up the shelves quickly. With a new, more organized system, more students would be able to put their bags on the shelves and use them for their intended purpose.