GMC Prep unveils plans for new athletic facility

Published 4:40 pm Tuesday, March 18, 2025

A new athletic facility is on the horizon at Georgia Military College Prep School.

Following the recent soccer field renovation announcement, the school recently made public its plans to build a fieldhouse to create new locker room and weight room space for prep football and soccer student-athletes. The 8,100-square foot building will go next to the existing Ruark Athletic Complex, one of many facilities GMC Prep currently splits with the junior college.

Space is the key reason the new facility is coming to the campus. The GMC junior college football program has upped its roster to 150 players in recent years, which has created a pinch in Ruark.

“It’s become compact for us,” GMC Prep athletic director Rusty Courson said. “With the growth of our school and the college, we’re having to create more space. The only logical thing to do was build our own independent facility.”

Some preliminary sitework has already begun on the $2.4 million fieldhouse, though Courson says real construction is set to begin in May. Right now the timeline is for building to be done in October with full furnishings to come by mid-December. Should those dates hold true, the as-yet unnamed facility would be ready for the soccer teams to use for their spring 2026 seasons.

The prep soccer teams right now do not have locker rooms, so this will be a major upgrade for those programs. Bobby Jaworski, who’s helped lead GMC Prep boys soccer to three state championships in recent years as a community coach, is glad to see this coming.

“It’s going to be an awesome addition and something we’ve desperately needed,” Jaworski said. “The ability to have space that is ours, to lift and train, meet and watch film, and to hold an office will be next level.”

While Jaworski is excited, there may be no one on campus more pumped than prep varsity head football coach Gavin Tierce.

“This is a huge step for us,” he said. “We’re going to have the same equipment the University of Georgia uses in their weight room. It’s what a football coach dreams of.”

Tierce’s Bulldogs went 0-10 on the gridiron his first season at the helm in 2024, but he sees the new fieldhouse as a means of getting roster numbers up and developing talent for the future.

“The most important thing is this is proof to our kids that the school does care about sports and that we are moving forward with athletics here,” the football coach said. “Having to share every facility we use can be tough a lot of times. The autonomy this is going to give us and the excitement it’s going to give the kids when they see it, I think it’s going to do nothing but benefit us.”

Planned spaces inside the building include: two locker rooms, a weight room with artificial turf area, three coaches’ offices, a coaches’ conference room, a classroom to watch game film, showers and restrooms, and equipment storage rooms. The locker rooms will be used by the prep middle school and varsity football players during the fall. During spring, the middle school football locker room will transition to a girls soccer locker room with boys soccer using the varsity football space.

“As far as a single A Division 2 facility, you’re not going to find one better,” Tierce said. “This is going to be one of the nicest fieldhouses in the area. We couldn’t be any more excited.”

None of the upcoming $2.4 million project is state-funded, per Courson. All funds are being raised by the school.