Northridge (Old) (2,500) Built 1972
October 12, 2024
October 12, 2024
When I first decided to rank the high school gyms that I had visited to that point over Christmas break 2 years ago, way before I had the idea to blog about all of them, I had a couple thoughts come to mind right away. First, how high could I justify putting Westview? Second, I can't believe how unreal the NCC gyms are as a collective. Third, man I hate the Fairfield and Northridge gyms. It's not just the bad memories that I've experienced at both places (we had plenty of good ones too), it's not just that they're rivals, there is something about both of them that makes my skin crawl. I instantly rated both of them as far down as I reasonably could until I got to the wretched private school gyms which barely even qualify for the exercise. As time has gone on, and I've had to compare new gyms I visit to Northridge, I've begrudgingly moved them up. I've thought about different aspects of the the gym and thought, okay there's a couple decent elements, and maybe I've been biased and too harsh. Then this last weekend I went back to the gym itself for the first time in a decade and realized I think I had it mostly right all along.
What strikes me is that I feel there's a lot of potential for good things here, but it's just poorly executed. The green/black/yellow color scheme is one I like, and the Raider mascot could be used in a lot of classic or menacing ways, but it just doesn't work here. Let's start with the worst offenses and hopefully end on a positive note. The hardwood court is a two-toned shade of light brown that looks fine, but it's what surrounds it that makes me cringe. The perimeter band around the court fades in and out from green to black in a bizarre color gradient that looks like something I would make using Microsoft Paint or Word Art on my Windows 98 desktop back in 4th grade. It's just hideous. The powers-that-be loved it so much though, that they doubled down and did the same thing with the giant "N" that sits at midcourt. There are small "NLC" conference scripts along each sideline which is a nice touch at least. Looking up above one baseline you'll see a giant banner saying "Welcome to Raider Ridge" with a blue background and mountains behind it. I'm assuming it's referring to the student section that is below it, but the sign makes it seem like they couldn't decide whether to use "Northridge" or "Raiders" and just slapped some weird combination of both of them on it, then set it to a color scheme that does not go with the rest of the gym whatsoever. They also did one of my least favorite things and hung the athletic accomplishment banners way up above the sideline bleachers instead of on the bare baseline wall so absolutely no one in the gym can read them without binoculars. Great stuff all around.
Now to point out a few things I don't completely hate. Let's start with the seating. Both sidelines have large sections of wooden bleachers going up about twelve rows on one side and twenty on the other. The wooden bleachers have really unique script on them for the seat numbers which looks cool. The smaller side does have a second level above it with about five rows of green plastic bleachers which I like considerably less. There is an exterior entrance to this level. One baseline wall is almost completely bare except for a big Raider painting of a knight on a horse with the green and yellow design. It's on a wooden cutout trimmed in green as well which looks nice. The NLC conference team display is pretty sharp. It's simple but distinctive. We now finally reach the one element of the gym that caused it to slowly creep up the rankings over time. Along the baseline wall that you enter from, there is a giant cutout section in the wall where wooden bleachers rise up about fifteen rows. Because it is set into the wall, the bleachers just seem to get swallowed up. I've seen a couple baseline seating sections set into the wall before, but only a couple rows deep, nothing like this. It's where the student section stands each game and makes for a raucous side of the court to play on. It's the one thing that sets the gym apart from others, even if the rest is pretty underwhelming.
You would think that a decade removed from my high school sports rivalries, my juvenile pettiness towards them would be gone, but I guess I'm not as mature as one would hope. It's hard for me to say nice things about Northridge or their gym. There is honestly a lot I objectively hate about it. There are also a couple neat aspects to it that even a cynic like myself can appreciate. This blog is labeled the "old" Northridge gym because they are opening a brand new one this year at the high school they built over a decade ago. Great initial planning on their part I know (sorry I couldn't help myself). I'm willing to go into that one with an open mind. There's actually a small part of me though that is sad this place won't be hosting meaningful high school games anymore. As much as I dislike it, the atmosphere for a big game here was always top notch, even if that had more to do with the mutual disdain between the two teams and the fact that the seats were always packed. It's not a beauty, but it has some history, and that's always tough to lose.
