As many of the New Jersey track and field community may have already heard, the Toms River "Bubble" John Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex had a partial deflation of its roof over the weekend due to heavy snow and ice accumulation during our recent storm.
The Toms River Fire Prevention Inspectors IAFF Local 5303 posted images of the deflation and added that these structures are designed to deflate under heavy loads.
After the initial deflation was caught by the venue's maintenance team they took further action to fully deflate the Bubble in a controlled manner to avoid damage and because it was deemed unsafe. The process of evaluating if the Bubble took any significant damage and if it is safe to inflate once the snow clears is currently taking shape.
Kyle Austin, the Site Director the Bubble, confirmed to NJ MileSplit that the venue will be closed this coming week and evaluations will be taking place later in the week on the status of competition from there on. The NJSIAA State Sectionals are currently scheduled to kick off Friday, February 11th.
Meets which were originally set to take place at the Toms River Bubble this coming week (January 31st through February 6th) are either cancelling, postponing, or finding alternative venue options. Coaches are asked to keep an eye out for updated information from your Meet Directors.
After reaching out to Derryk Sellers, the NJSIAA Assistant Director for Indoor Track and Field, on if there are any back up plans or discussions already in the works he informed NJ MileSplit that the NJSIAA will be meeting on Monday to discuss the situation. Further updates to come.
------------- Update From NJSIAA January 31st --------------
At this time we are currently awaiting for the status of the bubble at Toms River.
We are diligently discussing alternative plans based on the information we receive from Toms River.
Once we receive the word from Toms River we will be in touch with everyone concerned.
If you have any questions or concerns please email Derryk Sellers dsellers@njsiaa.org
-----------------
It was also added that the...
Group 1 and 4 Sectional entry / seed deadlines have been extended to February 7th.
Group 2 and 3 Sectional deadlines to February 14th.
Non-Public A and B Group deadlines to February 21st.
------------ + -------------
While structures like this are made to deflate in warranted circumstances and we could see the structure back in working order soon, if the Bubble did receive damage forcing a lengthy closure this would be a massive blow to the New Jersey indoor track and field season.
Over 60 meets were scheduled to take place at this venue from December through March for the 2022 season, including the upcoming NJSIAA State Sectional Championships, Group Championships, and Meet of Champions.
With limited alternative options within state borders this also raises some scheduling issues for coaches and athletes trying to find important late seed times for the state meets right when the individual events focused portion of the season was picking up.
We'll update the article when more information is available.
