Seventh grade competitive sports added

Tuesday, May 9, 2006

McCook Daily Gazette

McCook Public Schools board of education members Monday evening added nine seventh grade competitive sports to the schedule at McCook Junior High, without taking intramurals away from the students who want to play noncompetitively.

Board member and activities committee member Diane Lyons told fellow board members that it will cost $38,666 -- in uniforms, equipment and coaches' salaries -- to add: volleyball, football and wrestling, and boys and girls track, cross country and basketball. She suggested eliminating intramural sports for seventh graders if competitive sports are offered.

"I'm not overly excited about adding seventh grade competitive sports," said board member Jim Coady. "Neither am I," Lyons said.

Activities Director Rick Haney said that abbreviated seasons could be scheduled this fall for volleyball, football and basketball, and full seasons for track, wrestling and cross country next winter and spring. Schedules could be developed with Lexington, Holdrege, Ogallala and Imperial.

Harry Sughroue, a parent whose daughters attend the junior high, said he believes seventh graders are missing out on competitive sports. Another parent, Randall Goltl, said he thinks McCook loses competitors between Little League and eighth grade. "For such a small amount of money, I think it's worth it," Goltl said.

Sughroue said he thinks there are "lots of seventh graders anxious to play. The costs are minimal, and the coaches and the buses are running anyway."

Haney said that some competitors' seventh grade competition teams are playing McCook's eighth grade B and C teams because McCook does not have seventh grade competitive teams. (McCook has never had competitive seventh grade teams, Lyons said.) Haney disagreed with Sughroue's comment on the buses, however, saying that he feels that adding seventh graders would require taking an additional bus.

Board member Ron Soden said he supports seventh grade competitive sports, although fellow board member Mike Gonzales said, "I'm not sure we're losing out not having seventh grade competitive sports. Our varsity teams are very successful."

However, Gonzales agreed with Soden when he said, "But that's an unknown." Gonzales said his concern was with the outlay of money and the lack of a schedule.

Board president Greg Larson cited several studies that indicate that student grades improve with involvement in extracurricular activities and sports.

Lyons and Coady voted against adding the seventh grade competitive sports; Soden, Gonzales, Larson and Tom Bredvick voted for the addition.

The vote was unanimous to keep intramurals and clubs at their current level at the junior high, at the recommendation of Junior High Principal Dennis Berry. The programs are successful, he said, and lots of kids are involved.

Intramurals now include football, basketball and volleyball, and it is recommended that wrestling, soccer and softball be added. Clubs include math, foreign, language, industrial technology, speech and drama, and art.

The board put no restriction on students who wanted to play intramural sports as well as competitive sports.

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