(KNSI) – St. Cloud Area School District 742 has voted to combine its girls’ soccer programs.
The Apollo Eagles and Tech Tigers will become the latest teams to form a co-op unit called the Crush.
Superintendent Dr. Laurie Putnam told KNSI that when they looked at joining clubs, it was for three reasons, including a drop in participation. “We have very low numbers at our middle level as we look to into our high schools, our Apollo girls team has been struggling with numbers for several years now. Is this a coop that we’re going to do for two years and then we’ll have enough kids again? That’s just not the case if you look years into the future.”
Putnam says that drop leads to a major concern about the athlete’s safety on the pitch. “If we don’t have enough participants, we end up seeing seventh and eighth graders brought in to play at a level that they are physically not prepared for or when we have 12-year-olds mixed with 17 and 18-year-olds.”
She explained that leads to a program losing its competitive edge. “We know that nobody likes to lose, right? So, giving kids the time to learn and develop their skills at the appropriate competition level only promotes good skill development, good teamwork and then success.”
The district will ask the state to keep the team in its current division instead of moving to a different level the school’s combined enrollment calls for. “We will be petitioning the State High School league to keep us in that two-A level. We are confident that’s the appropriate placement for our school community, and that’s where we can be competitive and certainly, the three-A, or the level up, is not where we want to be. And so we will be making that appeal.”
If approved by the state, Tech Head Girls Soccer Coach Katie Boardman would be in charge of the new team with some assistance from both squads.
When play begins in the fall, Tech would be where practices are held; however, matches would take place at both campuses.
About three-fourths of the district’s athletic teams are united.
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