The three schools boards recently agreed to begin cooping athletics though it will be done in stages.
Fall 2019 - All three schools will begin cooping all junior high sports. Emerson Hubbard has been cooping with Pender for quite a few years for junior high sports. Wakefield and Allen currently coop all junior high sports (not sure about track).
Fall 2020 - Emerson Hubbard high school girls will join the Wakefield - Allen coop. Wakefield - Allen girls cooped this year in volleyball and basketball for the first time. Emerson Hubbard girls currently compete on their own with the exception of cooping with Pender for track. Wakefield and Allen have their own track teams this year.
Fall 2022 - All three schools will begin cooping boys sports. Currently all three compete on their own for Football, Basketball and track with the exception being Emerson Hubbard coops with Pender for track and Pender, Bancroft Rosalie, and Lyons Decateur for baseball. Wakefield and Allen currently coop wrestling. Waiting till 2022 for boys was at the request of Wakefield. No information on why waiting so long though.
These three schools combined will firmly be entrenched in the upper 1/3 of C1 enrollment. While I dont think it will be an issue it will be interesting to see if either gender in any sport gets close to class B now since we use seperate classifications based off of boy and girl enrollments.
Interesting to see this coop develop over the past year. Just last year both Allen and Emerson Hubbard school boards agreed to coop (Allen girls only and Emerson Hubbard boys and girls) but then backed out. Emerson Hubbard had Pender tell them no for girls only a few months after they did the same thing to Pender for football. This after cooping track and junior high sports for years. Homer also turned down Emerson Hubbard very early on. Allen also has had many talks with Ponca but it sounds like Ponca is pushing too hard for full consolidation right away instead of going at the pace that Allen wants to.
Will this coop stay in the ever decreasing in size Lewis & Clark Conference? Most all those schools except Winnebago and Walthill continue to get smaller. Maybe a better fit for the East Husker or even possibly the Mid-States? Mid-States I think would be a stretch. I'm guessing Allen and Emerson Hubbard will continue to see more kids option enroll into Homer, Pender, Ponca, Laurel, and Wakefield with these changes.
Its interesting to see these schools come together to form a coop this size. I commend them for working together. Many of these kids will get an opportunity to play additional sports that they never had in the past; golf, wrestling, possibly softball, baseball, and cross country down the line. So often schools get caught up on bumping up a class size and the coop talks stall. I hope this works out for them. Homer, Ponca, and Pender had opportunities but didnt make it work. Someday they may all be in the same situation with declining enrollments and without a partner due to being landlocked. Ponca is out of cooping partners. Homer is sandwiched between Winnebago and South Sioux City. Pender is seeing growth but it could flip back the other way in a few years just as quick.
Lastly, the Lewis and Clark Conference could look a lot differant in 10 years. Winside, Wynot, Wausa, Bloomfield, Plainview, Ponca, Hartington, Randolph, Osmond, etc...are all not growing. Everyone is just fighting to hold onto their current size.
Fall 2019 - All three schools will begin cooping all junior high sports. Emerson Hubbard has been cooping with Pender for quite a few years for junior high sports. Wakefield and Allen currently coop all junior high sports (not sure about track).
Fall 2020 - Emerson Hubbard high school girls will join the Wakefield - Allen coop. Wakefield - Allen girls cooped this year in volleyball and basketball for the first time. Emerson Hubbard girls currently compete on their own with the exception of cooping with Pender for track. Wakefield and Allen have their own track teams this year.
Fall 2022 - All three schools will begin cooping boys sports. Currently all three compete on their own for Football, Basketball and track with the exception being Emerson Hubbard coops with Pender for track and Pender, Bancroft Rosalie, and Lyons Decateur for baseball. Wakefield and Allen currently coop wrestling. Waiting till 2022 for boys was at the request of Wakefield. No information on why waiting so long though.
These three schools combined will firmly be entrenched in the upper 1/3 of C1 enrollment. While I dont think it will be an issue it will be interesting to see if either gender in any sport gets close to class B now since we use seperate classifications based off of boy and girl enrollments.
Interesting to see this coop develop over the past year. Just last year both Allen and Emerson Hubbard school boards agreed to coop (Allen girls only and Emerson Hubbard boys and girls) but then backed out. Emerson Hubbard had Pender tell them no for girls only a few months after they did the same thing to Pender for football. This after cooping track and junior high sports for years. Homer also turned down Emerson Hubbard very early on. Allen also has had many talks with Ponca but it sounds like Ponca is pushing too hard for full consolidation right away instead of going at the pace that Allen wants to.
Will this coop stay in the ever decreasing in size Lewis & Clark Conference? Most all those schools except Winnebago and Walthill continue to get smaller. Maybe a better fit for the East Husker or even possibly the Mid-States? Mid-States I think would be a stretch. I'm guessing Allen and Emerson Hubbard will continue to see more kids option enroll into Homer, Pender, Ponca, Laurel, and Wakefield with these changes.
Its interesting to see these schools come together to form a coop this size. I commend them for working together. Many of these kids will get an opportunity to play additional sports that they never had in the past; golf, wrestling, possibly softball, baseball, and cross country down the line. So often schools get caught up on bumping up a class size and the coop talks stall. I hope this works out for them. Homer, Ponca, and Pender had opportunities but didnt make it work. Someday they may all be in the same situation with declining enrollments and without a partner due to being landlocked. Ponca is out of cooping partners. Homer is sandwiched between Winnebago and South Sioux City. Pender is seeing growth but it could flip back the other way in a few years just as quick.
Lastly, the Lewis and Clark Conference could look a lot differant in 10 years. Winside, Wynot, Wausa, Bloomfield, Plainview, Ponca, Hartington, Randolph, Osmond, etc...are all not growing. Everyone is just fighting to hold onto their current size.
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