Meeting Wednesday night, the District #18 Board of Education learned from Athletic Director Michael Becker how numbers could affect the Wolfpack football program in the coming year.
Becker said he and others from EPS and PJCC recently met as part of the Wolfpack committee to discuss a number of items related to the sports co-op.
Regarding the football program, he said the number of student-athletes out for football next fall would be approximately the same this year, give or take one or two. He said the number could be 16 on the low end, maybe 18 on the high end. It’s not ideal, he said, but you have to play with the cards your dealt with. However, there’s hope in the future. He said with the number of players in the junior high program, Wolfpack varsity football should see an increase in numbers in the coming years.
Becker said there was a brief discussion about six-man football. However, it was noted that the Wolfpack would not have been eligible for the six-man playoffs this year due to numbers.
That was just one of a number of items Becker reported on. Others were:
Junior high football — This year, due to numbers, sixth graders were allowed to participate in junior high football. That’s likely to be just a one-year experiment. Junior high football will only consist of seventh and eighth grade boys when practice opens next fall.
Awards night — The Wolfpack Fall Sports Awards Night will, do to calendar issues, be held Sunday night, Nov. 20. It will begin at 7 p.m.
Senior parents — When the Wolfpack teams hold Parent’s Night in upcoming seasons, a decision has been made to allow parents of senior athletes to receive free admission. All other parents will be required to pay admission to attend the games.
Turning their attention to future projects to be completed during the summer of 2017, the board gave the administration the go-ahead to again pursue resolving the issue of the crown and possibly the replacement of sod at Elgin Field. It’s possible the current sod could be removed and placed where dirt was taken for the new parking lot east of the school gym. The consensus of the board was to get prices for new sod, dirt work necessary on the football field and the possible placement of a sprinkler system, to be reviewed and possibly acted on at a later date.
The board also gave the go ahead to explore the purchase of a new school bus, as part of the current rotation plan of replacing a bus every five years. Depending on costs, the board may consider buying a bus with more seating for students.
The board meeting had just one action item on the agenda, to accept the annual audit which the board did on a unanimous 6-0 vote.
Still, there were other news to come from the meeting.
The board will soon go over the recently completed superintendent evaluation with Superintendent Dan Polk. Board President Steve Heithoff said, “Everything is going well, we’re very happy with your job performance.” Board member Stan Heithoff echoed those thoughts, saying “Thank you for a job well done.” Polk told the board should they ever have any issues, to feel free to contact him.
Principal Greg Wemhoff, reviewing activities which occurred over the past month, said the “Donuts For Dads” event held Oct. 13 was well-attended.
A similar event, “Muffins For Moms” will be held Friday, Dec. 2.
As for sports, Wemhoff said the winter sports season officially was to begin on Monday, Nov. 14.
He said boys basketball numbers could be less than 10 players this season, meaning JV games for the boys will likely be just two quarters. Starting times could fluctuate from week to week, he said.
