Area teams struggle with low numbers
Given the small and declining enrollments our area high schools have, it's not unusual to see a few area teams dealing with low turnouts for fall sports teams and in some cases struggling to field a complete roster.
Such is the case this year as well.
Last fall White River Valley made history as the first Greene County high school to start a soccer program. Due to injuries and attrition, the Wolverines were down to the minimum 11 players needed to put a full team on the soccer pitch. With no substitutes available, the kids were forced to play the entire 80 minutes nonstop.
That puts any team at a competitive disadvantage. The kids gave it their best effort but were totally spent by the end of the match.
At last count, eight players were practicing with the team so far. That may change, as new athletic director Jim Beasley said he has been actively recruiting players for the soccer team.
Also WRV will not field a girls golf team this fall due to lack of participation.
And it's not just limited to White River Valley. As of last week, Linton-Stockton's boys cross country team had three runners. Five runners are needed to post a team score.
That too is subject to change.
"We're going to get some more runners here in the next few days," L-S cross country coach Jeff Franklin said. "It always starts like this for us so it's something we're used to."
One reason for White River Valley's strong turnout for boys cross country (15 runners) is many of the basketball players run cross country. Such is not the case at Linton-Stockton, which runs a basketball conditioning program for those who don't play football.
The merits of running cross country for basketball conditioning was the subject of much debate with several coaches last fall. Some see it as essential. Others think it's a good thing while some don't see it as necessary at all.
Other schools have dealt with low numbers too.
Bloomfield's girls track team had five participants last year. Bloomfield has quite a number of good athletes playing girls sports. The majority of them - including several cross country runners - played softball instead.
It's tough to try to play two spring or fall sports. Some do it but it means they'll practice one sport at the expense of the other.
It comes down to numbers. In any given population sample there's only going to be a certain percentage of athletes.
In the insurance business they often cite the Law of Large Numbers. Our area schools don't have the Law of Large Numbers working in their favor.
I'm all for giving our students every opportunity to participate in their favorite sport. Unfortunately, limited numbers make that a difficult proposition.
Terry Schwinghammer is a sports writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 27. He can also be reached via email at tschwing32@yahoo.com.
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