Dayton, Waitsburg School Boards Discuss Athletic Combine's Future

WAITSBURG – The Dayton and Waitsburg school boards met on May 31 to report back on feedback they received from community members, students, and parents regarding the DW athletics combine, as well as to discuss its future.

The meeting, held in theWaitsburg Elementary School library, was also attended by coaches from both schools, and lasted approximately an hour and a half. The meeting began with Dayton School Board Chairman Dan Butler stating that the proceedings should be used to help decide what is best for students in the future.

"All of us on the school boards are student-centered," Butler said to start the meeting. "What's going to be good for our kids?"

Dayton Superintendent Doug Johnson then opened by giving a report on the survey conducted by Dayton High School Principal Paul Shaber, who was not able to attend. The responses to the survey given in Dayton were almost all positive.

Most of the comments were praising the fact that there were a greater number of players on teams due to the combine. This allowed for a greater level of player safety, as kids did not have to play as long in games due to having available subs, according to Johnson. This also allowed for kids to compete for playing positions, which in turn made the teams more competitive.

The first question on Dayton's survey asked if the football combine met the needs of the kids, which had over 90 percent of respondents saying that it went either "great" or "pretty good."

Another issue addressed on the survey was the possible expansion of the combine to also include basketball, track, and softball on the high school level. Johnson said the answers were about fifty-fifty for each scenario. "None of the options received an overwhelming response," he stated.

Waitsburg's Athletic Director Stephanie Wooderchak also presented the results of a survey on the issue. The survey was given in class to students, as well as through links on the Waitsburg School District website and grading portals, and resulted in 159 responses.

The survey received many of the same responses that Dayton did, with over 90 percent of people also rating it as "great" or "pretty good." Students and parents pointed to how easily the kids from both schools came together to make one working unit.

"They liked how the teams came together, they liked the unity and the friendships they made," said Wooderchak.

This sentiment was echoed by DW football Head Coach Troy Larsen. "Our kids love each other. I have nothing but good things to say about it."

Between the two schools, there was very little negative feedback from those surveyed regarding this new partnership. One of the rare concerns that was voiced between the two schools were a few respondents that were afraid of the schools losing their individual identities if they were to continue the combine or add more sports to the partnership. Others voiced concerns about sports where all the coaches came from one school, such as the Dayton coaching staffs for the combined cheer and baseball.

Some coaches also said that their players were apprehensive about moving forward with more sports, with some being hard "no's" on moving forward with basketball combining in the next couple seasons.

After the reports were given on the two surveys, the discussion shifted to the future of the athletics combine. This ranged from the viability of continuing the combine to the possibility of combing more sports, or even combining all sports across both schools.

The main point of discussion when it came to the future was whether combining more sports was more of an issue of want or need for both schools. The idea of combining sports at the middle school level to test the waters was suggested. This led to talk about future numbers projections for both schools, and how this would translate to participation in sports.

The first sport discussed was high school volleyball. Johnson stated that, while there was no problem for Dayton to field a varsity team at any point in the last few years, that having a junior varsity team for volleyball (along with other sports) was sometimes an issue.

"We have not had enough students to have a rotating or robust JV program," Johnson said. He added that this issue was compounded by the fact that other programs in the league and in the area were sometimes struggling or failing to field junior varsity teams of their own. An offered solution to this problem was to play a JV schedule in a different league, such as the neighboring District 5, as well as playing against larger school's B and C squads across different sports.

While most people were in favor of expanding the combine to more sports, the next issue to discuss was the timing, as Waitsburg would have to break scheduling commitments they have already agreed to, as they are done in two year cycles.

Johnson framed the timing issue as being one of being proactive versus reactive.

"Do you try to do something and stay ahead of the curve, or wait until a solution is needed," Johnson said, about possibly combining even when the schools have enough numbers to field teams themselves, to avoid future issues.

After more discussion of future numbers, possible issues with leaving current schedules, and funding viability, opinions were heard from the many coaches in attendance. While some coaches said they were not completely ready to move ahead in their sports, most said they were okay with either outcome.

"We would be 110 percent behind buying into it, or 110 percent behind not doing it," said Roy Ramirez, Waitsburg Girls' Basketball Head Coach. Some were unequivocally behind it, with Larsen saying that "to me, it's the right time."

Members of both school boards said they were not ready to make a commitment to furthering the combine, citing a desire for more input from school and community members.

"No matter what we do, we have to support our kids. We have to be all-in," Butler said near the end of the meeting.

The issue of the future of the combines will be on both school boards' agendas at their next meetings, which will be June 7 for Dayton and June 14 for Waitsburg.