Sayre announces it will only play JV football this year
Tagged under: District 4, News
Billy Splain | August 3, 2022
In an email to parents of football players this afternoon, they were informed that the Sayre football program would have to shut down after head coach Kevin Gorman and several parents told the Sayre School Board on Monday that “fielding a varsity team was unrealistic and unsafe for players.” Nine seniors will not get to play football as of now.
There were only 26 students signed up to play junior varsity and varsity football at Sayre, but a good portion of those kids had little or no experience at the varsity level..
One solution for the players could be a co-op with Athens, similar to what happened last year in District 10 with West Middlesex joining Sharpsville. The parents and coach have asked the school board to look into a co-op. It would be an ideal situation as both schools are within several miles of each other.
“The District Administrative Team has weighed many factors regarding the upcoming football season and appreciate all input over the last week from parents, players, and coaches,” said Sayre Athletic Director Barry Claypool began.
“Because there was no junior varsity program last year, our current sophomores lost most of their 8th grade season due to low numbers/covid. The younger and/or less experienced student athletes didn’t get the opportunity to work to improve their skills during the spring and most of the summer. Therefore, we feel that it is in the best interest of the program to run a junior varsity and junior high program this year in the interest of getting our younger student athletes experience in a non-varsity environment.”
“Seniors and parents, we understand and sympathize with the pain that this decision will cause as you may lose out on your final season as a Redskin football player,” he said in the email. “We are currently investigating any and all options to give you an opportunity to play football during your senior year. We will keep you informed as we gather information.”
“You should plan to begin practice on Monday, August 8th with the football program so that if/when an opportunity is available, we are ready to seize the opportunity with little to short notice,” the email said. “Heat acclimation starts on Monday, your coach will be in contact to inform you of the practice particulars of time, location, equipment needed to bring with you, etc.”
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