Keeping it Local
Drayton recently wrapped up its first six-man football season. A neighboring newspaper recently posted a survey asking whether schools should be playing six-man football or co-oping with larger schools.
This question, while it is a good one, should be irrelevant. If an individual school district chooses to make a choice that allows the students to participate in a sport that lets them have ownership of their team should it matter whether it is commonly played in this region or not?
Six-man football is very popular in other parts of the country. If a few more schools decide to form six-man football teams it could become a recognized sport by the North Dakota High School Activities Association.
Students from smaller school districts have lost interest in participating in sports because of the lack of having true hometown teams. As co-ops have gotten bigger the travel for practices and games has turned many of the students away from participating.
When Drayton found a way to have its own football team students signed up to play who have not participated in sports for many years if at all. This is a good thing all the way around. It was good for the students, the school, and the community. It is something that everyone was excited about and rallied behind.
When forced to co-op with a larger school in a larger program the students chose not to participate in anticipation of only standing on the sidelines. Switching to six-man gave all the eligible players lots of playing time.
This switch works in the smaller schools. It keeps the sports program local once again. Would it not be more adventitious for everyone to rally around this idea and give the opportunity back to the students? Shouldn’t we be in favor of providing opportunities to students rather than continuing to take them away?
It was a rough season for the Drayton Bombers. However, if you talk to the players and parents they were thrilled with the season. They were thrilled to have the opportunity to play on a hometown team. This team started something that can be built upon in the years to come. Maybe by the time the younger members of the Varsity team are Seniors there will be a very strong team who will win more than one game. Perhaps by that time more schools in this region will join in and there will be more teams on the eastern part of the state to play. Remember this should be about what is best for the students and the opportunities that can be provided for them.
Valley News & Views editorials reflect the opinion of the Publisher/ Editor Lesa Van Camp and staff.