The following article has been submitted by Bob Grey, athletic director at Montevideo Senior High School, explaining some possible options for budget cuts for athletics proposed by Independent School District 129 in its Phase I plans for the 2010-2011 school year:
The proposed elimination of the C-squad and ninth-grade coaching positions in volleyball, boys and girls basketball and football does not mean that students entering the ninth grade next year will not have an opportunity to participate in those events.
It does mean that what they will be participating in will have a totally different look than what we have been used to. Some of the options being discussed as possibilities are outlined below.
The conference will be putting together and deciding on a plan in the next couple of months and the students will be met with before the end of the school year to be informed on what things will actually look like for the 2010-2011 school year.
In each of the sports mentioned above, the 9th- and 10th-graders will be practicing together as one team and will be considered as the B-squad, playing all of the current B-squad games/matches just as we currently do.
One option being considered is to play a separate C-squad game prior to the B-squad game. For instance, in volleyball and boys and girls basketball, the C-game would start at 5 p.m., with the B-game to follow at approximately 6:15 p.m. and the varsity game at approximately 7:45 p.m.
A second option would be to take the athletes that are not getting playing time in the normal B-games and do some Saturday morning events. That would amount to having four schools get together and play each other in a round-robin format with each team playing three games. There would be four to five of these events scheduled during the season, giving those athletes 12 to 15 games to play.
These have been the alternatives that have been given the most consideration at this point. Once decisions are made about the budget reductions, there will be meetings taking place between the conference schools to set up a plan for next year.
