By Michael S. Hoey
CORRESPONDENT
The Delavan-Darien School Board approved adding one new sport at the high school for next year and is looking to add a second.
The school will add bowling as a club sport and may join a co-op lacrosse team based in Elkhorn. Lacrosse was just approved as a WIAA-sanctioned sport.
D-DHS Principal Jim Karades told the board there will be little cost to the district to add bowling as a club sport. Delavan Lanes has offered to sponsor the team and provide lane time, uniforms, shoes, balls, bags and a coach. All the district would need to provide is a staff advisor and transportation to events. The stipend to be paid to that advisor has yet to be determined.
“It is another thing we can provide our students,” Karedes said. “It is an interesting opportunity for our kids.”
Karedes said students would be transported using a school van and the only cost to them would be the usual $25 athletic fee. Karedes said there are scholarships available to good bowlers.
The board also discussed joining a co-op lacrosse team hosted by Elkhorn Area High School. The team will compete as “Elkhorn” but include any Delavan-Darien or Williams Bay athletes who join.
The Elkhorn School Board approved on the same night funding the start-up of the program at a cost of $47,297. That funding will provide equipment and pay officials, coaches, supervisors and trainers. It will also pay for needed equipment replacement and lining of the field, purchasing balls, replacing nets and/or cages and other expenses.
The two other districts who may contribute athletes to the team, Delavan-Darien and Williams Bay, will pay the cost their student-athletes count toward those expenses. Because lacrosse is now a WIAA-sanctioned sport and not a club sport, the district, not the athlete, is responsible for those costs.
Karedes said adding this opportunity may help prevent at least one student he is aware of from open-enrolling to Elkhorn to participate if the district had opted out. Currently, three D-DHS seniors and one freshman plays on the Elkhorn club team. He was confident that being sanctioned as a WIAA sport will draw more interest from kids.
The board tabled the issue until a special meeting on May 18 to gather more information about costs and get more details about what the Elkhorn School Board approved.
For more from the board meeting, please see the print edition of the Delavan Enterprise.
