By Ryan Spoehr
SLN Staff
The East Troy Community School District almost did not choose to file paperwork with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association for the co-op boys soccer program, according to Palmyra-Eagle officials. However, almost literally at the 11th hour on Tuesday, East Troy decided to file paperwork to apply.
East Troy Community School District informed the Palmyra-Eagle Area School District late Monday of its decision not to file paperwork, but reconsidered on Tuesday, just before the Feb. 1 deadline for applications for a co-op team for the 2017-18 school year.
Both school boards opted for the co-op at their respective January meetings.
East Troy Athletic Director Reid Oldenburg worked with Palmyra-Eagle Andrew Pickett throughout the process. After Pickett got all the necessary paperwork together for the Palmyra-Eagle portion of the co-op, Oldenburg requested Pickett do one more follow up meeting with the students who showed interest in the soccer team to confirm their interest.
Pickett’s meeting with the students took place on Jan. 27. The meeting was comprised of 15 students, with one student who could not make it, Pickett said. Pickett said that student confirmed he would be a part of the team.
Pickett asked students to show their interest in the team at that time on ranking system. Students were prompted to give Pickett a “3” if they were definitely going to be in East Troy for soccer in the fall. If students thought it was a “maybe,” they were instructed to give Pickett a “2.” Pickett prompted students to give a “1” if the thought they would not be in East Troy in fall to play on the team.
“Three students gave me a ‘3.’ One kid put himself as a ‘1’. The remainder of the students put themselves as ‘2,’” Pickett said.
Following the meeting, Pickett submitted the information to Ohlenburg, which led to Ohlenburg sending a letter to East Troy Superintendent Chris Hibner requesting the East Troy School Board rescind its motion to approve the co-op. He cited the low number of interested students and the fact that the co-op would bump East Troy’s boys soccer team to Division 2.
However, the East Troy district had second thoughts about not following through with the paperwork.
Pickett said he believes that it was just “last minute second thoughts” by East Troy administration to not file paperwork initially. He said that he thought East Troy may consider it in the future prior to the decision made on Tuesday by East Troy. He just did not know how quickly East Troy would re-examine the decision.
“I think we’ve got good relations with East Troy. I think this (the co-op almost happening) shows they are willing to do this,” Pickett said. “I don’t think there is any bad blood between us.”
Pickett said at the Palmyra-Eagle School Board meeting on Jan. 24 that he had been conducting surveys for the past several months. However, the student commitment kept dropping. He said 24 kids initially expressed interest in the soccer co-op. Then a later survey indicated there were nine students who said they were definitely going to commit to soccer in the fall.
“We had 10 kids as on-the-fence maybes with another five nos,” Pickett said.
Palmyra-Eagle contacted East Troy, Jefferson, Fort Atkinson and Whitewater for a potential co-op. East Troy was the only district that showed interest.
If approved by the WIAA, home games will primarily be in East Troy.
Palmyra-Eagle will have paid a flat fee per student depending on the number of participants between Palmyra-Eagle and East Troy.
East Troy will pay for expenditures such as game officials, workers at refreshment stands and other various costs.
Both the East Troy and Palmyra-Eagle school boards can rescind their approvals for the co-op before March 1.
East Troy is having an informational meeting to gauge interest in the program at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 7, in room 603 of the high school.
