Let the numbers decide if sports programs should be merged

In so many ways, sports are all about numbers. Which team scores the most runs, or the most touchdowns, or the most baskets, and ultimately the most points, wins the contest. Pretty simple.

So what about looking at the numbers in deciding the recent debate over combining more Greenwood and Loyal athletic teams? When talking about simply fielding a team for a particular sport -- in this most recent case softball and baseball -- if one school or the other is lacking minimum numbers, it’s time to seek a partner for a cooperative venture. That’s just the way it is in 2021 when school enrollments in these parts are barely holding their own and not likely to take a significant jump anytime soon.

Greenwood and Loyal combined softball programs this spring when it became apparent both were going to be short on players. And when we say short on players, we’re not just talking about enough to put a 9-player varsity team on the field, but enough to also field a junior varsity and even perhaps a freshman team. In high school, it’s just as important to gradually develop the freshmen and sophomores as it is to have a team on the varsity diamond.

Loyal and Greenwood are also considering a co-op baseball program, although the Loyal Board of Education voted against it last month. The Board is to reconsider the action this week, and we would advise that it think hard about the numbers. Just because Loyal may have enough to barely throw a 9-man team on the field does not mean it’s the best course of action, in our view.

Loyal and Greenwood together had a solid softball team this year. It took second place in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference, and won its regional semifinal contest. Because of the combined enrollment of the co-op program, the team was pushed up to Division 3 for the WIAA playoffs (either team alone would have played in Division 5, theoretically against weaker competition), but should that be a main consideration in deciding whether to merge programs or not? We say it’s not; if it’s best for the athletes to play on a combined team, then let the post-season chips fall in whichever division they may.

In baseball, Greenwood has a good team this year, and played Tuesday in the WIAA sectional. Loyal did not have a strong year, as it was forced by low participation numbers to toss young players into roles for which they were not ready. Those situations could well switch by next spring, or the one after that, but which team may be strongest in a given year is not important. The question we think that should be answered is this: will the athletes of both schools be better off in a co-op program? Given that neither team is likely to have big numbers anytime soon, we think they are.

True, athletes from one school or the other might not get the varsity playing time they would on individual teams, but those who do not make the varsity cut will get time to develop on the JV team. Is it better, do you think, to be an unprepared younger player competing against older athletes and having little chance to have any success, or one who’s learning skills and how to better oneself to make the varsity roster? Losing a baseball game shortened by the “mercy rule” isn’t very enjoyable for anyone. Given current numbers, there’s no guarantee that either Greenwood or Loyal will even have a program if they continue on their own. Surely, it’s a better option to give the kids a chance to play a sport they love on a combined team than it is to give then no chance at all. And even if both schools can continue to draw just enough players to have a team, we think they’re still better off to be in a merged program that allows the older, more-skilled athletes to play against other schools’ seniors and juniors, and to let the younger players come up through a solid JV program. And sure, once in a while, a sophomore or freshman might be good enough to make the varsity team, and that’s great. However, if they’re a 14- or 15-year-old who’s not ready for the varsity level, why throw them out there against upperclassmen just to get humiliated for the sake of saying you have a team?

This is, of course, just an opinion, and each school has to make a decision that best fits its situation. It’s pretty simple, though, if the numbers are too low now, they’re probably not going to get much better, and the need to co-op with a neighbor is likely inevitable.

Members of the TRG editorial Board include Publisher Kris O’Leary, Editor Dean Lesar, and Carol O’Leary.