There have been rumblings coming from both the Clarion and Clarion-Limestone school boards over recent months that the districts would enter into co-ops for spring sports (baseball, softball, track and field) but those rumblings came to an end at the Clarion Area School Board’s work session Jan. 3.
Clarion Area Superintendent Dr. Joseph Carrico informed the board that it would be impossible to form three sports cooperatives between the schools and be ready by the start of the 2023 spring season.
“Logistically, (spring sports) co-ops are not going to happen this year,” Carrico said.
“School boards have to approve co-ops, then District 9 has to approve co-ops then the PIAA has to approve co-ops,” Carrico said. “Our meetings are before the District 9 (committee) meetings so District 9 couldn’t make a decision on it until February at the earliest and then the PIAA doesn’t meet until Feb. 22 and spring sports practices start March 6. So there is no way with any type of fidelity we could put multiple programs together in two weeks.
“There is no recommendation to form co-ops this spring.”
There were a number of factors Carrico outlined which would make coordinating the co-ops impossible including transportation, securing games and securing fields.
Since the PIAA is in the first year of its two-year enrollment classification cycle, the districts will have to wait until the 2024-25 school year revisit the co-op issue (the districts could form a spring sports co-op next season but the teams would not be eligible to participate in the postseason.
Carrico said the districts would continue to visit the issue.
“We had some really good conversations (with C-L representatives) as to whether or not we should have consistent meetings (on co-ops) and when is the right time to enter into serious conversations about a co-op opportunities?” Carrico said.
Carrico pointed out that even though Clarion and C-L are small schools they have found athletic success with low numbers.
“At face value, it makes a lot of sense to have a junior varsity program but then the conversation strayed to who are you going to play?'” Carrico said. “No one within a 30 mile radius had JV (baseball and softball programs). Someone said, ‘well, we’ll just go to Mercer County and play.’ But then you’re going to have to hire extra coaches, we’re going to have to (secure transportation) and you are going to have to travel. It’s not as easy as ‘let’s just put the kids together and let them play.’ We need to be a little more intentional about that.”
Carrico said the committees from both districts felt they should adjust the timing of their conversations by having discussions about fall sports co-ops in the fall and winter and have discussions about the spring sports in the summer and fall.
Clarion currently has sports co-ops with C-L in football, boys’ soccer, girls’ soccer and wrestling. Clarion currently has sports co-op agreements with North Clarion in football, wrestling and track and field.
Even though spring sports co-ops with C-L did not come to fruition, Carrico updated the board that the marching band agreement between Clarion and C-L is progressing agreeably.
“This year we had around 54 students in our band and C-L had over 30 performers in their band and five or six came down from North Clarion to join the band,” Carrico said. “The second half of (the football season) the bands played together (for one song during the football halftime shows). We are in a three-year cycle of putting the bands together next year as one unit. They will still wear their respective uniforms and it gives us time to plan.”
Carrico said the hope is to have new uniforms for the bands when the band agreement is renewed between the districts at the start of the 2024-25 school year.
“It will take every bit of 18 months to get new band uniforms,” Carrico said. “It takes a while and it is a big ticket item.”
Additionally, there are some coordination efforts that have to be performed such as figuring out transportation, how the band boosters are going to coordinate, staffing, etc.
Carrico stated the district’s band committees are scheduled to meet again in March.
Clarion Area is scheduled to hold its regular voting meeting tonight (Jan. 10) at 7 p.m. in the Clarion Area High School’s Large Group Instruction (LGI) room. The LGI room is located on the second floor.