The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By David Grimes, Correspondent for The Quill
The LaHarpe and West Prairie school boards hammered out the final details of a nine-sport co-oping agreement during nearly five hours of joint session Monday night.
A football co-oping agreement was forged between the two districts last month. That pact has been approved by the West Central Conference and by the Illinois High School Association.
But negotiations on joint baseball, softball, boys track, girls track, football cheerleading, basketball cheerleading, boys basketball, girls basketball and dance team remained stalled until this week.
Both districts agreed to a 50/50 split on items such as gate receipts, uniform costs and official fees. Each district will be responsible for its own practice transportation costs and for charging student participation fees, and will retain their own concession receipts.
Whether uniforms would bear names and numbers was discussed early on, but was eventually ruled out.
West Prairie board members maintained that consistent uniforms bearing only team colors and the team mascot will allow for broader inclusion of student athletes should additional consolidation take place in the future.
LaHarpe board members eventually agreed.
"We do need to look farther down the road than just the next two years," said LaHarpe School Board President Barb Cox.
All sports other than the cheerleading programs will carry a no-cut policy. Varsity and junior varsity football cheerleading squads will consist of 12 members each, with six members coming from each district.
Varsity and junior varsity basketball cheerleading squads will be comprised of eight members each, four from each district. In the event either district does not have enough students to provide for their half of any squad, students from the other district may fill in the remaining spots.
Participants in both cheerleading programs will pay $1.50 per mile to cover the cost of transportation to away games and will also pay for the cost of a driver.
Football cheerleaders will be prohibited from participation in other fall athletic programs, basketball cheerleaders will not be allowed to participate in other winter sports programs.
Both boys and girls track programs will maintain a minimum one team, with no minimum of participants required.
Sciota, the site of the newly consolidated high school, will be the primary location for practices and home meets.
Dance team members will be charged the same mileage and driver costs as cheerleading participants. A no-cut policy will be implemented and team members will perform at all games.
LaHarpe will serve as the primary location for both baseball and softball squad practices and home games.
Junior varsity and varsity teams will be maintained for both programs, with a no-cut policy implemented.
Both boys and girls basketball programs will maintain a varsity and junior varsity squad, with the possibility of a freshman squad being formed.
Using LaHarpe as the primary location for boys basketball or splitting home game sites between LaHarpe and West Prairie for both the boys and girls programs was proposed by LaHarpe board members.
But the proposal was given a thumbs down by the West Prairie board.
The term "primary location" brings with it the option of using other sites when the selected site is unavailable.
West Prairie School Board President Gerald White suggested that flexibility could leave the door open for alternate site options.
"What we're trying to do is avoid using the word "absolute,'" White said. "'Primary location' affords flexibility in situations where there is a scheduling conflict."
LaHarpe was looking for assurance that their gymnasium could be used if Hancock Co. Tournament or regional tournament play becomes a possibility.
The Northwestern junior and senior high facility at Sciota, the site for West Prairie's high school, was deemed too small for tournament play two years ago, LaHarpe board members pointed out.
"There's good reasons to do what we proposed," said LaHarpe High School Principal Charlie Apt.
But West Prairie's Melvin Moore countered with the new district's own rationale-home court consistency is critical for the students.
"What I've heard from the kids is that going from one home court to another home court is like going to an away court," Moore explained. "The kids would rather go to one home court, one set of hoops.
"They get used to that."
The final decision was that West Prairie will remain the designated primary location for boys basketball, with LaHarpe serving as the primary location for the girls basketball program.
Apt also mentioned that Southern has requested to be included in the sports co-operative beginning in 2004.
Approval of the sports co-op agreement is expected from the IHSA as well as the Bi-County Conference.