The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by David Grimes-Quill Correspondent
BIGGSVILLE- A request from the Union School Board to the Southern School Board to gauge interest in a cooperative football agreement resulted in committees from the two districts meeting late last month.
Participation in the football program at Union has dropped dramatically in the past two seasons. Next year, fewer than two dozen student athletes are expected to participate. Most will be freshmen.
But any agreement to co-op would need approval from the districts' respective conferences. Union belongs to the Lincoln Trail Conference; Southern joined the West Central Conference earlier this year.
Union officials made the request at Southern's September School Board meeting, asking for a response within 30 days.
"We wanted to present it to them early in order to give them enough time to get it on their agenda so they would be able to discuss it at their October board meeting," Union High School Principal Karen Rima said at the time.
Union said it needs an answer within that time in order to submit a request for co-oping outside the conference to the LTC at that body's Nov.18 meeting to satisfy conference scheduling concerns for future game dates.
But at Southern's Oct. 27 board meeting, Union officials were told the Southern School Board had not discussed the issue and another 30 days was requested to consider the matter.
Rima reminded Southern of the LTC November deadline, and Southern School Board President Jon Corzatt assured her the board would discuss which board members to appoint to an exploratory committee regarding the co-op during that night's executive session.
Committees from both districts met Oct. 29 at Union in a session Rima described as pleasant, but "still in the talking stages."
Southern School Board member Rod Fox of Stronghurst, one of the committee's two members, said he believes the joint program would be a good thing.
The biggest concern for both schools deals with the cost of providing uniforms that are acceptable to both districts.
"Neither district needs to be spending extra money, but we understand they want to save their football program if there's any way to do it," he said.
The Southern School Board does not meet again until Nov. 24, but Fox said he thought the board would try to render a tentative decision before the Nov.18 LTC deadline.
Rima said she thought Southern is open to the idea of co-oping and might conduct a phone poll among board members to provide Union an answer before the LTC's November meeting.
Should Southern reject the proposal, Rima said Union probably wouldn't have a football program next year.