Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
REARDAN – Another option for female student-athletes hoping to compete in sports is coming to the school district. The school board approved the launch of a girl’s soccer team at its Jan. 14 board workshop meeting with little hesitation.
Superintendent Eric Sobotta said the district hopes the team can launch by Feb. 1, or by the date fall sports are officially a go.
Girl’s soccer will be added after a year-plus long process the district went through to add another girl’s sport in order to come to Title IX compliance.
The process began with a survey conducted in 2019 among students “to see if we are offering the things our kids want,” according to meeting documentation. It’s a survey conducted every three years for the WIAA.
Additionally, data was examined in February 2020 as part of a “Consolidated Program Review” to determine whether the school was Title IX compliant. Data showed that slightly more females are enrolled in school than males, but 46% of those who participate in sports are males, which made the district technically not Title IX compliant.
Another survey of female students showed soccer as the top requested sport, according to meeting documentation.
A three-week soccer camp was offered in October 2020, with a solid turnout, as roughly 15 girls showed up each day. The camp was coached by chief security officer Brian Scott, who has soccer coaching experience. Only one girl who previously played volleyball, the school’s most popular girl’s fall sport, turned out for soccer.
“The volleyball program ran a simultaneous camp during the same period with no negative impact at well over 25 participants,” meeting documentation states.
The estimated cost of starting a girl’s soccer team totals $16,924. $2,800 was already spent on two goals. One set of uniforms is estimated at $1,000, while $1,600 is budgeted for purchasing warm-ups in the future. A head coach would be paid $4,566, and an assistant coach would make $3,668. Paying for officials would cost an estimated $1560, and transportation for 6-8 road matches would cost an estimated $1,500.
A coach had not been hired as of press time. The district had listed the job on its website as of Jan. 15. The district is also looking to hire high school cross country, track and girl’s basketball coaches.
If fall sports are not cleared by Feb. 1, the team could still hold outdoor practices in pods of six or fewer in accordance with health guidelines.
Drew Lawson is the former managing editor of the Davenport Times and a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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