Iola High School may move to new league

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October 26, 2010 - 12:00 AM

USD 257 board members will decide Nov. 8 whether they will shift Iola High School sports and other extracurricular activities from the Southeast Kansas League to the Pioneer League, at the latter’s request.
Iola would be the largest school in the conference, with 371 students. Others are Osawatomie, Prairie View and Anderson County, also 4A schools, and Wellsville and Central Heights, 3A schools. A similar proposal was turned down by board members four years ago.
“I voted to stay in the SEK then,” when the league was first formed, said board member Buck Quincy, who now thinks it is time to make the switch. “How often has our football team been competitive in the last 50 years? Maybe five times, and that’s not fair to the kids. We’re not giving them a fair shot.”
Iola is next to the smallest  school in the SEK — Columbus has 362 — with others as large as Pittsburg, a 5A school with 734 students, almost twice Iola’s numbers. Osawatomie is currently the largest Pioneer League school, with 355 students.
Dr. Craig Neuenswander, superintendent of schools, said Iola would face more numbers problems if it remained in the SEK.
“While it is unlikely we will drop to 3A any time soon, our declining enrollment puts us at an increasing competitive disadvantage in the SEK,” he said. “Other SEK schools are experiencing enrollment growth.”
In addition to Iola, West Franklin and Burlington, both 3A schools, have also been invited to join the Pioneer League.
David Grover, IHS principal, said a poll of coaches found just one who wanted to stay in the SEK; members of the school’s site council favored the switch.
Grover said moving to the Pioneer league wouldn’t add a travel advantage — average SEK trips are 61 miles and would drop to just 57 in the new league — but “in the SEK, the bulk of the schools are 200 to 250 students larger than Iola. I think it’s a simple decision, but, having said that, I could argue either side for hours.”
Iola has been a member of the SEK for 65 years.
If a switch were made, about 18 months of lead time would be required to play out sports contracts and arrange new schedules, said Martin Bambick, IHS assistant principal and activities director. That means this year’s juniors and seniors would not be affected and first competition in the Pioneer League would occur during the 2012-13 school year.
The new conference offers some competitions the SEK doesn’t, such as student council, scholastic, forensics, band clinician and art, Grover said.
The Pioneer League does not have competition in girls golf and girls and boys tennis. That wouldn’t be a hurdle, Bambick said, noting that those sports, often played in dual and triangular meets, could go on with schedules featuring teams from the SEK or other leagues.

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