Armed with numbers, budget figures and more than a few trophies, soccer advocates are nearly ready to take another kick and try to introduce the sport to Iola High School.
A small group of soccer backers met Wednesday to discuss their proposal to start up a soccer program at IHS.
They plan to meet Nov. 24 with the USD 257 Board of Education to show the growing interest in soccer at all age levels.
Among their notes:
— Roughly 300 local youths play organized soccer of some sort, from spring Iola Recreation Department soccer leagues, winter futsal games, Allen Community College soccer academies and roughly 80 as part of the Iola Soccer Club, which plays in the fall in a Paola-based league. Of those, at least 19 are IHS students, with others in neighboring towns — including Chanute, Humboldt and Yates Center — expressing an interest in playing at IHS if the sport is introduced. State rules allow students from neighboring districts to participate in another district’s sport if their schools do not offer it.
— As of this fall, 39 of the 64 Class 4A high schools in the state have soccer, with four more in the area — Labette County, Wellsville, Osawatomie and Prairie View — preparing similar proposals for their respective school boards. There already is a Pioneer League for soccer teams, Iolan Brek Ulrich noted.
— Iola’s youngsters have already seen plenty of success in the fall Paola leagues and elsewhere. Iola’s 10-and-under teams took home first and second in their league. Exhibition matches against other, so-called more highly regarded programs, also have gone well for the locals.
“That’s what I think needs to be stressed,” Iolan Fred Works said. “I don’t think people realize how successful these teams have been already.”
— Instituting a soccer program has the full support of Allen Community College’s Doug Desmarteau and Jeremy McGinness, the men’s and women’s coaches, respectively. Both have vowed to work closely with the school district to help share equipment, or facilities, provided the ACC Board of Trustees approve.
Having a high school program at IHS could open opportunities for some players to continue their careers at Allen, Desmarteau said.
— Backers are visiting with local businesses for sponsorships or other means of support.
“I can already tell you your biggest cost will be for transportation,” Desmarteau told the group.
Still, the sport’s growing popularity could help mitigate those costs. There are schools in every direction within 90 miles of Iola that have soccer teams, Ulrich said.
The 6 p.m. Nov. 24 meeting is tentatively scheduled to be at the Iola High School Lecture Hall.
Ulrich has extended an invitation to all in favor of adopting soccer at IHS to attend.
The same group unsuccessfully appealed to the school board in 2012 to have the sport introduced at IHS.
“One of the guys who helped get baseball to Iola told me it took seven attempts,” Ulrich said. “We’re not giving up.”
Advocates call for soccer at high school
