Joint board discusses athletic co-op timeline, season passes
With student participation in sports declining and consolidation on the horizon for the Loyal and Greenwood school districts, the boards of both districts discussed a timeline for co-oping its sports during their meeting on Aug. 3. The goal will be to have all teams between the two districts co-oped in time for the 2028-29 school year, which is the first year of a consolidated Loyal-Greenwood school district.
Currently, there are several sports that are co-oped between Loyal and Greenwood. In the fall, middle school football, JV football, and varsity football are all co-oped, along with middle school and high school cross country. In the winter, Loyal and Greenwood are with the Neillsville School District for its wrestling program. In the spring, middle school, JV, and varsity softball are co-oped, along with middle school baseball and middle school track and field. In the summer, Loyal and Greenwood co-op marching band, T-Ball through 14U baseball, and all summer rec softball.
In the proposed co-op timeline, the remaining sports that have not been co-oped would be joined over the course of the next four years. When asked about whether or not this timeline would still be honored if consolidation did not happen, Greenwood District Administrator Joe Green said that with student numbers and athletic participation trending downward the way they are, co-oping is inevitable.
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to need each other,” he said. “When we look down the road at class sizes leveling out and Greenwood wavering at 23 to 24 kids per grade and Loyal at 27 to 28 per grade, I’m quite certain that there’s going to be a need to rely on and help each other out. It would come back to the same conversations we have anytime we have to renew our two year commitment to the WIAA.”
In the proposed timeline, sports would start to be co-oped at the lower levels of competition first. In the 2025-26 school year, elementary basketball and JV baseball and golf would be co-oped, along with all summer recreation activities and esports.
In the 2026-27 school year, middle school girls and boys basketball would be co-oped along with varsity baseball and golf, and high school track. In the 2027-28 school year, middle school volleyball would be co-oped along with high school girls and boys basketball. High school volleyball would be the last sport to be co-oped, being joined in the first year of the consolidated school district in the 2028-29 school year.
While the boards did not make a motion on the proposed timeline, they did agree that it would be important to begin talking with the athletic directors and coaches of the different sports to begin work to try to get the teams co-oped. Ideally, the goal would be to have the upcoming grades co-oped so they would be able to start working with their teammates at a younger age and make the transitions at the higher levels of competition smoother.
In addition to speaking about co-ops, the boards also discussed and approved new fees for passes for athletic events held at the Loyal and Greenwood school districts this year. The prices of the passes will be the same for both districts. Adults will be $4, an annual adult pass will be $25, and a household pass — which will include college-age adults still living at home — will be $35. Children ages 18 and under, veterans, and senior citizens will be allowed to watch games for free.
