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WHS fall sports get green light

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A Waupaca High School football player warms up Sept. 10 before the second day of practice at Comet Field. The team began practicing Sept. 9 after a group of parents asked the Waupaca School Board to reverse its earlier decision to not begin any after-school activities - including athletics - until at least Sept. 28. Greg Seubert Photo

Teams allowed to start preparing for season

By Greg Seubert


Friday Night Lights will soon shine again at Waupaca High School.

Concerns over COVID-19 led to the Waupaca School Board’s decision in August to postpone all of the school’s after-school activities – including athletics – until at least Monday, Sept. 28.

However, school district administration and the recently formed Waupaca Community Parent Group helped convince the board to reconsider that decision.

The board unanimously voted Sept. 8 to allow after-school activities – including fall sports practices – to begin Sept. 9.

WHS offers five fall sports: football, volleyball, cross country, boys’ soccer and girls’ golf.

Under guidelines from the WIAA, most school districts that are going ahead with a fall sports season this year began cross country and girls’ golf, swimming and tennis practices Aug. 17, while practices for higher-risk sports such as football, volleyball and boys’ soccer could begin Sept. 7.

The Waupaca School Board voted Aug. 21 to delay the start of all after-school activities to Sept. 28, with an evaluation to occur the previous week to determine if activities would begin that day.

“Right after that meeting, (activities director) Joe Sbertoli contacted our conferences and notified them that we were delaying our after-school activities in the high school until at least Sept. 28,” superintendent Ron Saari said.

“Administration called a special board meeting on Sept. 1 because a parent group shared that they were having conversations with multiple board members regarding the administration’s recommendation and subsequent board decision to delay the start of (activities) until no sooner than the 28th of September,” he said. “At our special meeting last week, the board directed administration to continue working with our parent group regarding the opening of our after-school activities sooner than the 28th. Since that time, (Sbertoli) has been working diligently to get more games scheduled for our teams. Administration told Joe that, ‘Yes, you should try to work to get those games scheduled,’ which he did. Our athletic conference was happy to oblige and let us come back in.”

Waupaca’s volleyball, cross country, boys’ soccer and girls’ golf teams compete in the North Eastern Conference, while the football team is a member of the Bay Conference.

Parent involvement

Jay Krcmar represented the Waupaca Community Parent Group.

“I represent a collaboration of people that came together to discuss this,” he said. “The idea with the parents’ group was to listen first and come up with solutions because a lot of times, people just want to complain.”

The group’s plan of action included input from Saari, Sbertoli and school board members, according to Krcmar.

“We had a lot of conversations with board members,” he said. “You guys gave us great feedback on what are your concerns, what are you worried about, what made you look at the 28th and what would we need to do to change that idea. Without that, this plan wouldn’t be what it is today.”

The plan addresses WIAA guidelines; parent and athlete leadership; athlete and coach support; and venue support.

Krcmar said the group supports the guidelines for fall seasons from the WIAA, which oversees high school sports in Wisconsin.

“The right way to do it is to follow the guidelines that the rest of the state is following with this,” he said. “One of the things with the parents’ group is we need to know and understand the guidelines and understand what’s been asked from the WIAA, as well as what they’re doing with students. The parents understand the guidelines.”

The plan calls for each program to have a covid coach that can work with administration.

“What does this covid coach do?” Krcmar asked. “Oversees temperature checks; records all the individuals that are at practices, games and team activities; will report any positive tests to the athletic director and work with school officials to determine which individuals came in close contact with that person. That person would be working directly with administration and helping if something would happen.”

The group encourages parents to take temperature checks of their children, Krcmar said.

“Do not send your kid to school if they have a 100.4 fever,” he said. “Don’t send them to practice and don’t send them to games. That could be helpful in this process. We also want them to monitor their child’s and teammates’ social distancing and adhering to the mask ordinance outside of school.

“We’re encouraging our student-athletes to lead students during school and follow school rules, covid policies and procedures; follow the WIAA guidelines at practice and games; hold their teammates accountable outside of the school to reduce the risk at activities; support the covid coach in all risk reduction activities; and report any concerns to the school, as well as the coaches,” he said.

Updated schedules

According to information from the Bay and North Eastern conferences, Waupaca’s earliest dates for varsity athletic competitions are Monday, Sept. 14 (girls’ golf); Thursday, Sept. 17 (boys’ soccer and volleyball); Friday, Sept. 18 (cross country); and Friday, Sept. 25 (football).

The plan acknowledges that fewer spectators will be allowed at games and meets, Krcmar said.

“Both leagues that we’re in have mandated that only two tickets per athlete would be allowed at that activity to keep the crowds down,” he said. “We support this. I know it’s hard. I know there are a lot of people that have grandparents coming, but this is the way it is. We understand that.

“We’re willing to help wherever needed,” he added. “One thing I think we’ve learned through the process is there are a lot of people willing to help. They just need a sense of direction.”

“We can’t do it by ourselves,” board member Pat Phair said. “We all need to talk to our friends, our fellow students, our neighbors, relatives, whatever, and say, ‘Hey, if we want to do what we’re hoping to do, we all have to pitch in here.’ We’ve gone about as far as we can go. Now, we have to get that out to everybody.

“There isn’t a person on this stage who doesn’t want to see activities for all our students and I think everybody in this room understands that,” he said. “We’re more than happy to see as much parental involvement. We’re all willing to work together, but we’ve got to go beyond this room.”

Board member Betty Manion thanked the group for coming forward.

“A lot of times when we have controversial issues or things that come to the board, it’s not done how you have approached us,” she said. “We all came together collaboratively with the best interest of our students at heart to solve a problem. One thing we’ve all learned from this covid situation is there is an alternative to everything. Before, it was, ‘No, there’s no alternative.’ I think we’ve all discovered (that) yes, there are alternatives.”

Board member Dale Feldt said he received a letter from a student-athlete asking for the board to reconsider its earlier decision.

“It was such a positive letter, something I would expect of a true leader,” he said. “He explained to me that he has been working out all summer, so I would imagine he was in good condition to get out here and play. Instead of being shown disrespect, I was shown a lot of respect in that letter. That really helped sway my mind in the way I’m going to vote tonight.”

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