Stafford High School girls will be able to play for the Greenback basketball team this season under an agreement approved this morning by the USD 382 Board of Education.
The student population at Stafford High School is around 50 to 60, PHS Activities Director Curtis Nightingale told the board. Only a handful of girls have expressed any interest in playing basketball this year, too few to field a team.
“Stafford had requested to go to St. John,” PHS basketball coach Dean Rausch said. “But they didn’t want them because it might mean they would have to compete as a 2A or 3A school.”
The Trojans’ small population won’t have any effect on Pratt High’s 4A classification, Rausch said. In fact, he couldn’t find a downside to the cooperative agreement, which has been approved by the Kansas State High School Activities Association.
“I feel that we can absorb them and help them until they get back on their feet,” he said.
Nightingale agreed, noting that the terms of the agreement are very limited. It does not apply to any sport except girls basketball, it’s for this year only, and most of the financial and liability burdens rest with the Stafford district. The agreement also creates a positive relationship between the two schools that could boost enrollment here if Stafford’s population continues to decline.
Board member Jack Galle asked if the board should consider implementing a policy with criteria for accepting or denying any future requests. Nightingale and Superintendent Glen Davis argued against the idea.
“I think it has be a case by case basis,” Nightingale said.
The Pratt district denied a recent request by Skyline for a cooperative agreement for softball, but Skyline is in direct competition with Pratt for the same students, Nightingale said. Stafford is not.
Local girls shouldn’t lose a significant amount of playing to the Stafford girls, Nightingale said. Only one is a senior. Who plays will be decided as it always has, by who works the hardest and plays the best.
