March 8, 2019 at 3:59 p.m.
Girls' hockey co-op talk back on table
Lakeland discusses joining Northern Edge, SDR committee to hear more Monday
Girls' hockey co-op talk back on table
At the Lakeland Union High School board meeting last week, school board members were presented with the possibility of the Lakeland/Tomahawk/Mercer co-op joining forces with the Rhinelander/Antigo co-op for the upcoming school year.
The School District of Rhinelander's Operations and Strategic Planning committee on Monday, which lists on its agenda "consider approval of boys and girls hockey teams for the 2019-20 school year." The RHS boys' hockey team currently co-ops with Three Lakes, but has not received any skaters from the school in recent season.
Both the Northern Edge and Lakeland girls' programs are projected to be thin on numbers for the upcoming season.
With five seniors graduating, and another student headed abroad, the Thunderbirds next year are looking at a roster of 11 - barely enough for two lines of skaters and a goalie, and that's if nobody gets sick or injured.
The Rhinelander/Antigo co-op played most of the year with 11 skaters this season, but saw that number whittled to nine by the end of the year due to attrition. The Edge will not lose any seniors to graduation, but is expected only to pick up a couple of incoming freshmen for next year.
It's not the first time the team has considered the plan. Last year, Lakeland and Tomahawk turned down an offer to join forces with the Edge out of concern that a larger team could mean less ice time for Thunderbird skaters. The Edge then tried to swing a co-op deal with Northland Pines, but RHS activities director Brian Paulson backed out of the deal at the 11th hour after the Rhinelander/Antigo co-op found a couple of more skaters in the weeks before the first practice of 2018-19.
This time around, according to Paulson, Lakeland came to the Northern Edge, given its potential number crunch for next season.
"I know what spot I was in last year at this time because I want to make sure kids are able to play," he said. "When they came to us and said, 'Hey, we'd like to do this.' They thought Rhinelander was the best fit, it's centrally located with Tomahawk (part of the Lakeland co-op). That was important to them to."
According to information Lakeland AD Phil Updike presented to the LUHS board, Rhinelander would be the host school in the proposed merger - a fact Paulson confirmed with the River News. The majority of practices would be based in Rhinelander and Rhinelander would be responsible for providing a head coach for the program.
Paulson warned full details had not been worked out regarding the logistics of the co-op and it is possible that more schools could join. He said he has extended an invitation to Northland Pines, which could face a similar numbers crunch, and it is possible the co-op could pick up a skater from the Wabeno School District.
Becuase of the changes to the co-op each school's board president, superintendent and AD would have to sign off on an application, which then would be submitted to the WIAA by April 1 for consideration for the 2019-20 season.
Both teams struggled for success this year. Lakeland went 7-14, with a conference record of 5-3, but were barred from the playoffs after receiving three game disqualifications in a season. The Northern Edge was the benefactor of Lakeland's playoff ban, advancing to the sectional semifinal round of the WIAA tournament as a result, where it was outshot 55-9 by Wisconsin Valley Union in an 4-0 defeat. The Edge, including the forfeit victory over Lakeland in the playoffs, went 5-13-0 on the season and was 4-5-0 in the Great Northern Conference.
Co-ops have become common place in girls' hockey in Wisconsin. Of the 28 programs across the state, only two are standalone teams - Hudson and Northland Pines. Rhinelander and Lakeland both started as standalone programs. Rhinelander merged with Antigo in 2009 while Lakeland and Tomahawk joined forces in 2016.
The Fox Cities Stars, a massive 16-school co-op in the Appleton area, won this year's WIAA state tournament. Supporters of super co-ops in metropolitan areas say the mergers have been necessary due to declining participation and limited ice time. Opponents say many co-ops morph into glorified all-star teams which, once they taste success, never have intentions of splitting.
Last Monday at the Northern Edge's team banquet, coach Tom Roeser brought up the possibility of a co-op with out going into detail.
"If this does happen, this co-op, we should look at it as an opportunity to get better, to be challenged," he told his team.
Paulson said if any schools in the potential co-op backed out, Rhinelander/Antigo would still have enough skaters to field a team next year, but the move is proactive for two years down the road when the team loses a substantial class to graduation.
"In two years, if we didnt' co-op with Lakeland now, we'd be looking to co-op for sure," he said. "Our numbers would be that low. Looking at the future, this helps us. We'll have numbers now but we'll be set up two years from now because we've already made this decision."
Depending on what happens at the committee level Monday, the plan could go before the full Rhinelander school board March 18.
River News reporter Mario Koran contributed to this story from Minocqua.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.