High school teams across Vermont will be kicking off their season this week, but Oxbow in the Orange County town of Bradford won’t be among them.
Oxbow Co-Principal Ken Cadow emailed a response to a Journal-Opinion inquiry this morning from the school administrators. Here is the response in its entirety:
“Unfortunately, we were unable to field a football team this school year due to registration numbers. On Aug. 19 we had a total of 14 student-athletes registered, 6 of whom had never played football before. Playing at the Varsity level with almost half the team never having played, brought up safety concerns.
“Following an athlete/parent meeting on Monday, Aug. 19, it was determined that OHS would attempt to move forward with a JV football season with the hopes of being able to field the team and offer safe play time to all students on the team. As we pursued this option, many of our Varsity athletes elected to explore playing for other local schools through member-to-member agreements.
“On Aug. 21, the OHS Administration met with the VPA to discuss the possibility of reinstating a varsity season. They provided feedback on guidelines regarding the number of registrants and we extended the deadline to register. Unfortunately, while we received a few more registrations, we still did not have the numbers to offer a Varsity or JV season. We have diligently partnered with our students and other local schools to member OHS students to other teams allowing them to move forward with playing football elsewhere.”
Teams that were set to play Oxbow have already begun rescheduling. The Rutland Herald reported that Poultney switched bye weeks and added a game against Missisquoi.
The post Rural high school cancels football over low numbers, safety concerns first appeared on Vermont Daily Chronicle.
The post Rural high school cancels football over low numbers, safety concerns appeared first on Vermont Daily Chronicle.
