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BEYOND THE SPORTS DESK: Slashes and dashes

Co-ops and mergers becoming a new norm in high school athletics

Submitted photos Changes in enrollment and corresponding changes in athletic sponsorships have shut the doors of gymnasiums in a number of small communities across the state. However, school gymnasiums in Minnesota border towns Lake Benton (left) and Hendricks (right) remain open to hosting varsity basketball and volleyball games during the sports seasons thanks to partnerships found across state lines.

MARSHALL — As enrollment numbers dip in small communities and athletics participation numbers dip even further, school districts have been left to decide whether to keep the status quo, create a cooperative sponsorship (co-op) of some or all activities with other districts, or consolidate with another school district entirely.

According to the Minnesota House Research Department, Minnesota has experienced a 25% reduction in the past 40-plus years, with over 100 fewer school districts than the state had in 1978. While the state doesn’t mandate closing fully-operational districts, they can do so if the district doesn’t meet state standards.

Punctuation matters

If you’re paying close enough attention, you can usually tell if a school was part of a merger or a co-op by the punctuation that is used.

If it’s written properly, that is.

Dashes (hyphens) should indicate a merged school district, while (back)slashes are supposed to indicate separate districts competing as a co-op.

For example, Westbrook and Walnut Grove consolidated to form Westbrook-Walnut Grove in 2001 while Canby/Minneota is an example of two separate districts that have formed a co-op in cross country, track and field and softball.

There have been a growing number of school districts in the region that have decided to create co-ops. In the last few years, examples include Adrian/Ellsworth and Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda (Heron Lake and Okabena originally consolidated to form HLO in 1978).

Adrian and Ellsworth have had co-op agreements in sports in the past, but the agreement expanded this academic year due to low participation numbers. Merging schools was never considered as an option for the two schools 12 miles apart.

“This discussion did not ever turn into talking about consolidation,” Ellsworth Public School athletic director Judy Huisman said. “The decision was based on allowing students to participate on age-appropriate teams.”

Crossing the border

This isn’t a trend that is only confined within the Minnesota state lines. Some schools cross the border to find athletic partnerships.

Two of those partnerships come within the region, as students from Hendricks and Lake Benton now compete west of the border in South Dakota. Hendricks has a cooperative agreement with Estelline High School to form Estelline/Hendricks, while Lake Benton merged with Elkton in 2008 and now competes as Elkton-Lake Benton.

Hendricks had multiple pairing options available when they made the move, but felt Estelline was the right fit over pairing with a Minnesota school.

Hendricks is 28 miles east of Estelline. The closest districts for Hendricks within the Minnesota state lines were Canby (21 miles), Minneota (25 miles) and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (29 miles).

“It came down to the most opportunity for our students and for Estelline’s students,” Hendricks superintendent and principal Paul Chick said. “Geographically there was minimal difference other than Minnesota versus South Dakota.”

Chick said Hendricks also had positive discussions with Deubrook Area, located 15 miles away in White, South Dakota. However, the need to fill out rosters in athletics wasn’t as great for Deubrook Area and the combined enrollment would’ve forced the co-op to jump up a class.

In the case of Lake Benton, crossing the state border wasn’t initially on the table according to Lake Benton school board chairperson Tony Schwing. The district knew it needed a high school option, as the Lake Benton site could only house through sixth grade.

Elkton gave the district an agreement proposal that Lake Benton couldn’t refuse.

“An arrangement with a South Dakota school never crossed our minds until a proposal was brought forth by the South Dakota school,” Schwing said. “But it has turned out very successful for both parties. It’s a different state, but the similar-sized towns are just separated by 10 miles.”

Both Hendricks and Lake Benton still are able to host a few varsity games in their home gym.

“It brings in great crowds and the administration from both schools attend,” Lake Benton superintendent Loy Woelber said of. “Lake Benton has a very active parent group that takes care of the concessions and gives back to the Lake Benton school.”

Hendricks sees good support at its home games from both sides of the state line, as well.

“We do host home events in both Estelline and Hendricks as part of the cooperative agreement,” Chick said. “Both communities are supportive of that and events are well-attended by both communities in either location.”

Making friendships from rivals

A unique opportunity that cooperative agreements create is the formation of friendships where there may previously have been rivalries.

Take for example Canby and Minneota, two rival programs in many sports that come together for a cooperative agreement in track and field, softball and cross country.

Sometimes these agreements between districts start out on a smaller scale, but grow as the need increases and the partnership strengthens.

That was the case for HLO and Fulda, two school districts located roughly 20 miles apart. Their cooperative sponsorship discussions started with football, but by the time the school boards voted on the pairing in January 2018, the agreement also included girls basketball and all spring sports.

“As conversations progressed, the idea began of getting kids opportunities in sports we didn’t offer (softball and baseball) as well as HLO didnt have a home course for golf,” Fulda Public Schools athletic director Colby Pack said. “Girls basketball was about numbers on both ends. We had a few injuries the year before and had to finish a B-squad game with four players.”

This season, the agreement expanded to include both schools also combining for volleyball and boys basketball.

Through all of the changes, Pack believes the pairings have been good for both schools.

“The kids get along as if they have been friends for years,” Pack said. “Our kids go to their school for dances and other activities and vice versa. I feel it was the right decision because we can have our athletes competing in levels they should, which really helps with player development and building a program.”

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