The Abingdon-Avon Board of Education approved adding soccer as a co-ed sport for their high school at the board meeting on Wednesday night.The new program was approved on a 4-2 vote, with members Rick Quinn and Anthony Brooks opposed.
Coach of the local club team, Ken Litchfield has been a major part of the push to add soccer to the Tornadoes list of sports, and he says this was the fifth attempt since 2012 to get the board’s approval.
Litchfield says particularly in the last 2 to 3 years the numbers participating at the club level have grown, particularly in junior high.
“At the board meeting when I made my presentation I gave them a roster of 21 kids that are not playing any fall sports,” Litchfield. “I expect first year participation to be around that number.”
He admits that when a program is new it can be tough to get wins at first but he believes in the long-run that A-Town can see success in soccer.
Litchfield can’t quite guess why soccer has grown so much in the community, but says he’d like to think a part of that is because of how good they are with the kids and because of their “culture of winning.”
Board President Anthony Brooks, one of the two no votes, explains to WGIL that the board will now support the team but he had concerns over some issues not being fully worked out; like transportation and a schedule.
Also he explains AAHS has about 260 students, with about 20 percent of them participating in sports.
“It’s not like we have an abundance of kids, being able to offer up all these sports but the soccer club feels they have enough, they say they can compete so we’ll if they can make the best of it and see what happens from there,” Brooks says.
Brooks explains the team will be co-ed, boys and girls playing together, because there was concern there wouldn’t be enough girls to form their own team, putting the school out of compliance with Title IX.
Litchfield told the board that girls will have no problem holding their own against the boys.
The board will now go about posting and hiring a coach.
THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED TO INCLUDE COMMENTS FROM BOARD PRESIDENT ANTHONY BROOKS
