Osawatomie High School Football Parent Meeting- Tuesday, September 3rd at 7:00PM in the OHS Auditorium
As some of you know, there has been some concern about this season's football program and the number of athletes who have joined the team.
Due to the lack of upperclassmen returning to the program, parents and other districts expressed overwhelming concern about how Osawatomie would continue a full football schedule without a varsity team.
Our players' and students' safety is our priority over everything else. Due to our numbers, we had to forfeit a Varsity or JV schedule. We could not do both.
After several meetings within the district (including high school administrators, coaches, the superintendent, and two members of the Board of Education) and a meeting with the Pioneer League, it has been determined that for the 2024-2025 season, Osawatomie High School Football will play a JV/C-Team only schedule and will forfeit all varsity games this year.
This will mean no Friday Night Lights, which will cause us to shift some of our fall traditions and make alternative plans for things like Homecoming.
While we don’t want to take away some of these long-standing traditions, to keep a varsity schedule would cause our very young players to face teams that are much larger and stronger, putting their physical safety at a great risk. We received multiple emails and phone calls from parents sharing the same concern, which helped lead us to this decision. We will take this opportunity to build these young players' skills and focus on strength and physical safety.
The Pioneer League has determined that they will not continue with us on their JV Schedule if we do not play a full Varsity Schedule. Therefore, the athletic director is working to schedule JV games outside of our league. We currently have five JV games scheduled.
We know that this is not a popular decision. Please know that this decision was not made lightly and that hours of discussion went into it. If we had seen a greater turnout in upperclassmen, we likely would not be in this situation. However, we respect our students, and their decisions are their own.
That said, seniors who previously decided to opt out of the season cannot return to play JV only. This decision was made because they chose not to play; therefore, we cannot allow them to return to play in a lower classification.
We are actively working to schedule some of the fall traditions that follow the football season and will send communications as soon as things are scheduled.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact AD Jordan Kupersmith at kupersmith@usd367.org or Superintendent Greg Clark at clark@usd367.org