WAUSAU, Wis. (WAOW) — Wausau East student-athletes are facing uncertainty as their option to play hockey is in jeopardy. The co-op with Merrill, which the schools had been apart of since 2016, will dissolve after this season.
The Wausau School Board began discussion during their meeting Monday night.
“Here we have a bunch of players, coaches, families and community members who are not knowing what is going on, because for some odd reason, their kids are now going to be denied this opportunity,” said Pat McKee, WSD board member.
The Merrill School Board initiated discussions in January to move away from the co-op, with the school now having enough players to form their own team.
“Currently, we are working on fast-tracking into the Great Northern Conference,” said Merrill Activities Director Christopher Hahn. “If that doesn’t go through for some reason, we will be independent until we can get into a conference.”
On January 21, Wausau East sought an emergency meeting with Wisconsin Valley Conference (WVC) schools, proposing a new co-op with Wausau West. On January 29, just a few days before the WIAA co-op deadline, the vote failed to obtain a majority, ending in a 3-3 split.
Wausau East hockey players face uncertainty as co-op with Merrill ends.
“Probably going to have little to no impact on win-loss records over the next couple years, but even if it did, who cares,” said Wausau School Board Vice President, Lance Trollop during Monday’s meeting. “We’re talking about kids playing sports. What we should be thinking about is how do we get more kids playing sports.”
The WVC approved an East-West co-op at the junior varsity level, but this leaves Wausau East without a varsity option, and families left searching for answers as the next season approaches.
James Bouché, President of the Wausau School Board added to Monday’s discussion that sports “help create a total child, it helps create an individual, it helps us understand teamwork, it helps us understand right and wrong.”
The board is now considering its next steps, including a proposed change to the WVC voting format to allow a tiebreaker in the event of a 3-3 vote. Board members also raised the possibility of taking legal action if a varsity East-West co-op continues to be denied.