Ironwood votes to join Miners football co-op

By RICHARD JENKINS

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Ironwood — Barring any unforeseen derailments, Ironwood students will be taking the field as members of the Gogebic Miners this fall after the Ironwood Area Schools Board of Education voted Monday to join the co-op team.

“There has been a big decline in the number of student athletes willing to participate in the sport of football,” Superintendent Tim Kolesar said.

Given the low turnout in recent years, Kolesar said a number of districts in the area — including Ironwood — have eliminated their junior varsity programs. This causes freshman and sophomores to compete against the frequently larger upperclassmen.

“Students playing at age-appropriate levels is really one of our biggest concerns and biggest factors in the decision to go with a cooperative program in which the Ironwood Red Devils would join with the (Miners co-op) that is currently in existence,” Kolesar said. “We need this for our student athletes.”

The agreement, once approved by all three districts, is for five years and would begin with the 2017 season.

The Wakefield-Marenisco board also approved Ironwood’s addition to the co-op Monday.

“I think it’s great for the area, just to be able to field JV and varsity teams,” W-M athletic director Mark Lane told the Daily Globe Monday night. “In my opinion, it’s the best thing for kids on the Range.”

Bessemer is expected to vote on the agreement at its meeting Monday.

According to copies of the agreement provided at the meeting, any of the districts would be able to exit the co-op at any time as long as seven months notice is provided.

“We must remember this is a cooperative program. This isn’t an Ironwood program, this is not a Bessemer program, it is not a Wakefield-Marenisco program,” Kolesar said. “This is a cooperative agreement, it’s a unique agreement that allows us to create a situation where we can have kids play age-appropriate (football).”

He said it also helps the program develop talent and, hopefully, win more games.

The agreement calls for the team to remain the Miners and rotate home-field locations between the three schools.

The Western Peninsula Athletic Conference, which Ironwood and Hurley are currently in, have approved the Miners joining the conference.

Ironwood Athletic Director Gordy Erickson said the enrollment numbers of all three schools puts the team in line with other conference members.

He said Ironwood has had to cancel junior varsity games in the past due to being unable to have enough players to field a team for a game.

While Bessemer would be the host school, Kolesar said that was primarily a necessity to handle the finances. The agreement calls for Bessemer to receive the revenue from ticket sales and pay expenses, with expenses beyond those covered by the ticket revenue to be split evenly among the three schools.

Each district will be able to sell season passes, and this revenue will be different from gate receipts and stay with the respective schools.

In addition to playing locations, a variety of other issues will be rotated between the schools — including transportation and practice locations.

The junior high programs are staying as they are, with Ironwood remaining separate from the co-op.

The program will have four paid coaches — two for the varsity team and two for junior varsity. Coaches will be chosen by a search committee with representatives from all three districts, with Kolesar saying each board will have to sign off on the pick.

“We need to put in the four best coaches we can find in this area into this program, that’s our goal,” Kolesar said.

Each school will continue to be able to plan homecoming festivities, regardless of which field hosts the game.

During the discussion surrounding the vote, several board members raised potential concerns about problems that may arise, but Kolesar stressed the agreement was a living document that could be adapted as issues arose. Changes to the agreement may be made if representatives from all three districts approve.

During the debate, board president Steve Thomas — who said he was involved in several months of negotiations over the proposal — also brought up student safety.

“Watching a freshman body size go out and play against a junior or senior, there’s such a difference I’m always afraid somebody is going to get hurt,” Thomas said. “Plus, it would improve our program because then we would have a junior varsity team that could learn basics — they would be able to play junior varsity so they could get experience and then go on to varsity.”

Several items must still be worked out, including the creation of a common athletic code and the formation of a joint booster club.

Along with the formation of the co-op team, the agreement calls for a single cheerleading squad and joint pep band.

During the public comment earlier in the meeting, Ironwood student Kinley Lyons asked questions about how the cheer team and band would work.

In answer to her questions, Kolesar said transportation for the cheerleaders to the respective practice site could likely be arranged and each school could likely keep a separate competitive cheer team as it currently has. He said the logistics around the joint pep band are still being worked out, but after-school practices may become a necessity as transportation times would prevent them from taking place during class.