Many different factors have led to multiple high school athletic teams in the state of Nebraska have had to cancel their sports season.
The first reason is that there is a low turnout of athletes going out for a sport. Each sport has a specific number of players that is required to be on the team. If a team can’t meet the minimum requirement, then the school board has no choice but to cancel their season. There are different reasons for why not enough athletes are going out for a sport.
The World Herald wrote an article on the cancellation of Grand Island’s 2024-2025 girls’ basketball season. This seems impossible, being that Grand Island has the largest enrollment of girls in the state of Nebraska. Concordia Junior/Senior High School athletic director Ben Ersland has some insight as to why not enough girls go out went out for the basketball team.
“Girl’s basketball participation numbers have been declining for about 20 years,” Ersland said. “I suspect that in the state of Nebraska, but also many states, club volleyball being so popular in the wintertime is a big part of that.”
Volleyball is very popular, especially in the state of Nebraska. It is referred to as the state of volleyball after all. The seems to affect the turnout of winter sports such as basketball.
The second reason as to why sports seasons are being cancelled is because of competition fairness. Football numbers have slowly begun to decrease as well. Players want to attend a school that is successful and competitive in their sport. If a high school sports team isn’t good, then student athletes will avoid that school. For example, Omaha Benson’s football team ended up cancelling their final two matches of the season. Their final two games were against Lincoln Southeast, who ranks 44th in the state of Nebraska, and Millard South, who ranks number one.
“The best teams in Class A are so much better than the worst teams in Class A, which makes it difficult for the teams that struggle to dig out of a whole,” Ersland said. “All the best football players at Benson transferred to Omaha Central,” Ersland said.
Omaha Benson is ranked 132nd overall in the state of Nebraska, putting them way out of league with the other two high schools. The funny thing is, all three of these schools are Class A, due to the size of the school. This matchup should not be viewed as fair or equal because the number one team should not face the 132nd ranked team. As a result, there was a lack of player participation on Omaha Benson’s football team.
Despite these low turnouts, extracurricular activities such as sports can have a positive effect on students. The main reason that students do sports is for the fun of it.
“Kids do a lot of things for fun when they are in high school, and an awful lot of them find joy in competing in a sport,” Ersland said. “Part of the value for kids is the difficulty and challenge of it.”
Another way for students to find meaning in the sport they do is with sacrifice. Students learn that committing to something takes a lot of time and energy. This value can come naturally for some, but for others, it is a skill that they learn. Parents also sacrifice their time and attention to support their kids and their ambitions.
“There is a lot of value in learning sacrifice,” Ersland said. “Sports is a great way for kids to learn that. A lot of kids sacrifice comfort and prestige for their teammates because they love their teammates.”
These positive effects can help encourage more students to step out of their comfort zone and try something new. Students might not think that a certain sport is for them, but if they are willing to try it out and “sacrifice”, they can help bring numbers back up. As a result, teams will have enough players to compete and not worry about having to cancel their season.