SOUTH WAYNE - A potential football co-op between Black Hawk and Warren moved one step closer to becoming reality Friday as district officials for both schools hosted a joint video teleconference meeting.
Warren contacted Black Hawk about exploring a co-op due to dwindling numbers in its own program. However, the earliest the co-op could field a team would be 2019. Warren, a member of the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference, fielded just 17 players on its varsity football team last year.
Black Hawk Principal and football coach Cory Milz said Black Hawk is looking at a co-op with Warren as an option for the future of the football program, but no final decision has been made.
Along with Milz, Black Hawk Superintendent Willy Chambers, Black Hawk school board president Kerry Holland and board member Jason Figi participated in the conference call. District officials from both schools discussed details that could be included in a potential co-op agreement, like practice and training facilities, schedules, which school would host home games, whether the two districts would co-op for middle school football and fundraising for uniforms and helmets.
Both schools have had community meetings to gauge support. In a survey of Black Hawk middle school and elementary school parents, Milz said 56 percent of the 62 respondents supported a co-op with Warren. There were 11 percent who wanted Black Hawk to maintain its own football program, and 2 percent cited a need to switch to eight-man football.
Ten families recently attended a community meeting on the potential co-op.
"We didn't have a very high participation rate from our community," Milz said of the meeting. "I think they look at it as a moot issue that doesn't really impact them. I think they trust the school to make the best decision with the data given."
Warren Superintendent Shawn Teske said the school has to notify the NUIC by May if they will be leaving after the 2018 season. A co-op would need to be approved by both the Black Hawk and Warren school boards, the Six Rivers Conference and the WIAA. The deadline to file a co-op request for the 2019 season with the Six Rivers Conference is January 2019, and the deadline to submit a co-op application to the WIAA is Feb. 1, 2019.
Teske said 62 percent of more than 250 respondents in a Warren survey favored a co-op with Black Hawk. Warren's community meeting drew 50 citizens. Teske said 5 percent of the residents surveyed want Warren to pursue a co-op with a different school and 2 percent want the district to explore eight-man football.
"There is definitely community support," Teske said. "If we could get a couple of home games, it would make it feel like more of a co-op."
That's one of the biggest stumbling blocks: Warren wants to have the ability to host two home games per year. However, Chambers said he will check with the WIAA about that request.
"If I'm being blunt, we don't want to give up home games," Chambers said. "That's probably the biggest issue with the co-op. It's an ownership thing. It's not necessarily a money issue, because we will be fair to both schools. In my opinion, the only hold up is the game thing."
With an enrollment of 112 students, Warren went 2-7 this year and is 18-29 the past five years in Class 1A. Warren had 17 players this year after Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, a Rockford, Illinois, school they had a co-op with in 2015 and 2016, split from the team.
Both Black Hawk and Warren are expected to have less participation numbers in football in coming years.
Warren's practice facility is in Nora, Illinois, several miles from the school, and players have to ride a bus to practice after watching film and lifting weights. Warren also gets out of school earlier than Black Hawk.
"I will just be candid," Milz said to Warren officials Friday. "I don't know what your coach's practice schedule is, but it's problematic for me if the practice facility is separate from the school. The practice facility and the school is important to us. Our weight room and film room is seconds from our practice field. The proximity of our weight room, video equipment to our practice facility and school is a positive and one that I'm hesitant to change."
Another key component is the junior high-middle school football program. The co-op could include the middle school football programs. Warren has its middle school program run through the school district, and Black Hawk has a recreation department with a volunteer coach who runs the middle school football program.
Teske is a proponent of having the two middle school programs co-op too as early as next year.
"We feel like it would make sense from a coaching and scheme-wise approach," he said.
Both Black Hawk and Warren have sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders playing football together on the same team.
As far as gate receipts from games, Chambers said the two districts could divide the money 50-50 or have it divided up based on a per-member or player percentage.
Coming up with team colors, a logo and mascot are other areas the districts discussed. One advantage of a potential co-op is they could keep the nickname Warriors.
"I want to get the kids and community involved, so it's just not one school consuming the other," Teske said. "We need buy-in from the kids, and we need them to buy and have that identity."
Warren contacted Black Hawk about exploring a co-op due to dwindling numbers in its own program. However, the earliest the co-op could field a team would be 2019. Warren, a member of the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference, fielded just 17 players on its varsity football team last year.
Black Hawk Principal and football coach Cory Milz said Black Hawk is looking at a co-op with Warren as an option for the future of the football program, but no final decision has been made.
Along with Milz, Black Hawk Superintendent Willy Chambers, Black Hawk school board president Kerry Holland and board member Jason Figi participated in the conference call. District officials from both schools discussed details that could be included in a potential co-op agreement, like practice and training facilities, schedules, which school would host home games, whether the two districts would co-op for middle school football and fundraising for uniforms and helmets.
Both schools have had community meetings to gauge support. In a survey of Black Hawk middle school and elementary school parents, Milz said 56 percent of the 62 respondents supported a co-op with Warren. There were 11 percent who wanted Black Hawk to maintain its own football program, and 2 percent cited a need to switch to eight-man football.
Ten families recently attended a community meeting on the potential co-op.
"We didn't have a very high participation rate from our community," Milz said of the meeting. "I think they look at it as a moot issue that doesn't really impact them. I think they trust the school to make the best decision with the data given."
Warren Superintendent Shawn Teske said the school has to notify the NUIC by May if they will be leaving after the 2018 season. A co-op would need to be approved by both the Black Hawk and Warren school boards, the Six Rivers Conference and the WIAA. The deadline to file a co-op request for the 2019 season with the Six Rivers Conference is January 2019, and the deadline to submit a co-op application to the WIAA is Feb. 1, 2019.
Teske said 62 percent of more than 250 respondents in a Warren survey favored a co-op with Black Hawk. Warren's community meeting drew 50 citizens. Teske said 5 percent of the residents surveyed want Warren to pursue a co-op with a different school and 2 percent want the district to explore eight-man football.
"There is definitely community support," Teske said. "If we could get a couple of home games, it would make it feel like more of a co-op."
That's one of the biggest stumbling blocks: Warren wants to have the ability to host two home games per year. However, Chambers said he will check with the WIAA about that request.
"If I'm being blunt, we don't want to give up home games," Chambers said. "That's probably the biggest issue with the co-op. It's an ownership thing. It's not necessarily a money issue, because we will be fair to both schools. In my opinion, the only hold up is the game thing."
With an enrollment of 112 students, Warren went 2-7 this year and is 18-29 the past five years in Class 1A. Warren had 17 players this year after Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, a Rockford, Illinois, school they had a co-op with in 2015 and 2016, split from the team.
Both Black Hawk and Warren are expected to have less participation numbers in football in coming years.
Warren's practice facility is in Nora, Illinois, several miles from the school, and players have to ride a bus to practice after watching film and lifting weights. Warren also gets out of school earlier than Black Hawk.
"I will just be candid," Milz said to Warren officials Friday. "I don't know what your coach's practice schedule is, but it's problematic for me if the practice facility is separate from the school. The practice facility and the school is important to us. Our weight room and film room is seconds from our practice field. The proximity of our weight room, video equipment to our practice facility and school is a positive and one that I'm hesitant to change."
Another key component is the junior high-middle school football program. The co-op could include the middle school football programs. Warren has its middle school program run through the school district, and Black Hawk has a recreation department with a volunteer coach who runs the middle school football program.
Teske is a proponent of having the two middle school programs co-op too as early as next year.
"We feel like it would make sense from a coaching and scheme-wise approach," he said.
Both Black Hawk and Warren have sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders playing football together on the same team.
As far as gate receipts from games, Chambers said the two districts could divide the money 50-50 or have it divided up based on a per-member or player percentage.
Coming up with team colors, a logo and mascot are other areas the districts discussed. One advantage of a potential co-op is they could keep the nickname Warriors.
"I want to get the kids and community involved, so it's just not one school consuming the other," Teske said. "We need buy-in from the kids, and we need them to buy and have that identity."
