5th-graders given shot to try out for basketball
Beginning this fall, city fifth-graders will have the chance to play school-sponsored basketball as the Warren County School Board voted Thursday to allow the students to try out for the middle school’s sixth-grade teams.
“We need to be consistent,” said school board Athletic Committee member Larry Judkins. “If we do it for one, we need to do it for all.”
Currently only schools outside McMinnville city limits offer fifth-graders the chance to play school-sponsored basketball on fifth- and sixth-grade teams. The three city schools – Bobby Ray Elementary, Hickory Creek Elementary and West Elementary – only go through the fifth grade and do not offer sports teams.
A group of parents appealed to the school board in February, petitioning members to add basketball teams at each of the three schools. The parents, through spokesperson Sherry Jacobs, said it was their belief that their children were at a disadvantage by missing out on a year’s experience at school-level play.
While school system athletic director Andy Jacobs supported the proposal, it was met with concern from the three city principals. It was their position that structured athletics at elementary schools is not developmentally appropriate for younger children.
Athletic Committee chairman Edd Cantrell said the move to let the city students try out for the middle school sixth-grade teams was an idea that met with the approval of a majority of the principals. And it is similar, school board chairman David Sneed noted, to the current policy which gives county students the opportunity to try out for the middle school’s teams in football, baseball and soccer. These are sports not offered at other schools.
“This certainly isn’t what we had hoped for, but it’s better than nothing,” said Jacobs. “I really think having a team at each school is what’s best for our children. It’s a shame three opinions matter more than the 200 names we turned in on a petition.”
Though he voted for the new move, board member Mike Holland also questioned why each school couldn’t have a team, perhaps even creating fourth- and fifth-grade teams. “I don’t see why we can’t have teams at all schools,” he said.