Some parents in West End communities have expressed concerns with the San Miguel Basin Forum that track, what’s been a combined sport for Nucla and Norwood, will now be separated, and each school will run its own team.
The Forum spoke with Kyle Dinsmore last week, who is the Norwood Public Schools Athletic Director. Dinsmore confirmed Norwood will have its own team next year, coached by Shelby Thomas, rather than send kids to Nucla.
Some parents have questioned the Forum about Norwood only having a JV team next year, not a varsity team. Dinsmore told the Forum track doesn’t really have a JV division, and Norwood would be offering the sport as a varsity one.
He said some might have concerns, since the combined relay teams were state placers this year. He said nobody could’ve predicted that happening, and talks of separating track happened way before that.
Dinsmore said if Norwood is able to offer track, or any other sport, the district needs to.
“We are trying to get life back into our school,” he said. “It’s just us trying to give our school some life again.”
The Forum asked if the decision had to do with the recent BEST grant award that Norwood received. Dinsmore said the decision was made before that was awarded.
He said next year Norwood will offer football, volleyball, middle school volleyball, wrestling and now track. He said Norwood aims to also have its own basketball teams too, though he’s not sure if the boys team will have enough players; that depends on who comes out for basketball.
Dinsmore said more energy needs to happen on campus, and Norwood needs more school spirit.
The Forum also spoke with Sara Bray, Nucla’s track coach and elementary school principal; she’s coached the combined students the last few years. She questions the separation.
“As a school administrator, when I am deciding whether or not to implement a change into the school system, the most important question I ask myself is ‘Is this change best for kids?’ I think this question should be the standard in this situation as well,” she said. “It doesn’t really matter what my personal opinion is about losing half my track team, and it doesn’t really matter what Norwood’s administration’s opinion is about bringing back their track program. What matters is if this change is best for the students affected.”
Bray said it’s about due diligence.
“If due diligence was done to ensure this decision is best for students, then I am in support of the change,” she said. “If this change will have a negative impact on any athlete’s ability to have the best opportunity for success, then I would be opposed.”
Bray said she didn’t have enough information to know which was true, but felt it would be much more difficult for both track teams to be competitive, due to the small size when separated.
“Competitive relay teams will be the most difficult to create without a combined team,” she said.
Brycen Rummel, of Norwood, ran on the boys relay team that placed third at state, a fraction of a second from taking second. He told the Forum he never imagined that track — over baseball or basketball — was the sport he’d be a state placer for. It’s meant something to him, and now he said he’ll lose that. He doesn’t believe separating track is best for students.
He said he understands Norwood wanting to reclaim school spirit, but according to Rummel, if one were to look at the numbers in Norwood, most track runners graduated or play baseball. For baseball players, bringing the sport back to Norwood means they can’t participate. That’s because baseball practice is in Nucla. The last few years, players that do both sports stay late and run with Coach Bray. If track is separated, baseball players won’t make any type of practice for track.
The boys relay is split, two from Norwood and two from Nucla. Rummel said the four are competitive and have a shot at taking first in state. He said he doesn’t mind traveling to Nucla for practice, and he said which school jersey he’s wearing is irrelevant.
“I just want to be successful and compete at that high level … and for that to be taken away? We kids are saying it’s not smart,” he said.
Cole Bray, of Nucla, said he knows there are mixed feelings on both sides, but he is not for separating. He said as a community the kids do better when combined, when they can reach higher levels of competition. He said all of the guys have talent, but it’s better when they’re combined.
“The best way for us to stay connected and compete is together,” Bray said, “with our best abilities, and with each other.”
Bray said he won’t say administrators made a wrong choice. He wishes, though, that the community and students would’ve been asked.
“We feel frustrated that we are being pulled apart, when we are reaching success,” Bray said.
The girls relay team, made up of Nucla and Norwood students, also qualified for state the last two years.
