Local participation numbers might be down, but they are up across the state

News came last week that due to a lack of interest the boys’ soccer program was in jeopardy. A late push for sign-ups might have saved it for this year, but it’s in a “wait and see” mode.

CCHS Athletic Director Nick Irwin tells me this week that the boys’ soccer team will begin the season with 13 names on the roster, including two players that are currently injured and sitting out. That means we’re starting with exactly the number of players it takes to field a team – 11.

Basically, the program, without an infusion of players at some point, will be on a “week to week” basis.

That’s a reverse from the trend that the KHSAA reported last week on numbers across the state.

A record number of youth participated in the 13 sports and six sport-activities sanctioned by the KHSAA in 2018-19, with 106,931 rostered participants, compared to the total from the previous year of 106,241.

Those participants also count every sport that a student athlete competes in, with some 32 percent of all student athletes competing in multiple sports.

The increase in numbers is in part due to an increase in the number of sanctioned activities over the past eight years, with the addition of archery, bass fishing, bowling, competitive cheer, dance and esports (we’ll discuss that last one in a upcoming column).

However, there is some disappointing news when looking at the numbers the KHSAA released. There was a decrease in numbers in seven of the KHSAA offerings, including football, basketball, cross country, golf and softball.

Lady Dawgs Basketball Camp returns – reminder

Just a reminder that newly hired head Lady Bulldog Basketball Coach Ansley Stalcup Nelson is hosting a one-day basketball skills camp for the young players (grades K-8) who want to hone their roundball skills.

The one day camp on Saturday, August 17, will be a fantastic chance for our younger roundballers who aspire to one day wear the Clinton County blue and white uniform, to work with and hang out with our current coaching staff as well as many of the varsity and junior varsity players who will be on the hardwood for the Lady Dawgs this season.

Contact Coach Ansley Nelson (606) 688-0604 or Coach Jessica Marlow (606) 688-0656 for registration details. Pre-registration is requested by August 13.

In the meantime – let’s take it outside for a few months!