GSL boys soccer to pair up with Hutchinson

The Glencoe-Silver Lake boys soccer team will compete as a cooperative with the Hutchinson High School boys soccer team next year after a vote from the GSL school board Monday night.
Activities Director Dean Schwirtz told the board that the GSL boys soccer team had low numbers, leading it to play seventh graders and seniors on the same team. Joining with Hutchinson would give the team a full line-up.
“It will give kids the opportunity to play at their appropriate level,” he said. The cooperative would be large enough for a varisty, junior varsity and even middle school teams.
Hutchinson also has difficulty with numbers for its boys soccer team, Schwirtz said, and he has met with the school and laid out plans for the cooperative.
Though Schwirtz said teaming up could mean fewer home games for GSL, the team was already struggling to find teams that would play a school that only had a junior varsity team.
The GSL district will require students to ride a bus to practice in Hutchinson to ensure they arrive safely. Schwirtz said all three of the teams will have practice at the same time so the bus will take all the players at once.
Business Manager Michelle Sander said the GSL players will continue to pay the GSL activity fee and not the Hutchinson rate. The players will pay for the cost of transportation. Board Member Anne Twiss asked if the assistance the school provides for activity fees to those who need it would apply for the transporation fee. Sander said they could look into it.
The cooperative will be on a yearly basis.

For more, see the April 13 print edition of The Chronicle.