The Crookston School Board had a special meeting on Monday afternoon to add Climax, Fisher, and Central Valley to the hockey co-ops.
Climax-Fisher has approached the Crookston School District about joining the hockey co-ops because they have kids coming up who would like to play in the program. “Fisher, Climax brought the idea to us. We approved it, and accepted it because our ultimate goal is to get the kids playing. We want kids to play whether they live in our community or a different one. And we thought adding more numbers would be an advantage to our girls’ and our boys’ teams,” said Crookston High School Activities Director Evan Pederson. “It’s a strength in numbers type thing. We need full lines when it comes to hockey. We want kids to get adequate break time between their shifts. And we thought this was a good resource and opportunity for our kids to fill the squad, so we can essentially do a full JV and a full varsity schedule for them.”
The board unanimously voted to dissolve the current Pirate Girls Hockey co-op of Crookston, Mayville-Portland-Clifford-Galesburg, Sacred Heart, and Hatton. A few seconds later, the board unanimously voted to approve the new co-op of Crookston, Mayville-Portland-Clifford-Galesburg, Sacred Heart, Hatton, Climax, Fisher, and Central Valley.
The expected numbers in grades 10-12 from each school are: Sacred Heart 3, Mayville-P-C-G 3, Central Valley 1 (eighth grader), and Climax and Fisher expect to have two girls coming up. It is unknown at this time how many freshmen from each school will be participating, as winter sports sign-up started on Monday.
The school board moved to unanimously approve the dissolution of the Boys Hockey co-op of Crookston, Sacred Heart, and Fertile-Beltrami. A few seconds later, the board unanimously approved the boys’ hockey co-op of Crookston, Sacred Heart, Fertile-Beltrami, Fisher, and Climax. The expected numbers in grades 10-12 from each school are: Fertile-Beltrami 5, Sacred Heart 4, Fisher 1. It is expected to have one from Climax next year.
Both Pirate Hockey coaches favor the addition of schools to the co-op. “Reed Olson (Pirate Girls Hockey coach) and Josh Hardy (Pirate Boys Hockey coach) are all for it. They understand the value of having a deep bench and the value of having the kids on their bench that can play and fill in time,” said Pederson. “So kids aren’t running double shifts and burning those legs up when it comes to hockey.”
Pederson said the decision comes down to what is best for the kids. “This gives us our kids an opportunity to play,” said Pederson. “That’s our ultimate goal as an athletic organization, athletic school side of things, is getting the kids playing time and allowing them to play and compete.”
The board unanimously approved hiring Jadin Hams as the Head Girls Basketball Coach.
The Crookston High School Winter Activities Parent, Athlete, Coach (PAC) meeting will be on October 21st at 6:00 p.m. in the Crookston High School Auditorium. “We’ll meet in the auditorium and break out into small groups where your team is located,” said Pederson. “Those will be announced on the day of the meeting.”