W-MU adds soccer, trap shooting to the roster

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

WINFIELD ? Students at Winfield-Mt. Union will have a few more activities to choose from as the school board approved both activities.

W-MU Superintendent Jeff Maeder reached out to Columbus-Junction to see if the district would be interested in sharing a soccer program after students expressed interest in adding the sport during the January board meeting. Currently, the districts share a wrestling program. Maeder said Columbus-Junction would be amiable to sharing their soccer program, as long as costs were shared as well.

?They would like us to subsidize what they feel is a needed boys? assistant coach, which would be $2,900,? said Maeder.

The district would also pay 35 percent for transportation, which is what W-MU pays for wrestling.

During open forum, parent, Amy Krieger, reminded the board there were 14 students currently interested in playing soccer. ?It is our responsibility to give our kids opportunities,? said Krieger. ?So, we feel it is our responsibility to give our students soccer at Winfield-Mt. Union.?

Krieger added that if Columbus Junction was open to sharing a soccer program, she didn?t see a reason the board would have to say no. Krieger also said if it was a transportation issue, plenty of parents would be willing to drive students back and forth.

Before approving the sharing agreement, Maeder added that as long as the district is not involved in arranging transportation, they would not be held liable in the event of an accident. ?I plan on holding a meeting and having a letter drafted stating the school is not responsible for transportation,? he explained.

Columbus-Junction has both boys? and girls? varsity and junior varsity soccer teams. The agreement would begin this season.

W-MU will also be getting a trap shooting team, although it will not be a school sanctioned sport, but a club sport. The school board did approve allowing the team to use the school?s name and logo. Parents Ben Thompson and Scott Wade, along with Mt. Pleasant trap coach Jim Smith, spoke to the board about the club sport.

Wade said in the area, Mt. Pleasant, WACO, Burlington, West Burlington and Danville all have trap shooting clubs that use the school?s name and logo.

Wade said there are currently upwards of 20 students interested in participating in trap shooting.

School board member Stacy Buffington inquired what grades would be allowed to participate in the club. Wade said the club would be open for sixth through 12th graders.

Smith said Mt. Pleasant started their program with only high school students, but quickly expanded it to allow middle school students. Currently, the club is open to fifth through 12th graders. ?The program, Scholastic Clay Target Program, actually allows fourth though collegiate students to be in the program,? said Smith. ?It?s a really good program and very safe program.?

Smith added the club has an extensive stack of paperwork students must fill out before joining, which includes waivers, sportsman contracts and insurance forms. ?There is a fee students pay that applies a $5 million liability policy to the student and volunteers,? said Smith. He added the school could also be added onto the policy for no additional charge.

Wade said the program would be run completely by parents and volunteers. Volunteers would have to go through a background check. The program would be funded privately and through donations and grants.

?Also, to help offset the costs, because it is a very expensive sport, we would like to use the school?s EIN (employer identification number) number,? said Wade. ?There are a lot of grants available for young shooters to help them get started and help them offset the costs, but we have to have the EIN number in order to get to that money.?

School Board President Klay Edwards said he was all for the program before opening the floor for a motion to approve the use of the school?s name and logo. The motion passed unanimously.

In other business, the board:

? Approved the request for MSA for dropout prevention/at-risk funds.

? Approved Iowa Association of School Board?s policy updates, excluding policy 804.5 Stock Epinephrine Auto-Injector Supply, which will be further discussed at a future meeting.

More stories from the W-MU School Board meeting will be featured in Friday?s edition of The News.

The next school board meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 9, at 6 p.m., in the media center.