North High is experiencing a decrease in athletes in almost every sport our school participates in. In the past 10 years, team numbers have drastically dropped, causing North to not be able to compete at a high level. One particular example would be the North High boys and girls hockey programs. Both boys and girls have had a ridiculous number drop in recent years, causing the girls to merge with our school rival, Tartan. As for the boys, the low numbers (40 skaters and 2 goalies) has put them at a competitive disadvantage. To get go deeper into the topic, I interviewed a few North High athletes, Senior boys hockey goalie, Max Rossman, and and Junior wide-receiver, Evan Stemig.

           I asked Senior goaltender Max Rossman what his take was on the low numbers in sports at North, he answered, “personally I believe that it’s on our coaches and Athletic Director for not promoting our school more as a potential sports power house. We have nothing to build off because there is no 8th graders who desire to come play for us.” Rossman also weighed in on how he thinks we should indorse our schools athletic programs. “We need to make equipment more accessible for low income families, also rebuild and be more involved in youth programs.

Low numbers is across all sports at North high. Evan Stemig, a Junior wide-receiver gave me his take on this issue at North High. “I play on two teams where our low numbers really affect our success, Lacrosse and Football. If we had the numbers other schools do, we wouldn’t have as many kids playing so much, letting starters get more breaks increasing our efficiency. I think this problem could easily be changed by more promotion of sports and summer programs to incoming eighth graders.”