Shorewood passes on football
Move made after Messmer sits fall teams
Count Shorewood/Messmer out for the 2020 season.
The co-op football team will not field a team this fall and will look for an opportunity to compete in the spring, Shorewood athletic director Levar Ridgeway said Monday.
The decision comes after Messmer decided against allowing any of its athletes to participate in fall sports due to concerns about the spread of the coro
navirus. Depending on the year, the school accounts for 40-60% of the coop's players.
“We've always been one to sell us as one team, so I don't think it would be fair for one school to participate when we don't have our full compliment of student-athletes,” Ridgeway said. “It's still Messwood. It's still one team.”
The Greyhounds are believed to be the first Milwaukee-area football team to decide against playing this fall. More
could follow, though.
Districts and schools are likely waiting to see what option the WIAA crafts for a spring season for fall sports. The Board of Control approved the creation of such a plan during an emergency meeting last month. The plan could be revealed, discussed and possibly voted on during the board meeting Friday.
Ridgeway said the football program averages 50-60 players each year. Last year Messmer athletic director Nicole Ward said there were 35 players from Messmer, seven of whom graduated.
The team went 2-7 last year. The coop won a Woodland Conference title in 2018 and a Midwest Classic crown in
2013.
This year they would have been part of the football-only version of the Woodland Conference. Shorewood/ Messmer's decision not to play now leaves a date open in the schedules of Grafton, Cudahy, Greenfield, Greendale, South Milwaukee, Whitnall and Wisconsin Lutheran.
“We're trying not to look at it as a negative and see how we can get better until it's time for us to hopefully get back on the field,” Ridgeway.said.
Shorewood/Messmer's football team wasn't the only Woodland-related news of the day.
The conference also announced that
it will delay the start of the season for the sports deemed low risk by the WIAA (boys and girls cross country, girls golf, girls tennis and girls swimming and diving) to Aug. 24. That is one week later than the WIAA's start date for those sports.
The league is anticipating more information from the Department of Heath Services and WIAA as well as growing feedback from announcements related to high-risk fall sports like football, boys soccer and boys and girls volleyball.