Appeals don't sway Oxbridge

Hopes voiced by students, parents fail to keep football program alive.

WEST PALM BEACH — After an emotional meeting between students, parents and school administrators Monday night, those who wanted the Oxbridge Academy football program revived left with a little bit of hope.

The school administration quickly quashed that hope.

The school announced last Wednesday that it was shutting down its football program, but after Monday’s meeting, some players and their parents thought they might have changed some minds.

“They listened and they said, ‘Well, you’ve given us food for thought; we’re going to reconvene,’ ” said Vanessa Cantave, the mother of junior Daymon Cantave. “I honestly thought it was going to be: ‘Nope, sorry guys; we can’t do it.’

“There’s a tiny piece of me that’s hoping.”

But the school did not budge.

“Although there has been an outpouring of support from the community to continue the program, the fact still remains that at this time we do not have enough players to play safely next year,” the school said in a statement. “Our decision has not changed. However, a number of new suggestions were made this evening, which we are reviewing.”

The school cited low participation after 15 seniors graduated and eight key players announced their transfers, but Cantave said the school didn’t take everyone into an account.

Parents said the meeting started with a letter from school founder Bill Koch, which parents said stated that he didn’t plan on the school having a football program.

“It was a little scary to hear that because I thought ‘Well, are you saying that since it wasn’t your original vision, we can’t count on that anymore?’ ” Cantave said. “Are you saying you don’t care for it? That was a little disturbing and scary.”

The Thunder Wolves’ program went 48-10 in five seasons.