RIVER VALLEY AND NEW BUFFALO SCHOOL DISTRICTS LOOK TO COMBINE ADDITIONAL SPORTS PROGRAMS

By: Stan Maddux

Two more sports programs at New Buffalo and River Valley high schools could be merged because of enrollment declines.
Officials from both school corporations are examining whether to consolidate the girls’ softball and girls’ basketball programs.
The girls’ softball season in New Buffalo this year was cancelled from not having enough players.
The football program at both schools was merged in 2021 after River Valley was unable to field a team the previous year due to an insufficient number of players.
During a heavily attended public meeting July 13 at New Buffalo High School, it was revealed enrollment at each high school has declined 33-percent since 2009.
Currently, enrollment at New Buffalo High School stands at just shy of 180 while River Valley high School has about 20 fewer students.
New Buffalo High School Athletic Director Matt Johnson said the combined football program now has enough players to field a varsity and junior varsity squad, which allows younger players to compete more at their level instead of being forced to play against much larger varsity players.
The goal would be the same for merging the girls’ softball and basketball programs vulnerable to serious mismatches against larger schools unless one or two classes happens to have a good crop of talent.
The problem is a bit more exasperated in New Buffalo, which has two more high school sports programs than River Valley.
“We’re just stretched thin from what we offer,” Johnson said.
Johnson said enrollment declines at both schools have sort of leveled off in recent years but there’s no indication the number of students in either district will be going up enough any time soon.
Local realtor Pete Rahm said a majority of young families with children are priced out of the housing market with the average price of a home in both school districts combined at about $700,000.
Rahm said the median housing price is around $500,000.
“There are no homes for school families to buy,” he said.
New Buffalo English teacher Krista Totzke spoke in favor of the proposed mergers.
She said her daughter had to play her first two seasons of girls’ basketball on the varsity before she was physically ready because there weren’t enough players to field a junior varsity squad.
“It’s like playing with adults on some teams,” Totzke said.
Rich Knoll, a former school board member and assistant high school girls’ varsity softball coach in New Buffalo, urged the audience to put aside their feelings about the longstanding rivalry between the schools and support merging both sports programs.
Without a merger, he said there might not be a girls’ softball team in New Buffalo for a couple of seasons until students in some of the lower grades with higher enrollments reach high school.
Knoll also said combining the two programs would also eliminate the stress of urging students to participate in sports and wondering if there will be enough players to fill every roster.
“It’s time, folks. It really is folks,” he said.
New Buffalo Mayor John Humphrey also spoke in favor of the mergers.
He has a daughter on the softball team whose season was cancelled after she invested a lot of time in instructional camps to improve her game.
“She is dejected and very angry about it,” he said.
Like the combined football team, Johnson said the girls’ softball and basketball teams would more than likely rotate practices and games between the schools to make traveling less of an issue as much as possible.
Johnson said the programs, if combined, would move up to Division 3 to play against more competitive teams based on the enrollment of both schools.
However, he said the schools already play against Division 3 teams in the area like Brandywine and Buchanan because most Division 4 schools are a two hour drive away.
Under Michigan High School Athletic Association rules, Johnson said the school boards in each district must approve merging the girls’ basketball programs by August 15 for the cooperative to be in effect for the next season.
The deadline for the upcoming season for girls’ softball is October 15, he said.