The Telstar girls’ soccer team has opted to take this fall season off because of low numbers.
The Rebels team is still a fledging club having gone varsity only a few years ago, but the squad only had five to seven players during preseason tryouts.
“It’s just because of the numbers,” said Telstar athletic director Gail Wight said. “They didn’t have the numbers to field a girls’ team. So we officially withdrew our schedule before the first game. That way we didn’t get any penalties for it. So we hope to pick right up next year if they have enough players.”
Four girls’ players have joined the boys’ program this season, while the other girls’ soccer teams in the MVC will try to fill their schedule with games against each other to maintain a 14-game schedule.
Telstar hired coach Sarah Demer, for the girls’ program the week that the preseason began, but turnout was low for the practices.
“They were having around seven kids and then it was five,” Wight said. “It wasn’t like there was 10. Some of the girls that played last year played with numbers down and no subs.”
The hope was that once school started that maybe some interest would be generated. The players tried to recruit other players but they couldn’t get enough interest to field a team.
“We started school Sept. 1 and we waited until the 2,” Wight said. “We really pulled the schedule at the last possible moment. You have to pull it before the first game or you’re penalized. We waited the two extra days to see if anyone not able to come to preseason were interested.”
The Rebels’ program has only been a varsity squad for three seasons. Telstar went 0-14 last year after battling low numbers. The team was 0-12-2 the season prior to that.
“We did everything we could,” Wight said. “Girls made phone calls. Hopefully, next year they’ll be there.”
It isn’t the first sport that Telstar has had take a season off. The girls’ basketball team has had low number problems in the past and took a winter season off. While many schools are battling participation issues, a small school like Telstar is hit even harder by low numbers.
“Our numbers are down in all of our sports and our enrollment is down,” Wight said. “Boys soccer had 16 and now they had the addition of the girls to boost their numbers. Football is playing with 17. There’s eight kids out for cross country and four for golf. I have 20 out for field hockey, and that’s the lowest ever for us too.”
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