NSAA concerned as participation numbers on decline in some areas

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - Following the cancellation of upcoming Girls Varsity Basketball season at Grand Island Senior High to the early ending football seasons for Southern Valley and Omaha Benson, members of the Nebraska Schools Activities Association are calling it concerning.

“Across the state, from our perspective, we’re seeing our participation numbers dwindle in different areas, and it’s very concerning to all of our member schools as well as our board and all the staff here, very concerning,” said Jeff Johnson, associate director of the NSAA.

Grand Island Public Schools announced Friday morning the decision comes after months of conversations and is due to low participation numbers.

Johnson, who served as athletic director at Grand Island Senior High from 1998 to 2002, said it’s just devastating.

“I feel for the coaches and student athletes,” he said. But he added that GISH has a plan in place and this isn’t a death sentence for the program.

The school said it’s going to focus on their younger players and help them with their development, rather than playing freshman and sophomores on their varsity team.

The GISH Varsity Girls Basketball team has not had a winning season since 2009-2010, according to MaxPreps. Over the last 10 seasons, the Islander girls have only won seven times.

Johnson said there’s been some competitive imbalance and right now they have a competitive balance committee that’s working on putting something together that would allow schools to come before a committee and discuss their situation and possibly opt down a class.

He said that’s something in the works right now. A group of athletic directors are putting together criteria.

Johnson said this is just one area that they’ve talked about. He said scheduling is also really important as well as kids transferring. He said those are contributing factors to what they see going on right now.

“We are finding that the size of the school doesn’t indicate participation necessary,” he added.

Right now, schools are classified based on enrollment but there may be other factors to look at to create more balance.

According to the NSAA website, Grand Island Senior High has the highest female enrollment with 967. These are numbers submitted in 2023 by the Nebraska Department of Education.

Other girls sports at Grand Island Senior have seen success including the volleyball team making it to the Class A State Tournament for the first time in a decade and girls wrestling finished as a state runner-up and had individual state champion last season.

NSAA Assistant Director Jon Dolliver said basketball has got to figure some things out with the youth stuff.

“There’s a lot of club sports out there right now that kids are playing at a young age,” Dolliver said. “We try to promote multi-sport activity or athletics and activities, and so we want kids to participate in a lot of things.“

Dolliver added that the last time they looked, basketball started to fall off maybe six or seven years ago, when they really seen a decline.

“I don’t know if that’s just a Nebraska problem, I think it may be something that’s nationwide,” he said.

WATCH FULL INTERVIEW: Local4 Sports Director speaks with NSAA AD Jon Dolliver

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