By Jeanne Sager
JEFFERSONVILLE — August 19, 2003 – Forget wins and losses, forget the standings.
The biggest surprises in Sullivan West sports this year might just be how the kids are going to make it from school to practice and back again.
Although the district’s high school is expected to open on Wednesday, Sept. 3, in Lake Huntington, the athletic fields will not be completed for another year and the gymnasium won’t be finished in time for the opening date.
According to SW Athletic Director Dave Franskevicz, all sports will have to be played at the Jeffersonville-Youngsville campus (where they’ve been held since sports programs from the three original campuses were combined two years ago).
During the summer, he noted, coaches have been given the option of where to hold practices.
Varsity girls soccer coach Mike Mahoney has chosen the Delaware Valley campus to lead preseason training, and the JV girls will be practicing there as well.
The JV and varsity football teams will be practicing at the Jeff campus, and the boys soccer program is expected to be held at the Narrowsburg school building.
There will also be a volleyball program this year, although Franskevicz is hard at work to find a new coach for the varsity and JV teams because of a coach resignation.
“We’re in dire need,” he said. “But they will start on time – the modified coach will start them.”
Once school opens, however, all of the practices should be held at the Jeff campus.
Students from the Lake Huntington high school building will be transported by bus to their practice sites after school is over, Franskevicz explained.
There will then be buses from Jeffersonville to the Narrowsburg and Delaware Valley campuses so parents can pick up their children closer to home.
There won’t be busing after games, however, Franskevicz said, following the procedure used last year.
Parents will be expected to pick their children up from the Jeff campus following games, whether they’re played at home or away.