Chiloquin, Ore. – The Chiloquin High School football program has been in jeopardy of not being able to field an 8 man team this year.
Chiloquin High School Principal Scott Preston says the Klamath County School District had to make a difficult decision about the Chiloquin Panther football team this week. “We had actually made a decision, the athletic director and myself, the football coaches, to go ahead and cancel the football season as of Monday.”
Only about a dozen of the 120 students at Chiloquin High had signed up for football, and only two were seniors.
That poses a problem for Steve Johnson, who serves the Klamath County School District as Athletic Director, and in risk management. “We have a little concern about putting freshman students that may not have ever played before on a field that may have senior kids that are very competitive.
The chances of the Chiloquin Panthers fielding a team have been looking dim – and then a community meeting was held Wednesday night.
Parents and staff with coaching experience stepped up, and volunteered to change their work schedules to help out – and a couple more students committed to play.
“And so the decision was made with all that support to go ahead and continue with the season as originally planned.” Notes Principal Preston. “We’re going to continue with our Mountain Valley League, and play a regular schedule.”
So while there hasn’t even been a game yet, the Chiloquin Panthers are already starting the season with a win.
“It would have been a little hollow, I think, not being able to go watch some kids play football on a Friday night.” Preston expressed. “It’s going to be a great thing.”
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