Westerville staff propose aligning middle-school football and cheer by students’ home high schools to address multi-year low turnout

At a regular Westerville City Schools board meeting, district staff presented a plan to reorganize middle-school football and football cheer so students play at sites tied to their home high school, a move staff said is designed to address multi-year low participation and improve player safety and program continuity.

Becca Yianni, the district’s coordinator of related arts and extracurricular programs, introduced the plan and the presenting team, saying administrators and coaches have studied participation data and held five community sessions with families and students. "I'm Becca Yianni, I'm the coordinator of related arts and extracurricular programs for the district," Yianni said as she opened the presentation.

Under the proposal, any student whose home high school is Central would play at Genoa, students from North would play at Walnut Springs, and students from South would play at Minerva Park; seventh and eighth graders would still play with their own grade level. Scott Gaddis, principal at Genoa, said the model was chosen because those three sites already have football fields and because the three-site approach most evenly balances projected roster sizes.

Staff displayed three-year enrollment projections and argued that the combined-site model would push middle-school rosters closer to the mid-20s–30s range that coaches said is needed for safer play and meaningful competition. "To have a competitive football team, you need to be in... that mid-20 to 30 range," a middle-school athletic director and longtime coach said during the presentation. Presenters noted that Genoa had only nine eighth-grade students try out last year, an example they used to explain why separate teams have become thin.

The district said the change would apply only to football and football cheer, not to other sports. Staff cited OHSAA (Ohio High School Athletic Association) guidance they obtained while planning: "Ohio High Schools has said that we would still need to play under the name of the school, but we do have some latitude when it comes to what they would wear," Yianni said, adding that uniform details and the district’s "Ville" branding were under consideration.

Staff acknowledged logistical challenges. Transportation and building-level supervision were repeatedly raised by board members and principals: presenters said they had discussed shuttle options with the transportation department and planned to provide on-site supervisors at students’ home schools while other students traveled to the shared practice site. On costs, the district said consolidating three programs instead of five could reduce overall trip counts and that savings, plus fewer supplemental assignments, could offset new supervision or shuttle costs.

Cheer logistics would be adjusted: football cheer would hold separate tryouts and field larger sideline squads (presenters estimated roughly 15–17 per grade and combined sideline squads of about 30), while basketball cheer would continue as five separate squads for the five schools.

Presenters said they solicited family feedback using a simple rubric (positive/neutral/negative) and reported most responses were neutral or positive, with transportation the most common concern. They also said aligning middle- and high-school programs could allow high-school booster clubs to support equipment and safety needs earlier in a student’s development.

District staff did not present a final vote or enactment at the meeting. Next steps, as presented, include sharing a final decision with students, coaches, families and human resources and opening coaching contracts as needed. The district emphasized the proposal is a planning decision intended to provide families earlier notice than the traditional August 1 combining date.

No formal motion or vote on the proposal was recorded during the meeting.