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Youth coach urges Spooner Area School District to revise gym-use policy amid pickleball scheduling conflicts
Summary
At the Spooner Area School District board meeting, Sean Southernland, a parent coach and member of the Spooner Backcourt youth basketball program, asked the board to revisit its facility-use priorities after weekday pickleball sessions occupy the elementary gym when younger teams need lower rims and earlier practice times. The board agreed to place the item on next month's agenda.
At the Spooner Area School District monthly board meeting, Sean Southernland, a parent coach and board member of the Spooner Backcourt youth basketball program, urged the board to revise the district's facility-use policy to reduce scheduling conflicts between Community Education pickleball sessions and youth basketball practices.
Southernland told the board the elementary school gym is currently scheduled for pickleball Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from about 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., a slot his program needs because the elementary gym's lower rims and smaller basketballs are age-appropriate for K'4 players. He said the current priority framework in the policy places Community Education activities ahead of youth clubs for those time slots, and that during peak winter months the overlap forces some youth teams to practice as late as 8:30 or 9:00 p.m.
"The priority that's given to the Community Ed over the youth sports" is the program's primary concern, Southernland said, adding that volunteer coaches and families need more consistent, earlier practice times so children can get home and rest for school. He described the difficulty of accommodating K'4 practices alongside middle- and high-school athletics and concurrent adult programming.
Board members discussed the request and one member moved to add the facility-use policy to the agenda for the board's next meeting; the motion was seconded and carried. The board invited Southernland to return to the next meeting for a fuller discussion and possible policy revisions.
The transcript records this exchange as public comment and a subsequent agenda-motion; the board did not take a final vote on a policy change at this meeting.
