The Boards of Education from Plainview and Osmond gathered for a special community meeting last Wednesday evening to take public comment on a plan what could eventually be, a full cooperative with all athletics and activities between the schools.
At this meeting, the major points of discussion were to add some high school sports to the already co-op’ed Junior High athletics – football, volleyball and cross country teams are already practicing and competing together as the Plainview-Osmond Pirates.
Both boards reiterated that the majority of practices and games would be held in Plainview, but flexibility would be needed to accommodate for practice space (another gym) or other situations where more or different space would be necessary.
At this meeting, the proposed addition to the cooperative was the 2025-26 (current/upcoming) seasons for girls wrestling and boys and girls bowling.
During the question-and-answer period from both groups of parents, topics about other sports, and activities, into the future quickly came to the forefront.
It was the opinion of the Boards, as they were seated that night, that a full cooperative with all sports and activities would be considered in the near future, but that each activity or sport would be approved individually as the need arose.
For this current season, Junior high sports, basketball and the addition of girls wrestling and boys and girls bowling were important for Osmond, and the addition of unified bowling, with Plainview’s bowling teams already practicing in Osmond, and the ability for Plainview to add more girl wrestlers to the team, those were addressed at this meeting, and voted on at a special meeting on Sept. 22 by the Plainview board.
Comments from the Plainview community ranged from team sizes, playing time with larger teams, level of competition, distance for travel to games, and, among other things, why Osmond was no longer co-oped with Randolph and the co-op with Wausa was ending.
In response by the Osmond board, it was indicated that in the previous co-ops Osmond had with other schools, those schools did not want to risk having enough numbers to move back into Class C for athletics or activities.
With the additional students forecasted into next year and beyond it would appear that the combined school events would be moved to Class C in most cases. The cutoff number is different for all activities and sports.
The Osmond representative did mention that the Osmond Board was excited that Plainview was willing to grow and compete at a higher level, and that’s what drew them to open the discussion six months ago.
With the addition to the junior high teams, the Plainview-Osmond Lady Pirate junior high volleyball squad has near 40 youth participating, requiring at least three or four teams for competition.
If Plainview were to co-op football in the coming year, the team would be forced back into an 11-man situation, renovations to the field would be necessary and the schedule would be updated.
Football was a sticking point for discussion, as not only are coops always two year agreements, but there is a November 1 deadline to inform the Nebraska School Activities Association that a co-op would be happening, which would carry over into next year’s football season, and the one after.
Osmond parents were generally complimentary about what they had experienced thus far in the junior high combination effort. One Osmond board member commented that “typically” – “it’s not the kids that have the problem with these plans, it’s the parents.”
With Osmond’s participation in the Plainview youth sports activities – younger football, baseball, softball, soccer and more – the kids already had experienced each other at times, and it made the transition smooth.
Expenses were also discussed, with the “general” nature again being that both schools agreed that expenses would be split 50/50 with the exception of travel, coaching staff and some other miscellaneous costs.
At the Plainview Board of Education’s special meeting on Sept. 22, they unanimously approved the cooperative agreement with Osmond for this year’s girls’ wrestling and boys and girls bowling teams in addition to the junior high agreement.