Genesis Classical Academy (GCA) in Winnebago will have students playing football in the upcoming school year.
However, it won’t be for Blue Earth Area (BEA) School District.
“After many conversations and considerations with United South Central (USC) this past year, we are excited to move forward with a (cooperative) partnership for football this fall,” says GCA headmaster Renee Doyle.
There are eight students in grades 7 through 12 who are planning to go out for football.
Doyle says forming a cooperative for athletics was something officials at the private non-denominational Christian school started looking at several years ago.
“We began the process to find a good partnership for sports, and BEA was one school that was consulted,” she says. “However, they were not interested in co-opting.”
At that time, some BEA School Board members were against the idea because they felt it might take away playing time for the district’s students.
Doyle says after being turned down by BEA, Genesis needed to go in a different direction to give its students a chance to play sports.
They joined the Minnesota State High School League and three years ago formed a trap shooting team. Middle school basketball and girls varsity volleyball were added this year.
Doyle says junior varsity volleyball and junior varsity boys basketball will be offered in the upcoming school year.
“We will keep our options open regarding adding other sports in the future, but we are primarily focused on developing the programs we have recently started,” she says. “We are focusing on being a beneficial and supportive sports partner with USC.”