The Bancroft-Rosalie and Pender school boards will be taking action tonight on a proposal for a cooperative sponsorship of baseball this spring. The administrators at both schools worked together to come up with a proposal that spells out the responsibilities of each school. Mr. Hulstein, athletic director at B-R, will be in charge of scheduling and hiring umpires. He has contacted nearby schools with baseball programs and has several dates for games, pending board approval. B-R has twelve players interested in playing and Pender has 7. That will give the program good numbers if there is a team this spring.
The schools have agreed to split expenses 50-50. B-R will be the fiscal agent and provide the transportation to away games. Pender will arrange for concessions and take gate at games. Mr. Dolliver will make the decision on home game cancellations due to weather. Home games will be played in Pender. Outdoor practices will be in Pender and indoor practices are tentatively set for the Rosalie gym. If both board approve the cooperative agreement, the coaching position will be advertised in the Pender Times for two weeks. The coach and any coaches’ aides will need to be approved by both school boards. The Pender legion team has okayed the use of their uniforms and equipment for this spring. Both schools intend for this to be a long term commitment, and plan to work with the legion to help with future uniform and equipment needs.
Possible opponents include South Sioux City, Norfolk, Fremont, Blair, Arlington, Yutan-Mead, Wahoo-Raymond Central, Douglas County West, Elkhorn, Omaha Roncalli, Bennington, and Columbus. Obviously, bigger schools will provide tough competition, and the team will have to play well to be competitive. But it will provide opportunities for these 19 boys to participate in a spring activity (only a few have been in track) and it will bring back a high school baseball program that ended in Bancroft in 1984 when high school ball in Northeast Nebraska folded.
