There’s a great deal of concern surrounding the current state of athletics in the Perry School District, and some big changes could be on the horizon.

Superintendent Clark Wicks says they have identified the most likely cause of the issues: a lack of participation by students in youth sports and the need for more parent involvement at that level. Wicks says there’s already been movement over the last couple years to rectify that situation, and points to the success of the Junior Jay Wrestling program and the strong youth soccer system as examples of how involvement in youth sports can yield positive results through high school.

However, no matter how bright the future might look for Perry athletics, the present isn’t as encouraging, particularly in football. Wicks says the high school football program is in the process of assessing whether it would be worth it to field a team for the coming season. “If we don’t have the numbers, if we don’t have the commitment, we may have to hit a ‘pause button’ and regroup with some of our younger kids, and we’d be ready to do that. But first of all, we have to see what that commitment level is with our seniors and juniors, and can we compete at a varsity level. So we’re just analyzing it right now, no decisions are made (and) our coaches are talking to all of the potential players. And we just want to see where we’re at.”

In the most recent season, Perry didn’t have the participation in the lower grades to field both freshman and junior varsity teams, so the two were combined and the freshman slate of games was cancelled. Additionally, as recent as two years ago the initial turnout for 7th grade football was in single digits before the middle school staff stepped in and recruited more participants. Wicks is hopeful the power of youth sports will bring Perry’s varsity athletics back from the brink, and that this period will prove to be a bump in the road as opposed to a trend. To learn more about this and other Perry School District topics, click the link below to listen to the recent Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program with Wicks.

https://www.raccoonvalleyradio.com/2020/03/10/lets-talk-dallas-county-3-10-2020-clark-wicks/