Park A.D.: Park's future in SEC "difficult to predict"

Talk about it

Should we stay or should we go?

That is the question that I heard quite often last week from various community members. Many wanted to know whether Park would be staying in the Suburban East Conference.

Some of those who read Patrick Johnson’s article in The Bulletin last week may have assumed that Park was leaving the SEC in two years. Two days later an article in The Pioneer Press led readers to believe that Park would be staying in the SEC. So which article is correct?

The best way I can answer that question is, “both.”

Next year, Park will be a member of the Suburban East Conference with both Woodbury and East Ridge.

While all of our coaches enjoy playing against the other SEC schools, and I consider those activity directors to be my friends, many coaches wondered if Park would have a harder time staying competitive in this conference when our school is much smaller than the other schools.

So I decided to start the discussion within our own community — do you think it would be okay if one district school went out on its own and joined a different conference from the other two high schools? This is done in some districts such as Mounds View-Irondale and in Robbinsdale.

I talked to district administration and a few school board members. I just wanted to get their opinion of the idea. I never talked to an athletic director from another school or asked a certain conference if they would accept Park. Everything we did was internally.

The bottom line is we do not really know how the community would feel about such a change.

If you have an opinion on the subject, feel free to e-mail me at pkuemmel@sowashco.k12.mn.us.

Next year Park, Woodbury and East Ridge will all be members of the Suburban East Conference. Beyond that, it is difficult to predict what the future holds.

However, I will continue to work with our coaches and neighboring activities directors to do what is best for the students-athletes of Park.

Phil Kuemmel is the Activities Director at Park High School.

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