Lisbon High School will be starting their own girls wrestling program starting next sports season.
Activities director Brandon Horman said the numbers in the community’s junior high and interest for the sport are what spurred on this decision. In the first year the sport was offered, Lisbon had 12 middle school girls in the program. This last year, Lisbon had 14 junior high members on the team. They also saw similar numbers at the high school, going from three the first year to five the second year.
“Looking at similar sized schools in our area, schools like West Branch, Tipton and Cascade offer their own programs, so we’d have a few teams to be able to wrestle with,” Horman said.
With 200 different programs across the state, the sport is continuing to grow.
“I think we’re at an influx with interest at the youth level, and more and more community interest is going to grow,” Horman said.
Horman said with Lisbon’s strong wrestling program, there are plenty of mentors and supporters in the community who will help and provide guidance alongside any new coach.
Superintendent Autumn Pino agreed, noting the community support for wrestling will only help the program.
“You don’t get that [support] in every community,” Pino said.
Pino said that the move might incur more costs, as it is adding an additional sport to Lisbon’s roster next season, but feels this is the right decision for the district if it gets more athletes to participate at all levels.
Pino said there have been a few individuals who have voiced interest in a coaching position.
“I just think with the program in its infancy, the right coach will be able to help grow this program,” Mallie said.
Horman said practices for wrestling will be staggered between boys’ and girls’ teams.
“We’ll have to see some creative scheduling for use of the same facilities, but that’s something that can easily cater for our programs,” Horman said.
High school activities director position open at Lisbon
Lisbon will be seeking a high school activities director.
Brandon Horman will be taking on more responsibilities as assistant principal at Lisbon school district in the coming year. The roles and responsibilities of the junior high activities director are ones Horman will still be able to maintain, but the high school activities director position will need to be filled.
Superintendent Autumn Pino said an announcement was already made to the school about the changes, pending the board approval.
Pino said with Horman remaining at the district, he will be able to answer questions and help with guidance.
“There will be an overlap in training, and the collaboration will be ongoing,” Pino said.
Horman said the overlap between junior high and high school activities sees some of the same systems established, which are used for both programs.
“I know there is a lot to learn and that can take time, but I’m hoping to make this transition as seamless as possible,” Horman said.
There was a question if the activities director will be responsible for handling the concessions stand and cash box.
Horman said that they have built in a lot of capacity over the last couple years to help with that, including assistance from Jennie Zerbe, but it is a challenge for a small district.
The activities director position for the high school will be a stipend position for the next school year and be advertised in the future.
Summer school dates set
Summer school dates are set for Lisbon this summer, lasting from July 9 through 11, July 16 through 18, July 22 through 24 and Aug. 6 through 8.
Elementary principal Justin Brown said they have 75 students currently signed up, but the school will be on track for roughly 100 kids this year. A total of eight teachers are signed up to help for the summer, which will keep ratios of teachers to students reasonable for the education.
“The key thing is we don’t want students to back slide in their education during the summer,” Brown said. “Getting these kids back to school for less intense lessons a month before school starts helps with the lessons.”
Lisbon High summer school dates will be in June. Principal Jack Leighty said summer school is a credit recovery option for students moving forward, and it is up to the students to take advantage of that opportunity.