Athletic Programs Proposed for First Year at Windham High School
October 24, 2008
Pelham-Windham News
The athletic director for Windham High School has proposed the programs he would like to offer during the first year of the new facility’s operation. Windham High School is scheduled to open for the 2009-2010 school year. In the first year, only freshmen and sophomores will attend the new high school. Juniors and seniors will continue to attend Salem High School under a tuition agreement.
Athletic Director Bill Raycraft met with Windham School Board members on Tuesday, October 7, to present the programs he feels will be important to students when the new high school opens next year. Raycraft, who took on the job of high school athletic director this past July 1, said he based his proposals on the level of participation in area athletic youth organizations, at Windham Middle School and at Salem High School. He also said he based his ideas on athletic programs offered at similar high schools in New Hampshire, as well as a student survey he recently conducted. That survey was provided to students who are currently freshmen at Salem High School and will be sophomores at Windham High next year, as well as eighth graders at Windham Middle School, who will be freshmen at Windham High School in 2009-2010.
Raycraft said he also obtained feedback from other newer area high schools, including Bedford and Bow, as well as Windham’s own high school athletic committee.
The programs Raycraft hopes to develop with Windham High students include both individual and team sports. “There are a wide range of opportunities” he hopes to offer students, Raycraft said.
During the fall next year, Raycraft hopes to offer the following sports to boys: cross-country, football, golf, and soccer. For the girls next fall, he proposes offering cross-country, field hockey, golf, soccer, cheerleading, and volleyball.
Proposed winter sports for 2009-2010 include the following for boys: basketball, indoor track, ice hockey (co-ed), wrestling, gymnastics, swimming and alpine skiing. If approved by the school board, the girls will be offered the following winter sports next year: basketball, indoor track, ice hockey (co-ed) cheerleading, gymnastics, swimming, and alpine skiing.
In the spring of 2010, Raycraft is proposing the following athletic programs for boys: baseball, outdoor track, lacrosse, and tennis. For girls in the spring of 2010, he hopes to be able to offer softball, outdoor track, lacrosse, and tennis.
Raycraft is recommending that during the first year of operation Windham High School enter the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association (NHIAA) with all programs listed as “sub-varsity. “ “This will allow Windham High School to effectively offer new sports programs at a pace that will properly develop the student athletes using reserve and junior varsity teams,” he said. “Starting with freshmen and sophomores, this will allow our students to participate with opposing players of similar skills and abilities … safely and competitively,” he explained.
Following the initial season of each sport in which Windham High School students participate, Raycraft plans to evaluate each program to determine a recommendation for their status for the following year, based on several criteria, including: available facilities, feasibility, participation level, the safety of participants, the availability of qualified coaches, NHIAA approval, scheduling availability and program sustainability.
It is his goal to move into the varsity level for all sports in the second year of operation, Raycraft said. He also said that it is likely that Windham High School will be listed as Class I, based on projected enrollment numbers. When all four grade levels are in attendance at the new high school, it is anticipated that there will be approximately 700 students.