A small school couldn't field a hockey team. The bigger conferences are the ones who can field a hockey team.

I can tell that you're not from a small school district.

No high school football or baseball team would only carry the minimum amount of players, Not at the varsity level anyway.

I didn't say a pickup game. I said a team... just like what the ladies are trying to do.

The district does fund the bluebirds. Football isn't hockey and we aren't talking about playing a pick-up sport with a bunch of friends. Who hasn't played with a minimum number of players just to play.

You're right. I have no clue. I've never played on a football team with only 13 players (so you're on the field the entire game), a baseball team with only 9 players (where if two fall ill, you forfeit), or a basketball team with only 6 players (where you're up and down the court the entire game). It's ironman style play. You've got to be in shape. You also have to "think outside the box".

My entire point to begin with was that since the district is funding a female team, it should also be providing funding for a male team. ("costs will be shared among the four school districts")

You don't have a clue. Stick to a subject you may know something about. You expect to just play a game of hockey with six players? That's not how the game is played. Not professional hockey, not college hockey, not high school hockey not even pee wee league. When you have an argument then you can post but, until then let the girls who want to play play.

whybesad, Saying you need more than six players for a hockey team is like saying you need more than 11 players for a football team. While it would be nice to not have to play both directions and have subs, it is not necessary. I also still find it interesting that even if you need 16 players, that those 16 players account for less than 1% (.9%) of the high school aged females. At what point do you say that there's not enough interest?

Snarp you can't field a ice hockey team with just six girls. You would need three lines of players which would be 16 girls with only one goal tender. You would need subs on the bench in case of injuries/illnesses. So, a conservative number would be twenty two girls. No I don't think that the city of Janesville could get twenty girls to play ice hockey at the high school level. They need both high schools to field a boys hockey team. Maybe as interest grows the city will be able to field their own team but, until then this is the way they came up with it. I'm 100% for it some of these girls can really skate.

whybesad... The entire city of Janesville (population approx 60,000) can't field SIX girls for a high school aged hockey team? According to muninetguide.com, Parker has 1761 students and Craig has 1794 students. If I was to take gender percentages from city-data.com, 51% of the population is female. If you have 3555 high school students, and 51% are female, that would give you a pool of perspective female hockey players equal to approximately 1777. I find it hard to believe that there is not enough interest in 1777 females to field a six person hockey team.

As for Title IX, if the funding is going to come from players and their families and by the booster clubs, then that is a different question. Unfortunately, the article says that the four school districts are going to pay for them, so as far as I'm concerned, Title IX applies. I'd just like to see things remain equal. If the school districts sponsor female hockey, they should also sponsor male hockey.

Anyways, good luck to the ladies on the ice.

Whybesad-As pointed out band, chorus, ec. are for credit classes. Students go on to college for degrees in these areas. The Vocal Jazz and Showchoir are exceptions and do have their own fund raising and "boosters" to pay for their competitions and trips, 100%.

I hope everyone remembers this when it's time to elect school board members again.
But, unfortunately, the public has a short memory.

Believe it or not, band, orchestra, choir and art are actually CLASSES for credit. Last I heard HOCKEY was not.

Recent gazette articles:
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A persistent plea for music in schools.
By FRANK SCHULTZ Saturday, Dec. 22, 2007
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Math competition dropped/staff cuts blamed.
By FRANK SCHULTZ Friday, Dec. 14, 2007
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School board silences All-City Sing.
By FRANK SCHULTZ Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007
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School candidate forum focuses on budget cuts.
By FRANK SCHULTZ Thursday, March 13, 2008
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Somebody help me out here, where are the articles about the cuts being made in the athletic programs? The only articles I seemed to find are about ADDING more sports teams!

snarp98 they couldn't field a team with just Janesville girls. Woman's hockey is pretty new around here. They had interest from other schools and thought a coop team would be the way to go. As for the other academics and clubs. Maybe the students in the band and orchestra should have to pay "fees" like the athletes do to cover some of the shortfalls in the budgets. We may need to look at where money is spent in schools. Does each school really need three guidance counselors and a school psychologist? $20,000 to start a new sport is nothing. Most of the cost will be absorbed by the players and their families and by the booster clubs.

exactly restore programs that were cut BEFORE any new ones are added.
It's so sad to see my childs music teacher struggle with going from school to school. We didn't even get to have a "winter" program this year. With being back and forth between 2 schools how could she?
As for the girls hokey itself I think it would be a nice addition, however the budget just can't support it at the present time with the other programs that have had to take cuts. Maybe we should spread the cuts all around more evenly and cut funding to sports to be able to add back some lost programs. Now that would be the fair thing to do.

Exactly Rooster. Look at the numbers in band, chorus, vocal jazz, showchoir. It is in the hundreds at each high school, but didn't they cut music teachers so now they go from school to school in the lower grades. You can play the piano your whole life.

music, which participants don't have to be: tall (basketball), big (football) fast (track), skate (hockey), etc. etc. etc. offers so much to the students, yet it will probably suffer when funds become tight. music is accessable to everyone while organized sports is suitable to few, yet that is where the money goes.our priorities are upside down.

So the "squeaky wheel gets the grease"? Under your plan special interest groups will get whatever they want and we'll have bowling, badminton, curling and underwater basketweaving while programs that are needed but don't have a champion to bug the JSD for funding will go by the wayside. I think sports in school are great. I just think we need a little more common sense and more backbone on our schoolboard to make the right decisions for ALL the children in the district and not those with the loudest horn blower.

Tripple.......you are absolutely right! Did we argue as much to keep the programs in the district more than we have argued over adding a girls hockey team? Doubtful......very doubtful. As a parent of a large family, with several of our children active in everything from academics to extra curicular activties to sports and many more, I appreciate the opportunitites that they are given. We pay a fee for each sport that each child participates in. The booster club raises money to help buy uniforms and other necessary items. We pay admission fees to the games. Your tax dollars are being spent on other projects. The day is coming when we will all be forced to pay high tuition fees, as well as buying all the books and other supplies. Eventually the highschools will be forced to operate like the college systems do. At that point, it's going to cost us even more money! So maybe instead of bickering, this community should figure out a way to keep what we have and be greatful for it. If you want programs back that were cut, go to the School Board meetings and address these issues. Pester them until they start listening to what you're saying. I understand the elderly can't afford higher taxes, but neither can we. What we do for these kids, at this moment, determines what their futures will hold for them. They have so many more opportunities and classes available to them that I ever did in school. None of us will agree with each other 100%, so this discussion is a mute point. Let's value what we have and support all of the students, regardless......

I personally find it a bit irresponsible that the district is adding more sports when they don't have enough money to fund the ones they already have.

For the record I'm not opposed to a girl's hockey team. I'm opposed to co-oping five schools with a total enrollment in the neighborhood of 5000 students to do it.

You're right on the money Tripple.

It’s such a shame to see so many people who are so close-minded and opinionated about things they really don’t know anything about.

My first suggestion to those of you that are in such a hurry to bash: Try spending today in search of all things positive, make a real effort to accentuate the positives in your lives. Too much negativity is depressing.

My second suggestion is to read the article again! The article does state that there are 10 girls in Janesville. These 10 girls will make up 40-50% of the team. Nowhere does it say that only 4 or 5 will make it. The article also says Janesville’s share of the annual cost has been estimated at $20,000. However it doesn’t state where the funding is coming from. In fact a good portion of this money will originate from the girls themselves. The wheels have already been put in motion for fund raising as well as sponsorships and support from the private sector.

My third suggestion is to do your homework! I can sympathize with those of you who are disheartened by programs that have been cut in the past. Perhaps you might ask yourself how much effort went into keeping these programs by the families and children involved. I can tell you first hand that there has been a great deal of work and diligence in getting this co-op going over the past couple of years.

Lets try to be happy for the girls that will benefit from this program now and in the future.

"First four comments.....three are negative. So, so sad!"
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Elderly taxpayers unable to keep up....Even sadder!
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Able to state your opinion here...Priceless!

whybesad - "Girls should get the same opportunity as boys."???? When's the last time you watched the Clinton male hockey team? They don't have one, so how is this equal opportunity? I guess if you want equal opportunity under Title IX, you should double the cost so the guys can have a team as well.

I do not recall over the years how many sports were cut from the schools (if any), however, many academic and arts programs have been. Before we add more sports, these other programs should be restored.

All those for and against have valid reasons for their opinions. I don't like to see any school cut education, music, art, sports....the larger problems would be the "No Child Left Behind Act". Because of this so-called attempt to help struggling children, they're actually doing a diservice to these kids. They are pushed throuh and being given enough extra credit to pass them along into the next grade. It's not just the school system failing our chldren due to budget cuts and poor decisions, our communties are failing them by allowing any of this to happen. Maybe if more of us voiced our opionions on the important topics and what's best for our children, there would be no need to argue about this in a forum. Think about this.....our City has money to throw away (millions) on re-contructing an existing aquatics facility. How is that going to help our youth? Maybe it'll give a small number of them jobs. There's absolutely no reason at all to take away any classes or any sports. Let's give our kids opportunitites that we didn't have and stop arguing and complaining. Has anyone considered asking our kids how THEY feel? It's their future we're messing with. Our tax dollars are wasted on a lot of other foolish things than adding a sport.

"First four comments.....three are negative. So, so sad!"
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Elderly taxpayers unable to keep up....Even sadder!

Let the girls have their hockey sport, but don't pass the cost of it to the athletic fee for students participating in sports at Parker/Craig (see Wednesday April 9th article titled School Fees Could Rise.) That athletic fee should be based on the cost of the actual sport. There is nothing wrong with increasing the school fee. As long as my kids have been in this school system (9 years) it has remained the same.

The all city sing, math competition, SOS competition, and battle of the books all were "for the children" and encompassed more than just a select few. But, sadly, athletics must continue and the arts and academics must be cut!

Good to hear. Girls should get the same opportunity as boys. Boo to the people who are against this. It's for the children!!

What a great newspaper this is. I cannot wait to read the reponses to each and every article. This is a blast. Congrats to Scott and the whole Gazette family for letting us vent our frustrations,opinions, and scarcasm to the masses. Mr. Bliss deserves a Pulitzer

JCK-They can have their banquets at HHHFFFFRRRRGGGGHHHH.

NVgrf-This blog is for our opinions. Plus I said nothing against hockey, only mourning for other EDUCATIONAL programs that have been discontinued or cut.

How about the Janesville-Beloit-Clinton Cougar, Viking, Purple Knight, Trojan Cougars or the CVPKTCs for short. Oh ya, and don't forget to add Fighting in front of it. lol

tjncj-$20,000.00 is NOT for 10 Janesville girls ....it will be 4 to 5 girls ! The story states 10 girls are interested and 40 to 50% will constitute being on the team.I just DON'T get this school dis.??? All we hear about is how they need/want parents,students ,teachers TAX PAYERS to stand behind their decisions BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE BEST INTREST FOR ALL STUDENTS??? It's sounds and looks to me 4-5 students just got a windfall.Nice job guys !!! NOT

First four comments.....three are negative. So, so sad!

Total waste of money!

I personally think this is awesome. At least they are splitting the cost as well! I just think with the success of the Wisconsin women's hockey team, the more that hockey can grow for women (and men, for that matter) in Wisconsin, the better! Good luck in starting this up to all that are involved!

OK, I don't want to see one more cut to music, math competitions, Battle of the Books, cancellation of the all city sing, because they don't have the money to do it. $20,000 for ten students. If you can afford this, you can afford these other programs.

i can see it now. the new co-op. craig, parker, fort, milton, the city of madison. all to field a competitive squad. and the unintended consequences of higher taxes (or, maybe they ARE intended. whatever, but higher taxes will be inevitable.)