by Heidi L. Everett
news@thenewsleaders.com
When Apollo High School fans take to the stands to cheer on their favorite teams this year, they’ll have more than just the Eagles; they’ll also have St. Cloud Crush.
The District 742 Board of Education voted at its July 21 meeting to create five co-op teams between Apollo and Tech high schools because of low participation numbers. St. Cloud Crush will include girls tennis, basketball and softball as well as boys tennis and baseball.
“At this time, we do not have enough participants to make a ninth, JV and varsity team,” explained Laurie Putnam, assistant superintendent for secondary schools. “When that happens we have to make a choice between eliminating one of those levels of play or bringing up middle level students.”
By creating co-op teams, the district is able to provide opportunities for all students safely and successfully because students can play at the appropriate level and build skills through three levels of teams that match conference play, Putnam said.
Some of the St. Cloud Crush teams were already combined with other districts, like boys tennis which has been combined with Sauk Rapids.
“We want to co-op with our sister school, Tech High School, rather than another school outside of the district,” Putnam said. “This allows us to put strategies in place to build our own programs with the intent and expectation we will soon have enough participants to host teams at both Apollo and Tech.”
Strategies to build participation include access to transportation for student athletes as well as promotion and exposure to activities at younger grades and through community education.
Additional strategies under consideration include on-site physicals at the high school.
“All activities – not just sports – are vital to a well-rounded education, growth and development, and feelings of belonging and community,” Putnam said.
The name St. Cloud Crush ties to the history of the “granite city.” Uniforms will be accented with blue and orange on black or white to represent Apollo and Tech high schools.
The name, colors and uniform design were finalized after significant feedback through social media platforms as well as six hours of deliberation to reach consensus among student athletes, families, coaches, community members and a professional branding company.
While the logo is still under development, uniforms for this fall will sport the name Crush.
Gymnastics, which has been a co-op team between Apollo and Tech, will also be rebranded to St. Cloud Crush.
At this time, the Nordic ski team will continue to co-op with Sauk Rapids-Rice School District.
“If there is a change in numbers in the future, now we have a unified process set up and a way to co-op teams,” said Alex Badger, Apollo activities director. “Before it was more helter-skelter. Teams did their best to make the most of a situation.”
“Having a common identity feels really good,” Putnam said. “Students will feel they belong to a team no matter what hallway they walk down for high school.”
