NEDERLAND — Marked by vitriolic lows, progressive highs and a small group of passionate people fighting one uphill battle after another, the past year has been potentially the most eventful period in the history of the football program at Nederland High School.
Last summer, the Panthers hired Beth Buglione as the first female head football coach in Colorado preps history. Despite the momentous hiring, Buglione took over a contentious eight-man football program embattled by low numbers and public outcry stemming from the administration’s decision following the 2016 season not to renew the contract of former football coach Aaron Jones, who had coached the Panthers for over a decade.
Now, with the struggling program proving to be increasingly unsustainable for the small mountain school, the future of Nederland Panthers football itself is very much in question.
A committee was formed to review the school’s athletic and activity offerings, and recommended the school focus solely on boys soccer in lieu of football. On Wednesday evening, Nederland held a public meeting to give families and community members a final opportunity to voice their opinions about which sports the school should offer next fall to principal Carrie Yantzer before she makes a decision on whether or not to continue football at Nederland within the following week.
Led by athletic director Rick Elertson, the meeting was attended by roughly 30 people and lasted for about 90 minutes. The discussion centered around dwindling participation in the school’s athletic programs and how to play a numbers game in order to keep them afloat with at least one team sport for boys to play in the fall. It appears that Nederland fielding a soccer team instead of a football team for the 2018-20 two-year cycle is the most likely outcome.
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