Like most other high schools, Newtown student athletes take pride in their competition and sportsmanship. Despite offering a wide array of athletic opportunities, as a CIAC member school Newtown can only offer sports that CIAC governs. There are many high schools in the country that are expanding their sports to offer much more than usual. When people think of high school sports they think of Friday night lights and packed basketball gyms. \While those are definitely popular, many students are thriving in a variety of different sporting activities. Fifteen schools in New York City will be competing in double dutch jump rope competitions this spring. This makes so much sense, not everyone grows up playing soccer or basketball in New York City. There are many kids that play double dutch and are very good at it. There are so many opportunities around the country that enable athletes to find athletic successes in sports that they enjoy. For example, in the West, bass fishing has lured many high school students into competing. Nine Public high schools from these states (GA, IL, KY, LA, MI, MS, MO, NH, VT), have Bass Fishing programs who will start competing around late March.
There are also opportunities for students in wheelchairs that can compare to any popular sport. Wheelchair basketball has been introduced and is played in 17 states and will soon be expanding to more states. This gives differently able high school students a chance to show their pride for their school and compete in something they are skilled in. Students here at Newtown High school believe that there should be more abnormal sports offered here.
“Oh my God, Pickleball definitely. I would have done that for my capstone but it was too late. But yes it would so for sure be pickleball because it is so fun for all ages, oh maybe there can be a teachers and students decision or something like that that would be sick ,just because all age groups can play it, but ya definitely pickleball would be sick,” NHS senior CJ St. Louis said.
There is only one pickleball league in high school sports; located in Florida, and includes only a few schools. Here at Newtown high school there are more clubs than actual teams. NHS offers a fencing club,ski club and ultimate frisbee club, not CIAC sanctioned teams. “To me, the ski team gives me a really great opportunity to connect with people from other schools that enjoy the sport as much as me. It’s also really helpful because people that haven’t ever formally raced are able to learn and work on getting better.” NHS junior Taylor LeRow said.
Newtown High is considering leagues for some of these abstract teams so that students that want to join these teams can compete against other schools. According to the NHS Athletic Director Matt Memoli, students often propose new sports.
“My latest proposition that I had is girls flags football coming from former football coaches. There is an ultimate frisbee which is run by a teacher at NHS and a fencing club has also been brought into the mix .The next two sports I would say is equestrian and rowing but the interest is not significant. The numbers and the participation has to be up there for funding purposes. Some people don’t take that into consideration. It is very hard to get funding with low numbers to start a new program, but students are always willing to fight for new sport offerings at NHS,” Memoli said.
These sports are very welcoming and great for any student who wants to join
“The community is really positive and accepting. The feeling of catching the disk in the end zone is really satisfying. Lastly the people actually throw to you even if you're bad,” NHS Sophomore Max Taylor said.
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