NCC or Top of Iowa Conference? Many opinions, both for and against, on conference switch

Part 2 of 2

Now that we’ve laid out the history and the background on the petition, it’s time to ask opinions over a cross-section of both district patrons and several student-athletes. Of the questions sent out, responses came back both in favor of going back and also in favor of staying where we are. Again, that was our intention; to present both sides, without taking a stance either way, and let you decide where you stand.

“Mark and I have always been on the NCC side of this issue,” said Ann Sampson. “We were against the move in the first place.” The Sampson’s triplet daughters, Hannah, Kaitlin and Megan, will be seniors next fall. “I believe that the reason for moving was so we as a small school could be more competitive. All this move has done is to make the commute to and from games way longer, and we are playing harder (to beat) teams!”

She went on to say that both of them have been fortunate in being able to set their work schedules around the kid’s sports schedules so they can be at all of the games, but it has been difficult. “When we get there (away games) the stands were sparse with fans,” said Ann. “Many times it was us and two or three more parents cheering on the girls sports. This definitely hinders the girls’ mindset knowing that their parents won’t be there to cheer them on.”

She feels the move to the TOI has made it way harder, to almost impossible, for parents to go to away games because of how far away they are and how late they will get back. “Away games are one to 1 3/4 hours away,” said Ann. “The kids are having to get out of class as early as 1:30 p.m., missing many valuable hours of class instructional time with their teacher! When games get done at 9:00 to 9:15 p.m., many times the kids don’t get home until 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. and sometimes as late as 11:30 when there are overtimes or bad roads! Then they have to start doing homework! This has not been good for the student!”

She explains that she knows her three daughters stress with every away game because of missing classes and getting home very late, doing homework and getting to sleep very late. “Most of their homework these days is done online with their computer, and there isn’t any wifi on the bus,” said Ann. “Leaving at 1:30 to 2:00 and then returning at 10:30 to 11:00 is resulting in as long of a time away from school for travel and games than they are actually in school for instruction!”

When it comes to the reasoning for the move being that we would be on a more level playing field, she feels someone didn’t do their homework on that. “We joined a conference that has more bigger players, more athletes and better teams than us,” said Ann. “TOI has more teams that have moved on in postseason games than ever before. Some of the teams are ranked! We have always told our girls to play as hard as they can for all four quarters. They have continued to do the best they can against teams that are considerably better with way more players and better skilled and coached players. But as the season goes on, it gets harder and harder to keep their chins up and to stay positive.”

She also mentioned how opposing teams acted during several of the games. “The opponents were mean and rude on the court, pushing, shoving, swearing and laughing at our team while playing the game,” said Ann. “I’m all for aggressive play, but many of the teams and coaches were very unsportsmanlike. We may have had some rivalries with the schools we played around here in the NCC, but it wasn’t ever to the point it is today with the TOI teams.”

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