Holdrege High School announced Tuesday morning their plans to consolidate the softball program with Adams Central starting with the 2022 fall season. The agreement is set in place for the next two years. The current deal would allow both schools to keep their softball programs going strong despite smaller participation that’s been predicted over the next couple of years.
While not all of the details are in place, the agreement has been carefully thought out and planned by Holdrege AD Dylan Sullivan and officials at Adams Central. Sullivan discussed plans to make practice schedules and home games as fair as possible to both schools. The plan is to split the schedules up in order to evenly distribute travel time for each school.
A few months ago, the Holdrege Activities Committee expressed concerns over player shortages in the near future. Sullivan does recognize that the distance is not ideal, and Holdrege reached out to closer schools in the area. However, their enrollment sizes would have put already existing sports at risk. The need for athlete participation, along with the fact that both schools have strong desires to continue their softball programs, has made this a viable solution.
The larger participation numbers will also give both schools the opportunity to field JV teams. Sullivan said this will give more athletes a chance to see playing time.
Holdrege will be the lead the school in this consolidation keeping current Duster Head Coach Jason Hale at the helm next season. The team name and mascot have not yet been determined.
