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"The bottom line here is that next year we will have kids playing at the JV level representing our school," said Lewis Mills Athletic Coordinator David Tanner after the board's decision.
Currently, students enrolled at Lewis Mills have the option of playing football in a co-op with St. Paul's Catholic High School in Bristol and Goodwin Tech in New Britain, an arrangement that has existed since 2005. Home games are played at Muzzy Field in Bristol, with no games played in Burlington.
The decision came after Tanner gave a presentation detailing the program, which was discussed by board members and members of the community before they voted to approve the program.
Under the program, Lewis Mills will play all of its games away since the high school does not yet have an adequate facility for football. This was a potential problem for board member Paul Omichiniski.
Omichiniski estimates that a new facility and an upgrade to the locker rooms to hold the equipment could cost more than $1 million.
Board Chairman Beth Duffy didn't see the lack of a football facility as a reason to deny the program.
"We currently have sports here, such as swimming and crew, that do not compete on campus," Duffy said. "We pay to use other facilities. There are potentially other options out there."
Board member Elaine Schiavone had a problem voting in favor of the program because of the risk of injury to the athletes.
"I did research on the Internet," Schiavone said. "Concussions in football are 2-to-1 over any other sport."
Tanner argued there are injuries in all sports and mentioned soccer as a sport with a high rate of injury. By educating the athletes, coaches and trainers, Tanner believes injuries would be kept to a minimum.
Burlington resident John Bergstrom, one of the backers of the program, spoke passionately before the board about bringing football to Lewis Mills.
"The reason I'm here is because I gained so much from playing high school football," Bergstrom said. "There is a group of us who would like to see a football team here. We're just looking for an opportunity to make this program successful."
To afford the football program there will be cost-sharing in place from parent contributions, annual fundraisers, donations from the booster club and the Region 10 school board. The program will be reviewed annually.
The St. Paul-Goodwin Tech-Lewis Mills co-op is 1-8 this season with one varsity game remaining at home against Wilcox Tech.
Walt Gogolya can be reached by e-mail at newhartford@registercitizen.com.
