Wethersfield’s girls basketball team recently completed the most successful season in school history, breathing the rarified air of the Elite 8 in state playoffs.
At the same time, the Board of Education has been trying to find a way to help Annawan, its longtime co-op partner in fall and spring sports, where the bottom has fallen out of the school’s vaunted girls basketball program.
Since the inception of Title IX in the early 70s, such players as Lisa and Lynette Robinson and Celine Van Hyfte made the Bravettes a source of community pride and consistent success on the basketball court.
Last fall, Annawan surprised many by cancelling its girls basketball schedule before it started since there were not enough girls to make a team.
Now, looking forward to the 2026-27 basketball season, Annawan Superintendent Jamie Bryan has sent a proposal to the Wethersfield Board of Education to add girls basketball to the list of sports already co-opted, including football, cross country, golf, baseball, softball and track.
The ramifications of such an arrangement and how Wethersfield parents and students would feel about changing the Lady Geese to the Lady Titans, the co-op’s team name, has been a topic of lengthy discussions at the last two board meetings, including this month’s session.
It was decided last month that parents and students should be surveyed to see what they thought of the proposal.
The results of those surveys were released at last week’s meeting with 133 responses from parents, including 72 comments, and 221 responses from students.
A majority of the parents felt the board should pursue a co-op only if Wethersfield’s participation numbers are insufficient to field a team independently. This year the Lady Geese fielded 18 players, while only “2 or 3” Annawan girls have reportedly indicated they would play on a co-op team next year.
While most students, including those who have played on both co-op and independent teams, had a favorable view of the co-op overall, many favored a balanced approach that keeps Wethersfield programs when participation allows.
After discussing the surveys and subsequent options, the board decided to keep the high school girls basketball program independent for now while looking into numbers in fifth through eighth grades to see if interest is there to sustain teams on the high school level down the road.
In the meantime, Wethersfield will invite Annawan girls to play on the Wethersfield team. One board member had heard that there were some Annawan girls “who just want to play basketball.”
It turns out that what has happened in Annawan is part of a national decline in interest in girls’ high school basketball.
From 1979 to 2008, girls basketball was the top sport in participation for girls, according to National Federation of High School Associations Participation Survey data. In 2009, track and field took over the top spot. In 2015, girls basketball slid to third behind track and field and volleyball, respectively, and, in 2022, soccer moved into the No. 3 spot and pushed basketball down one notch.
The data showed that from 2000 to 2025, girls basketball participation declined by at least 21% nationwide with many more teams unable to field a frosh-soph team in 2024-25.
Annual surveys by the National Sporting Goods Association generally corroborate the federation survey and indicate a far greater decrease in overall basketball participation for girls ages 12-17 by 45% from 2001 to 2024.
The list of the top 10 states with the biggest declines – between 30 and 40% – did not, however, include Illinois.
In other business…
The board approved a quote of $6,000 from Correct Digital Displays for wireless connections to new shot clocks recently installed in the high school and junior high gyms.
Elementary Principal Kyle Dennison reported that the school applied for and received a $10,000 grant to replace worn out chairs.
Junior/Senior High School Principal Tyler Nichols reported that the Wethersfield Education Association’s recent trivia night raised $6,000 for a fund which awards three scholarships each year to graduating seniors.
Dr. Brooks presented a certificate of recognition to board member Dan Bryan from the Illinois State Board of Education’s Board Leader Recognition Program. The program recognizes school board members for the time and effort they devote to learning and leadership activities provided by the IASB, as well as for service to the public education community. Bryan, immediate past president of the board, received Established recognition, the highest of four levels in which board members were honored in 2025.
The board approved resignations from Steven Stoner as high school Scholastic Bowl coach, and Charlie Gibbons as junior high Social Studies teacher.
Tammy Anders was approved as volunteer Color Guard coach.
