The times they are a-chaingin’, as Bob Dylan once sang.

For student athletes at Annawan and Wethersfield high schools they have been changing for years, and they are about to change again.

Members of the Wethersfield Board of Education heard at their April meeting what coaches thought about a proposed co-op of high school girls basketball with Annawan.

MORE: Wethersfield invites Annawan players but holds off on full basketball co-op

Annawan cancelled its girls basketball schedule last year due to lack of interest and has asked Wethersfield, their longstanding co-op partner in fall and spring sports, if they would be interested in merging the Bravettes and Lady Geese into the Titans, the co-op team name.

The Wethersfield board, at its March meeting, discussed the results of a survey of parents and students in the district which broadly indicated a favorable opinion toward the existing Annawan-Wethersfield co-op, but were receptive to a girls basketball co-op team only if Wethersfield’s numbers were declining.

Girls varsity coach Todd Hanson, junior varsity coach Jessica Shipley and junior high coach Joey Shipley and assistance coach Blaire Morey all expressed the opinion that although Wethersfield’s numbers were high this year, with the team reaching the Elite 8 in the state tournament, interest here, as in Annawan, is waning among girls who want to play basketball in the fifth through eighth grades.

“It needs to happen,” was the first comment of Coach Hanson, who was recently named IBCA District 11 Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season. All of the coaches said they see dwindling numbers coming up in those classes.

Local expectations for girls high school basketball, once highest in participation numbers nationwide, are reflected in national surveys which indicate a gradual decline and now ranks it fourth in participation in girls sports behind track and field, volleyball and soccer.

The coaches said girls from the two schools are already on the same teams in softball, track, cross country and golf and often “hang out together,” a relationship which developed over the 20 years since the two schools formed a co-op to deal with declining numbers in baseball, softball and track in 2006.

In 2008, the A-W Titans football co-op was formed for the same reason. At the present time, only girls volleyball, and boys and girls basketball play independently as Flying Geese at Wethersfield.

The board decided to propose that Wethersfield girls continue as the Lady Geese in 2026-2027, allowing the Annawan girls who wish to play basketball to be on the team, and forming a Titans co-op team for seventh and eighth graders from both schools. The following year the high school team would become the Lady Titans.

The counterproposal now goes to the Annawan School Board for its consideration.

The board also recognized the post-season accomplishments of the seventh grade and eighth grade volleyball teams.

Athletic Director Tom McGunnigal introduced players of both teams stating that the seventh-grade girls were regular season champions of the Lincoln Trail Conference finishing with a 24-1 record. The team then won the Wethersfield Regional, the Seneca Sectional, and lost to the eventual state champion Morrisonville in the Brimfield Supersectional.

The eighth-grade team placed third in the conference in the regular season, finishing with a 19-6 overall record. They then won the Wethersfield Regional and the Seneca Sectional, losing to Green Valley Midwest Central at the Auburn Supersectional.

In action on personnel, the board approved the employment of Rachel Preston as junior high Social Studies teacher, and Blaire Morey as junior high assistant track volunteer.

The board also approved the resignations of Paul Alepra as eighth grade boys basketball coach, and Heidi Merrick as Special Education sponsor/all roles.

Tenured contracts for the 2026-2027 school year were approved for Adriana Garcia (Spanish), Bartholomew Frey (high school science and math) and Erin Wyffela (elementary teacher).

Non-tenured contracts were approved for Kyle Galli (physical education), Marinna Ponce (elementary), and Zachary Bush (math).