NR-S and Maddock forge forward with football co-op

Major changes are on the way for Rocket football in 2023.

At the NR-S School Board's regular meeting on August 8, board members discussed, at length, a draft football co-op agreement between NR-S and Maddock Public School (MPS).

That discussion ended with unanimous approval of the agreement by NR-S board members, sending the co-op proposal to Maddock's administrators for their approval or disapproval.

MPS Athletic Director, Shannon Louder, told the Transcript on Aug. 29 that they've also now signed off on the agreement, which will take effect in 2023 and replaces their previous and long-standing football co-op with Leeds.

The agreement was drafted in consultation with MPS after Louder first approached NR-S about a potential co-op back in June.

When asked by NR-S board members why Maddock is pursuing a new co-op, Louder, who attended their Aug. 8 meeting via Zoom, said, "Within the next couple of years we're down to five or six boys per class, and two or three of them playing.

"So together our co-op is just struggling really bad. ... We're kind of to the point that we need to separate ways with Leeds to try to just get our boys involved."

NR-S Athletic Director and head football coach, Elliott Belquist, made it clear to the NR-S board that he fully supports the co-op.

"We are interested in taking them on," he said at the Aug. 8 meeting. "After talking to them and having meetings with them, we feel like we'd be a good fit."

Belquist went on to discuss the co-op's benefits with board members, such as an increase of upperclassmen and talent to the roster, and increased fan attendance.

It will also improve safety for younger athletes, he said, who would no longer be needed to play varsity against older, and oftentimes much larger, opponents.

But the board discussed potential negatives as well, which would essentially be the loss of a home game or two for varsity and junior varsity football, they determined.

The version of the agreement approved by the NR-S school board gives the NR-S athletic director authority to schedule games and practices, but adds, "In the spirit of consolidation and cooperation, the NRS District will make every attempt to ensure that all parties engaged in this cooperative, specifically players and their fans, feel included and supported."

Belquist added, however, that Maddock's inclusion would virtually ensure a full junior high and junior varsity schedule, something NR-S can't currently manage on its own.

The end result, therefore, would effectively mean more home games over the course of a season thanks to full schedules for the entire football program, he said.

He went on to suggest that the impact this co-op would have on junior varsity and junior high football at NR-S may be the agreement's most crucial benefit.

"That's a lot of playing time these kids are missing out on," he said on junior varsity football this year, "and that's how you're gonna build a program to be better, by playing those games."

Belquist also told the board he has no interest in a co-op that bumps NR-S to an 11-man football division, and has therefore added a section in the agreement that makes the co-op null and void if, at any point, enrollment numbers would require a change of division.

NR-S board members were unanimous in their approval of the proposed co-op, as the room collectively noted the importance of ensuring that kids in the region continue having an opportunity to play football.

The agreement approved by the NR-S board also stipulates the team's identity will continue to be the New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets, and that NR-S reserves the right to hire and assign football coaches.

However, MPS Superintendent Ben Allmaras informed the Transcript on Aug. 30 that a couple of the agreement's terms - such as changing the team's name to "New Rockford-Sheyenne Maddock Rockets," and whether Maddock's season passes will be honored at home games in New Rockford - are still being considered.

NR-S Superintendent Jill Louters confirmed with the Transcript Wednesday that these terms will be discussed at the NR-S board's regular meeting on Sept. 12 - three days before the NDHSAA (North Dakota High School Activities Association) deadline for new co-op agreements on Sept. 15.

Though both parties have agreed to move forward with the co-op, Louters said paperwork must still be finalized with the NDHSAA before it becomes official. The Transcript will report any changes to the agreement following the Sept. 12 meeting.

A copy of the co-op agreement as it currently stands, which was supplied by NR-S Superintendent Jill Louters on Aug. 9, is available to view here:

https://www.newrockfordtranscript.com/home/cms_data/dfault/pdfs/misc/2022-09-05.pdf.