Hays/Lodge Pole Volleyball Set to Take the Court; Football, Cross Country in Limbo

 

August 31, 2022

Of the three sports that student athletes at Hays/Lodge Pole have typically been able to choose from in the fall, only Volleyball appears set to begin the season as scheduled. The Varsity Football season has already been canceled and hopes of playing a junior varsity schedule have dimmed due to lack of players. At last report the volleyball team included just six members and the Cross Country team was down to a single runner.

The Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds begin the 2022-23 school year with more questions than answers. The start of the school year generally comes a few weeks after student athletes have been practicing hard for the fall sports season. As of press time only volleyball appears to be set to compete this fall.

The Thunderbirds are still without an activities Director and at last report, Gemma Mount was doing the best she could to get schedules put together and seeing what could be done to potentially salvage some sort of season for the kids.

Mount had served as Activities Director for the school the past few years and is very familiar with the position as such. When the school year began and the position was yet to be filled, Mount agreed to step in and try to tie up as many loose ends as possible.

Following a busy couple of days, Mount was able to get together a volleyball schedule as there were enough girls out to form a team. The Cross Country roster numbered one and the certainty that the number would remain the same is always in doubt.

Varsity football was in trouble right from the start when no kids showed up for practice. That number eventually grew to six and Mount was hoping to get an OK from the Northern C to play a Junior Varsity campaign. Hays/Lodge Pole is part of the Eight-Man Northern C Football Division and more players would be needed to even play at the junior varsity level. The likelihood of the Thunderbirds not playing any level of football at last report almost seemed inevitable.

Cindy LaMere is on board to serve as Head Coach for the Thunderbird Volleyball team this fall and if things don't change the Thunderbirds will take to the court for the first time on Thursday, September 8 when they will travel to Chester for a double header with the Hawks.

The girls will play in front of the hometown fans for the first time two days later when they host the Box Elder Bears in their home opener on Saturday, September 10. The Thunderbirds will then hit the road again to take on the Big Sandy Pioneers on September 15 and the Fort Benton Longhorns, September 16.

Hays/Lodge Pole with be back at the Thunderdome on September 17 when they will host the Centerville Miners in another double header. September 27 has the team in Chinook to play the Sugarbeeters before returning home on September 30 for a double header against the North Star Knights.

The final stretch of the regular season begins on October 1 with the North Star Showcase. The Highwood Mountaineers will be in town on October 6. The Thunderbirds will hit the road for a match against Box Elder, October 7 before hosting the Chester/Joplin Inverness on October 13.

They will close out the regular season with a match in Centerville against the Miners on October 15. The Sugarbeeters will be in town October 18, and the season finale will take place on October 20 against the Big Sandy Pioneers at home. The District 7C Tournament will be in Fort Benton, October 27-29.

Junior Healy will lead the football team should the Thunderbirds be able to field a JV team and Natasha Doney will serve as Cross County Coach for the Thunderbirds.

 
 

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