The education boards for Gull Lake Community Schools and the Parchment School District approved a plan Monday night to let Gull Lake varsity football players play for Parchment this season.
This comes after Gull Lake Community Schools cancelled its varsity football season due to a lack of players last week, coming amid a still ongoing investigation by the Michigan State Police into an alleged assault involving members of its varsity football team.
When Parchment School District athletics director Brennan Davis heard about the cancellation, he said he immediately reached out with an idea: Why not have those students play for the Panthers?
After both schools' boards approved the one-year cooperative agreement, Davis passed the news onto Parchment's community, letting them know how it would work.
"We are the host school. We are just providing an opportunity for those kids to participate in varsity football that were going to participate at Gull Lake. So, everything would be through Parchment. We would play one game at Gull Lake."
He added that the agreement would only allow Gull Lake students to hit the field if they are not involved in the state police's investigation.
"It's for the kids that didn't do anything — or that are not under investigation. And then, if they happen to go under investigation, they will be removed while under investigation," Davis said.
"We want to make this a positive experience for our kids. And I can say the most resilient people in this entire situation are the kids. I know our kids are extremely excited to have more teammates."
Davis said that while having Gull Lake players join the Panthers might be a challenge, it will also provide a learning opportunity.
“That's what educational athletics is all about. You're going to get put in situations in your life that you're going to struggle with then you're going to have to figure out a way to get the job done.”
He explained that the plan could also benefit Parchment's junior varsity team, which had games at risk due to lack of players.
"This allows us to take our freshman and sophomores and maybe some of our less experienced juniors and allow them to play more on the JV. Whereas before they were forced into potentially starting roles on the varsity and they just— they weren't ready for it."
But the plan still needs approval from the Michigan High School Athletic Association, which will make a decision on Wednesday.
In an statement on the district's website, Gull Lake Superintendent Drew Bordner announced the cooperative agreement, along with an update on MSP's investigation.
"The Michigan State Police has also launched a criminal investigation, and we are cooperating fully with their review and will continue to do so. We have accepted the resignation of our varsity head football coach," Bordner said.
"We are reviewing all district policies and procedures regarding student-athlete conduct off school grounds, supervision requirements, and potential updates to training and professional development to help ensure that an incident like this does not occur again."
