Nebo athletics feeling growing pains

As many schools and districts have discovered over the years, athletics are not immune from growing pains.

And for the next few years at least, the high schools and the athletic squads in Nebo School District might be hurting a little with the opening next year of Salem Hills High and the opening the year after of Maple Mountain High. Basically, the same number of students now attending the district's three high schools and participating in sports at those schools will be divided into five high schools.

Such a division obviously requires tough decisions by everyone involved, a load of preparation, many adjustments and plenty of anxiety — especially from the athletic side of things. Next year alone, Payson and Spanish Fork are going to lose about 500 students each, and a relative number of teachers will go along with them. Spanish Fork will lose another 300 students when Maple Mountain opens.

"I think the transition is tough on everyone involved, honestly," Spanish Fork principal Dave McKee said. "We're trying to balance schools and programs with kids, and what's best for them, and that balance is tough because everyone is not going to get their way."

Payson principal Bart Perry agrees that the challenge is inevitable, but doable.

"We're really kind of in a bad spot, and it's a tough situation," Peery said. "It's kind of been a blow to our spirits to some extent, but we plan to do our best to compete and move on."

Anticipating the challenge and some of the controversy that goes along with opening new schools, Nebo officials have been working for more than a year with principals, coaches and athletic directors district wide in ironing out kinks and in developing policies that they believe will make the transition as smooth and as fair as possible.

"There really is not one right way to do this," Nebo director of athletics Everett Kelepolo said. "Every district in this situation has handled it differently. But we're doing what we think is going to get everyone through this process in the best situation possible."

Nebo director of secondary education Scott Wilson added: "We've tried to use a way that is fair to the schools but as kid-friendly as we could find. Are there going to be problems? Probably. But we also found out that if we went another direction that there would be problems with that as well."