Kansas high school forfeits its entire 2024 varsity football season

High School situated in Osawatomie Kansas, near Kansas City Missouri informed its community via its Facebook page towards the end of last week that it has had to cancel the whole of the 2024 varisty football season. 
 
Arlington High School said that they did not have enough players to support a varsity and a junior varsity team; or have an adequate population of upperclassman and therefore, opted to forfeit the varsity year group. However after consultation with district officials the school agreed it would only be able to schedule a JV/C program. From previous information the Trojans were to play their first varsity game this coming Friday against Prairie View. 
 
“Players and students safety comes first of all In basketball most of the time due to the large number of players We had to give a forfeit on Varsity or JV schedule We could not do both,” mentioned by Osawatomie Superintendent, Greg Clark in the post. 
 
I believe Clark has suggested that the future could see seeking of mere ways to sustain legacy events such as homecoming while avoiding unnecessary endangerment of young players who are placed in situations where they are competing with players older, bigger, and stronger than them. 
 
Lastly, Clark said they were compelled by multiple emails and phone calls from parents raising the same concern: “However, this is a good time to work on the strength and physical safety of these young players,” Clark added. " 
 
In his information, Clark points out that this season the Trojans are to have five JV games. 
 
“We know well that this is not a decision that is going to win popularity contests”, he concluded. “Please be advised this was not the decision of the moment, hours were spent discussing this issue and the outcome indicated if more outings could have involved the upper classes, things might not be this way but we respect our students and their decision are of their own freewill . ” 
 
Osawatomie has not registered a single victory in the last two seasons and its record in the varsity level football stands at zero and nine with the only win having been against Baldwin on 22nd October 2021. The Trojans won 7 out of 10 games in 2015, however, they have only managed to secure only 8 wins and 65 losses in the rest of the games with three of those seasons without any win at all.