As families may be aware, the Fayetteville-Manlius School District will not be fielding freshman sports teams for boys and girls soccer or girls volleyball for the 2024-25 school year. This decision was not made lightly, and we understand that some parents/guardians and students may be upset because of the change.
Over the years, the number of schools within the Salt City Athletic Conference (SCAC) offering freshman sports teams has decreased. This coming school year, F-M was one of only two districts planning to offer freshman soccer teams. This knowledge prompted F-M Athletic Director Dr. Scott Sugar to meet with coaches to brainstorm options, which included attempting to persuade other schools to add freshman teams.
“This is not a change we can make by ourselves and we need other schools to join us so we have a platform to develop a schedule of games,” explained Dr. Sugar.
Unfortunately, with only two districts on board, it was decided that fielding freshman teams this year wouldn’t make sense, as student-athletes would play the same opponent 10-12 times.
“Moving forward we will continue to discuss creative options with league and section schools along with our varsity coaches to increase opportunities for all student-athletes,” said Dr. Sugar.
Several options are being considered for next school year, including creating both a 7th grade division and a division for 8th and 9th graders combined. This year, all freshman students will have the opportunity to try out for the junior varsity teams. Sport participation is very high at F-M, so please be aware that cuts may be necessary depending on the number of students who try out for any given team.