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I have noticed in the 7AA thread that Duluth Marshall is down to 20 players, with no JV. I know that Rochester Lourdes also does not a JV term this year. Meanwhile, it may shock some to learn that my Breck Mustangs are down to 31 players in the program, and are struggling to field a JV squad. (I’m sure many people are not crying for these private schools, but these are just situations with which I am familiar.)

This prompted me to wonder - what are some other programs that are struggling with numbers, or are facing such problems in the near future?

Tartan is the one school I'm familiar with I just compared numbers from now and 2004. Its been a slow but steady decline in numbers since about then. Still enough to field a varsity and JV for a bit but seems to be following North St. Pauls path

Now- 6 mite/mini mite teams, 30 squirts, 25 peewees, 38 bantams

2004- 14 mite/mini mite teams 87 squirts 69 peewees 68 bantams

Lake of the woods
Hallock
Red lake falls
Crookston
Barley
Walker

elliott70 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 26, 2019 7:15 pm Lake of the woods
Hallock
Red lake falls
Crookston
Barley
Walker

All very true, and it’s amazing that some of those places (especially like LotW) are able put teams on the ice.

I guess I was looking for less obvious examples, but those certainly qualify

Moose Lake Area.

One of the smallest programs in the state. They are consistently fielding a team with 12 or fewer players. I have seen them play. One thing is they never stop playing. Pretty amazing.

Duluth News Tribune did a story on them and Ely a few years back. Hat's off to their coaches.

Wow, those Tartan numbers are not good.

Without knowing anything in particular about their situation, I'd hope some dedicate folks could promote the game at the mite level to slowly rebuild.

Looks like North St. Paul and Tartan are headed to a cooperative.

greenwayraider wrote: ↑Mon Dec 02, 2019 9:41 pm Looks like North St. Paul and Tartan are headed to a cooperative.

NSP’s current cooperative with Minnehaha is a weird geographic combination. It’s weird that they play with Johnson at the youth level, but not high school. Tartan certainly makes more sense than Minnehaha.

Stang5280 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:02 pm

greenwayraider wrote: ↑Mon Dec 02, 2019 9:41 pm Looks like North St. Paul and Tartan are headed to a cooperative.

NSP’s current cooperative with Minnehaha is a weird geographic combination. It’s weird that they play with Johnson at the youth level, but not high school. Tartan certainly makes more sense than Minnehaha.

There was a point back in the 90's-00's where Como was co-opped with Highland and Central, so them going back to that and NSP co-opping with Johnson might make some sense, although I'm sure the St. Paul school district would probably not choose that if they get a say in it.

The reason I said Tartan is because they are in the school district. Much like Armstrong/Cooper.

How long has NSP co-oped with M'haha?

I didn't even realize it until about a week ago. Though it's not like NSP has been on my radar for some time now.

East Side Pioneer Guy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 5:48 pm How long has NSP co-oped with M'haha?

I didn't even realize it until about a week ago. Though it's not like NSP has been on my radar for some time now.

This is the first season. I think most of us are in the same boat about not realizing the co-op situation until recently. I looked it up, and NSP had two seasons at or above.500 prior to the bottom falling out at 1-23-1 last year.