The number of Big 30 area schools fielding a varsity football team is poised to decline by one more next fall, while another school prepares to play a smaller version of the sport.
Cuba-Rushford, the Times Herald has learned, is ending its football program amid declining participation in the sport and plans to join Portville’s team under a cooperative agreement between the school districts. Hinsdale students, who in recent seasons also played for Cuba-Rushford, will also have the option to join the Panthers.
The agreement would see the Panthers retain their team identity and play home games in Portville.
According to publicly posted school board of education meeting minutes, both Portville and Cuba-Rushford boards passed motions to allow the merger at Feb. 7 meetings and have also received sectional approval.
— Allegany-Limestone, facing its own issues with roster turnout, plans to play eight-man football — the same sport with fewer players on a slightly smaller field — joining Wellsville and Bolivar-Richburg, which both joined the growing ranks of small schools turning to this option the last two seasons in Section 5. In 2023 league alignments released by Section 6, Frewsburg and A-L were the only schools listed under 8-Man Football, so the section is unable to hold its own eight-man league.
Both schools are awaiting approval from Section 5 to play with the six teams currently listed in its section to play eight-man: Wellsville, Bolivar-Richburg, Holley, Pembroke, Red Jacket, C.G. Finney/Northstar Christian.
— Portville is set to play in Class C next season, moving up from Class D. Listed by Section 6 in the C South division are Salamanca, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove, Fredonia, Southwestern, Silver Creek/Forestville, Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton.
Meanwhile, some parents in the Cuba-Rushford district aren’t letting the proposed merger happen without a fight.
In a public Facebook post, Ashley Hunt, a “football mom and a taxpayer,” claimed the Feb. 7 decision to merge the football program was voted on without any transparency to parents, students or community members.
Hunt wrote that she spoke with Carlos Gildemeister, superintendent of schools, the day after the February board meeting and was told discussions about the football program had been happening for over a year.
Hunt also created a petition on change.org for the school board to reconsider the merger.
“We, the parents, students and community members of the Cuba-Rushford School District petition the school board to have a re-vote on the decision to merge the football program with Portville Central School,” the petition reads. More than 30 had signed it as of Friday afternoon.
“It’s not fair to the kids or the parents,” wrote one person who signed.
— Section 6 Class B will again have three divisions: B1, B2 and B3. Olean is set to play in B3 and Pioneer in B1. Section 6 Class D football is set to include Franklinville/Ellicottville, Cattaraugus-Little Valley, Randolph, Clymer/Sherman/Panama, Wilson and Gowanda/Pine Valley.
Full 2023 football league alignments are listed below:
SECTION 5 FOOTBALL Class AA: McQuaid, Aquinas, University Prep, Edison/SOTA/EC/Franklin/NENW/SWW, Pittsford, Fairport, Rush-Henrietta, Penfield, Hilton Class A: Victor, Webster Thomas, Webster Schroeder, Brighton, Irondequoit, Churchville-Chili, Gates Chili, Spencerport, Canandaigua, Greece Arcadia, East/WOIS, Greece Athena, Wilson Magnet, Brockport, Eastridge Class B: Monroe, Vertus Charter, Bishop Kearney/Rochester Prep, Geneva, Honeoye Falls-Lima, Wayne, Batavia, Palmyra-Macedon, Dansville/Wayland-Cohocton Class C: Livonia, Penn Yan/Dundee, Hornell, Haverling, Letchworth/Warsaw, Lyons/Sodus, ER/Gananda, Attica, LeRoy Class D: Caledonia-Mumford/Byron-Bergen, Canisteo-Greenwood, York/Pavilion, Oakfield-Alabama/Elba, Avon, Geneseo, Alexander, Notre Dame Batavia 8-Man: Wellsville, Holley, Pembroke, Bolivar-Richburg, Red Jacket, C.G. Finney/Northstar Christian Independent: Greece Olympia/Odyssey, Newark/Marion, Waterloo, Mynderse, Midlakes, Marcus Whitman/Bloomfield, Clyde-Savannah, South Seneca
SECTION 6 FOOTBALL Class AA: Hutch Tech, Bennett, Niagara Falls, Lancaster, Jamestown, Orchard Park, Frontier Class A1: Lockport, Williamsville North, Clarence, Niagara-Wheatfield, McKinley, West Seneca West, Kenmore West Class A2: Sweet Home, North Tonawanda, Hamburg, Williamsville East, Starpoint, Grand Island Class B1: West Seneca East, Health Sciences/Global Concepts/Buffalo Academy of Science, Cheektowaga, Pioneer, South Park, Amherst, Williamsville South, Kenmore East Class B2: Maryvale, Iroquois, Dunkirk, Albion, Lake Shore, Burgard, Lewiston-Porter Class B3: East Aurora/Holland, Olean, Lackawanna, Tonawanda, Depew, Springville, Alden, WNY Maritime/Tapestry Class C North: Roy-Hart/Barker, Medina, Akron, Eden/North Collins, Newfane, Cleveland Hill, JFK C South: Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove, Fredonia, Southwestern, Salamanca, Portville, Silver Creek/Forestville, Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton Class D: Gowanda/Pine Valley, Wilson, Randolph, Franklinville/Ellicottville, Cattaraugus Little Valley, Clymer/Sherman/Panama 8-Man: Allegany-Limestone, Frewsburg
