Jamestown School Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker addresses Jamestown School Board (January 24, 2023)

Jamestown Public Schools will have two new sports team offerings this Spring.

The Jamestown School Board approved the creation of a Unified Basketball team and a Girls Flag Football team at its meeting Tuesday.

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said the Unified Basketball team is aimed at promoting social inclusion for special education students. He said unified sports has been a “growing phenomenon” in the last several years, “Basketball, I think, might have been one of the first, possibly track and field. But over the course of the last several years, it’s grown in popularity and interest. And so, Ben Drake, in conversation with other Section VI athletic directors saw that there was an opportunity for us to have competition and to begin this program. So, we wanted to make sure we gave kids the opportunity to participate in sports no matter what their developmental level as opposed to their age.”

Whitaker said students approached the District about creating the Girls Flag Football team, “Our students came forward and said, ‘Hey, why can’t we have a flag football team? There are other teams around.’ So, Ben Drake, our athletic director said, ‘If you can get enough people, we’ll get it done.’ So, that’s the process. We have a number of other teams who are interested in playing. It’s a very popular sport that’s growing in popularity. And I know, I’ve spoken to a number of superintendents who are interested in starting teams. And so I would anticipate we will have both local and sectional competition.”

Both team sports will be added for the Spring 2023 season

The Board also made the final approval to the new Visitors to Schools policy. The new policy includes the purchase of technology to screen visitors as well as issue photo identification that visitors will wear while in district buildings.

Chief Information Officer Jessie Joy said front office staff at all 11 locations will be trained on the new equipment by the middle of next week.

WRFA High School Sports Correspondent Collin Wood talks with John Kinder – former Syracuse and Stony Brook college QB and Southwestern Assistant Football Coach – about the Section VI Championship Games (Jamestown, Randolph, Fredonia, etc.) this week at High Mark Stadium in Orchard Park.

Listen to “Knock on Wood” with Collin Wood – a weekly HS Sports report focusing on Jamestown and the Chautauqua Region – every Thursday morning at 7:45 a.m. on WRFA-LP.

WRFA’s Collin Wood takes a look at High School Sports, with recaps and previews for the 2022 High School Football Season in Chautauqua County – along with interviews featuring local coaches and also a report on the Buffalo Bills.

This comes after a number of local county health commissioners – including Chautauqua County’s Christine Schuyler – called for wrestling to either be postponed or cancelled this year.

The health officials say Wrestling involves participants sparring in very close physical proximity for extended periods of time, which significantly increases the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The also cited a recent report that showed a COVID outbreak had taken place following a wrestling tournament in another area of the country.

According to Section VI, High School Wrestling will now start on May 10, at the earliest.

The recommendation came one day after most county health departments in Western New York gave approval for other high-risk winter sports to continue.

Department officials noted wrestling involves participants sparring in very close physical proximity for extended periods of time, which significantly increases the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

Health officials also cite a recent study that focused on a large COVID outbreak associated with a wrestling tournament in December. As an alternative, Department officials said local programs should consider promoting individual training and distanced group exercises.

The final call is with Section VI officials, who could decide to wait until next fall to hold the wrestling season.