SAYRE, P.A. (WENY) - Sayre will not field a varsity football team in the 2022 season.

According to an email from Sayre Athletic Director, Barry Claypool on Wednesday afternoon, the school will only field junior varsity and junior high football teams this fall.

As Pat McDonald from the Morning Times first reported, Sayre has 26 students signed up to play JV and Varisty football with many having little to no experience at the varsity level, and this decision comes after Sayre Head Coach, Kevin Gorman and several parents expressed concerns to the Sayre School Board on Monday saying "fielding a varsity team was unrealistic and unsafe for players."

According to the Morning Times report, the school board has been asked about considering a co-op with Athens for this season. 

"The District Administrative Team has weighed many factors regarding the upcoming football season and appreciates all input over the last week from parents, players, and coaches" said Claypool in the email directed to football parents. 

"Because there was no junior varsity program last year, our current sophomores lost most of their 8th grade season due to low numbers/covid.  The younger and/or less experienced student-athletes didn’t get the opportunity to work to improve their skills during the spring and most of the summer.  Therefore, we feel that it is in the best interest of the program to run a junior varsity and junior high program this year in the interest of getting our younger student-athletes experience in a non-varsity environment."

"Seniors and parents, we understand and sympathize with the pain that this decision will cause as you may lose out on your final season as a Redskin football player.  We are currently investigating any and all options to give you an opportunity to play football during your senior year.  We will keep you informed as we gather information" he added. 

Claypool finished the email by writing "You should plan to begin practice on Monday, August 8th with the football program so that if/when an opportunity is available, we are ready to seize the opportunity with little to short notice. Heat acclimation starts on Monday, your coach will be in contact to inform you of the practice particulars of time, location, equipment needed to bring with you, etc."

The Sayre School District will be holding a special meeting on August 4th at 7 PM in the library of the Junior/Senior High School. Stick with WENY on air and online for continued coverage of this development.