This year the Eastern Kansas League (EKL) will be adding two teams to the playing field. Southwest will be competing in the league, as well as Gardner-Edgerton High School, making a total of eight teams in the competition. Gardner was previously a part of the Frontier League.
Athletic Director Gary Howard says coaches knew, coming in, Southwest would be competing in varsity sports, which was the district’s decision. Howard says traditionally a new school will struggle as its been shown in the past when other schools have opened up.
“It is what it is,” he said.
Due to the youth of the school, and fewer seniors, Southwest’s sports teams don’t have a lot of upperclassmen, making the varsity teams composed of mainly sophomores and juniors. For younger athletes, this leaves room to gain varsity experience and grow.
“Year two or three, I think we’re going to have some really good teams that will be competing for championships,” Howard said. “There’s a lot of learning opportunities and adversity that we’re likely to face. It’s how you learn from that experience and what you take away from it.”
The Timberwolves football team will be facing programs with a lot of success in the past. “I don’t know if there’s a team in the state that has a tougher schedule,” Howard said. “It’s tough, but instead of looking at all the negatives, look at the positives. Let’s say we can compete, let’s say we’re in a game with our team competing late in the game in the fourth quarter. Even if we lose, we can still take away from that experience and grow from it.”
Most people don’t expect a lot from Southwest, because it is a new school.
“You know, everybody’s saying we’re going to get killed,” he said. “I’m not saying that, I’m looking off of how we learn and build off that. You can’t always look at the scoreboard, you have to build from each week, and that’s how we grow and become better. Week 7, 8, 9, I think we’re going to be a stronger team going into District.”
Junior Taylor Petermann has been competing in the EKL since he was a freshman and played football for Blue Valley High School. He is playing soccer for his second season in his high school campaign and is a starting forward for the Timberwolves soccer team.
“It’s a tough league for us to play in right now because we’re a young team but I think it’s good for our school because it challenges us right now,” he said.
Petermann was a part in Southwest’s first EKL event, against Bishop Miege High School, that ended in victory for the Timberwolves soccer team.
“The first game was really exciting to be a part of and the atmosphere was great,” Petermann said. “It was great to have the first EKL event as a win.”
“A lot of people didn’t know what to expect but after that I think we might have changed their minds a little bit,” he said.
Petermann said it was good to come out the first time and show people that they can win.