Seventh and eighth grade students at Mid-Prairie Middle School will have a new spring activity available to them this year. At their most recent meeting, the Mid-Prairie School Board agreed to start a soccer program at the middle school. The meeting was attended by several coaches, parents, and teachers who expressed an interest in getting the program off the ground. Superintendent Mark Schneider indicated the decision wasn’t an easy one because there are few examples of similar programs in the area. He said, “The closest schools that have middle school soccer are in Cedar Rapids. Other neighboring districts have expressed an interest, but they haven’t started the programs yet. And so after quite a bit of discussion, the board voted to try a middle school soccer program this spring, and they committed 50% of the funds needed in order to make that happen. The coaches and the parents there, they committed to raising the other 50% of the funds that would be needed for the program.”

The board will now look into hiring a coach for the program. According to Schneider, the co-ed team has also already garnered interest from at least two dozen students. There are currently boys and girls soccer teams at the high school, and Schneider says the middle school team would be a good feeder into that program.