FDR High School offers many types of spring sports- such as Softball, Girls Badminton, Baseball, Cricket, Golf, Flag Football, Handball, Track, Soccer, Tennis and Boys Volleyball. FDR hopes to add more sports based on student demand and participation. Most spring sports are played outside, giving students a chance to get active in an outdoor sport. The New Dealer was lucky enough to sit down with the AP of Physical Education, and Athletic Director, Mr. Stanco:

Q: There is a new athletics board by the lockers, what is the purpose of the board?

A: The purpose of the board is to promote, and highlight, the 26 FDR sports teams. It allows our students to be more involved and view game schedules and locations.

Q: Which teams do you anticipate will be most successful this spring?

A: The Badminton teams will continue their strong dominance, which they’ve enjoyed over the last four years. For all our other teams, it is too early in the practice period to know how successful they will be. All the teams have to remain competitive, and our team players have to give it their all in the months ahead.

Q; Many of the spring sports have a great deal of participation, however, what can be done to increase participation in sports with a low amount of student involvement?

A: We need to advocate for all students to be involved in school activities. Some teams are more popular than others, such as Flag Football being more popular than many teams in the spring. However, some teams with smaller rosters are serving an important need in our athletic program. For example, Golf usually only has about 8 to 10 students. It is not that the sport is unpopular, it is a sport that is not commonly played by city kids. We look to expose our student/athletes to a variety of sports. We are hoping our new sports board will create more interest and participation over the coming year.

Q; How does weather alter the scheduling of games, and could it possibly affect the playoffs?

A: It makes it difficult based on our school’s facilities. FDR has seven different locations for teams to practice. The school has eleven outdoor teams, and we do our best to be equitable. We put a lot of faith in our coaches to prepare their teams, the best they can, despite weather circumstances. March is the toughest month, as it seems to snow every week! We can’t control the weather, so we just need to do our best and try to make-up games quickly. If we don’t make up a game, it could be a forfeit. A forfeit counts as a loss, so it could impact our playoff seeding.

Q: Looking ahead do you anticipate more teams being added next year, and if so, which ones?

A: Adding teams is based upon student interest, currently the school is trying to add a Girls Track team. This movement was pushed by two freshmen girls who made a petition with over 250 signatures. The school hopes to add Girls Track within the next year.

Q: Will Boys Badminton win their 5th consecutive City Championship next year?

A: The Boys Badminton team will win number five. They are unstoppable, and there might be no stopping them any time soon.

Thank You Mr. Stanco! Best Of Luck To All Our Spring Sports!