For the first time, PHS will have a girls’ soccer team, because over the summer, girls soccer was approved by the USD 250 Board of Education to the PHS activities program.

After a rising concern from the female athletes over the amount of competition and opportunities available, activities director Jeff Staley proposed an idea to the board that the teams would be separate — It was approved. 

“We had enough girls in our building to have an interest in soccer and wanted the opportunity to play the sport at the varsity level,” Staley said. “And since the state of Kansas does offer girls soccer in the spring, we decided to allow our girls to have that opportunity.” 

Although girls’ soccer doesn’t start until this spring, sophomore Katie Rodriguez said this change is for the better.

“Me and the other girls on the team just didn’t see the same opportunity getting handed to us as the guys were,” Rodriguez said. “I know that it’s not always the same feel from when a woman steps on that field then when a guy does, but that’s why we needed that change.”

While the impacts are mostly felt by the girls’  program, the boys’ team also feels these effects, as they are currently playing and preparing for their season. 

“We grow closer. There are more opportunities for growth in the team. It’s all the guys, so we’re a unit,” varsity player Carlos Salas said. “By having different genders together, it was different, because we would only have a couple of girls in our team.”