Dutch public schools have announced that high school football will shorten the season due to a shortage of players.
THE NETHERLANDS, Michigan – The Dutch high school soccer team will play just two regular games before ending the season early on September 16.
Dutch sporting director Blake Muller announced the decision on Tuesday after the “Dutch” had unusually few best-performing players on the team this year. Muller has issued a statement After the announcement, explaining the difficult decision he had to make:
“With such a low number of top players (some of whom are playing for the first time this year), we have asked our sophomores to fill the most positions in the roster where there is a visible physical and developmental difference on the pitch. We are very proud of the struggle this team has shown since day one. The training and work they put in to make these first four weeks possible: from recruiting friends to bolster the team to flogging despite being physically being superior to the men and Because it doesn’t match, we will remember the efforts of this team when they helped us rebuild the Dutch football program.”
The Orange squad has played two games so far this season, losing to Holland Christian 58-0 in its season opener and losing to Comstock Park 63-8 a week later.
The remaining two Holland High School games are against Mona Shores on September 9, and then a home game against Zeeland West on September 16.
The decision to shorten the season was due in part to protecting the Netherlands’ younger players from potential injuries. A shorter season also gives the coaches and the athletic director the opportunity to focus on the junior and freshman teams, which will benefit the college team going forward.
“It affected us for the first two weeks,” Mueller says. “I’m proud that they kept standing up and fighting. They fell and are ready to go for the next game.”
Most of the current collegiate team players will be eligible to play on the junior team once the season is over, but there are five senior players on the team whose final season will be terminated due to the announcement. Mueller says it was a conversation he didn’t want to have.
“It was difficult,” Mueller says. “In my position here, it was probably the most difficult conversation I had with a student-athlete.”
The school is also working on adjusting plans for the school’s homecoming week at the end of September and will announce new events as they are scheduled.
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