Blenheim Bobcats Leave Kent Football
With declining enrollment across the Lambton-Kent District School Board and St. Clair Catholic School Board, the first major casualities may be within site.
The Blenheim Bobcats announced this week that they would be dropping out of the Kent Senior Football league due to having only 20 players on their roster.
The shortage of players forced Blenheim to end their season prematurely last year, with the cause obvious, a declining enrollment which now has Blneheim District High School sitting below 400 students.
With the removal of Blenheim, the Kent football league now drops to only four teams, Wallaceburg, Chatham-Kent Secondary School, Ursuline College, and John McGregor.
For teenagers wanting to play football in Blenheim however, the Bobcats will remain on the field, however in a new league formed for smaller schools, that will play with only 8 players per side.
Blenheim’s new league will force more travel, with the league comprised of Strathroy Holy Cross, Sarnia St. Clair, Sarnia Collegiate, and Petrolia Lambton Central. Each team will play one game against each school, with the season opening September 20.
The Kent football season still kicks off September 13.
Here we are trying to keep enrollement up at our small schools and here we are losing another reason to keep some of our kids. We need our small schools and NEED kids to stay so we can KEEP this stuff. The more kids that STAY at our small schools the MORE they can offer, the more teachers we can get and so on. So instead of leaving for the Big schools stay in our small towns so we can get this stuff back. Our small high school this year has had the most kids in the catholic school stay in our small town. Good for them more and better opportunities for them anyways. Way to go small towns!!! Keep fighting to stay afloat. Instead of running to the big school stay and fight for you sports and clubs.