With high school sports getting underway, Wareham High School’s new athletic director Marc Loranger said he is making progress on his goal of amping up participation in after school sports.

“We’ve had 12 to 15 students join this week,” he said. “When kids are doing sports... it makes them feel like they are a part of their school.”

Before signing on in Wareham, Loranger was a physical education teacher and coach at Plymouth South High School for 17 years. He has coached the varsity wrestling team for each of the 17 years, has coached boys varsity track for 10 years, was an assistant coach for football for eight years, and was the varsity football coach for five years.

Loranger holds a bachelor of science degree in education and a master’s degree in education administration from Fitchburg State College. He is certified as a physical education teacher and an administrator.

Since signing on as Wareham High School’s athletic director in July, Loranger said he has been strategizing ways to increase participation and get more students on the field.

When school started on August 31, Loranger said coaches were in the cafeteria during lunch hours to educate students and encourage sign-ups for fall sports.

The school offers eight sports during the fall semester: Football, cheerleading, girls soccer, boys soccer, golf, girls volleyball, girls and boys cross-country, and field hockey.

The first game of the season will be played on Tuesday, September 6 when the golf team takes on Dighton-Rehoboth on the road. Both girls and boys soccer will have its first game on September 7 against Dighton-Rehoboth. The boys will be home, the girls away. The girls volleyball team will have its first game at Seekonk on September 7. And, the field hockey team will have its first game of the season on September 7 at Fairhaven. The football team will play its first game on September 8 at home.

Check back at WarehamVillageSoup.com for the latest scores and highlights from the fall high school sports season.