Wareham High School Athletics Director Ed Rodrigues gave his seasonal report to the School Committee on Sept. 30. Athletes in the spring and fall II seasons played earlier this year stood out academically, he reported, and students have been showing up to cheer each other on at high rates this fall.

“The enthusiasm has been pretty high among the kids,” Rodrigues said. “Good crowds.”

In the Fall II season — a shortened fall sports season played early in spring 2021 due to the pandemic —107 high school athletes and 14 eighth graders played. Overall, the high school student-athletes maintained an 88.1 GPA. Wareham’s teams had a season record of 6 -34 - 4.

The spring season saw 89 high schoolers and 10 eighth graders take part, again maintaining an 88.1 GPA. The teams had a record of 15 - 30.

Rodrigues said he’d been “blown away” by the athletes’ academic performance. 

School Committee member and former boys basketball coach Kevin Brogioli noted the teams’ low number of wins, and asked whether it might be time to look into joining a league “where we could be more competitive.”

Wareham currently plays in the South Coast Conference, which means teams frequently play teams from much larger schools. The football team is currently playing an alternative schedule against small schools, but teams can only opt-out of the general league schedule for two years.

High School Principal Scott Palladino said that the conference has academic elements, too, like Academic Decathlon, Honors Society events, and benefits for staff. He said that changing leagues would be a years-long process.

Rodrigues said that the league is considering bringing in another small school to make it so the league’s current small schools would have more competition, but that, again, could take years.

“It’s a cost-benefit analysis,” Brogioli said. “What’s the best thing for the kids, long-term?”

The committee agreed to discuss the question of leagues further at a future meeting.