Hancock School Board Dissolves Varsity Hockey Co-Op with Lake Linden – Hubbell Schools

Hancock Schools will dissolve the Hancock and Lake Linden Co-op for varsity hockey. Last night the board voted in favor of dissolving the varsity program’s co-op with Lake Linden – Hubbell Schools with a vote of four to two, trustees Michael Lancour and Rod Paavola voted no. School board Treasurer Wendy Chenowyth was absent from the meeting. A full crowd appeared before the board and voiced that they wish to continue to co-op to promote skill development and competition between the players.

“Going off of what Annette said, I think it does come down to competition. It adds so much competition within the group. To what Peg said, the JV team, it was huge for my success. I actually ended up being called up halfway through the year. Becuase I was able to develop on the JV team with Hannah. So I think those are two big things, and why we need the Co-op.” – Brady Galetto

Trustee Heinonen expressed his positions on the board for several years giving him a unique perspective, having seen co-ops come and go across sports during his time.

“I’m not anti Co-op. I am about giving the opportunity to our Hancock kids and families. We can argue competitiveness. We can argue how much better we’d be. We can do that. But we can be as good as we can be with our Hancock kids as well.” – Randy Heinonen, Trustee, Hancock Public School Board.

Board members expressed they understand the passion of parents and players wishing to keep the co-op going. But the board is not in the business of playing time and wants to encourage sports comprised of students attending Hancock Public schools. Expressing that the district has done a lot of work in recent years to improve athletics, academics, and creative opportunities for students.

In addition, the board approved the hires and re-hiring of several coaches and volunteer coaches for spring sports. The school board also received an update on the status of plans for some of the summer projects. One of the major projects that the school will look to complete will redesign the traffic flow in the parking lot.

“I’m not anti Co-op. I am about givi

Find a full list of the Spring Coaching hires below:

Jenn Smith Head Varsity Track

Jeff Hauswirth Asst. Varsity Track Coach

Carsen Cynoweth Asst Track Coach

Alex Nordstrom Asst Baseball Coach

Volunteers;

Ryan Towles and Kristan Wanhala Track and Golf

Paul Sintkowlski Softball

Randy Heinonen Head coach

Craig Biekkola Associate Head Coach

Gary Scholie and Hannah Asiala Assistant Coaches

Baseball Travis Pietila Head Coach.