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SOUTHINGTON -- Last year, the COVID-19-shortened high school football season limited Chalker to five games.
This year, numbers are set to do the same as the Wildcats canceled their first five games, opting to allow their non-league opponents a chance to find different games.
The hope is to add to the roster before league play starts.
Chalker interim athletic director Jim Wolke, who had his fourth stint as the head football coach last season, has been handling the difficult task of preparing for this season.
"We got a hold of those five schools, saying that if they can find another game to do so because of our low numbers," Wolke said. "We did that as a courtesy, to allow them to look for other games, because we know that it's not easy to fill a schedule. If they can find a game, obviously, please go ahead. We won't have any ill regards to that."
Justin Kren, a former player under Wolke, was named as the new football coach in January. One of his main goals so far has been to drive up numbers.
"We're just talking to them, trying to entice them to come to practice, have fun, go to lifting," Kren said. "With the kids that are showing up, they want to have a season."
Kren is taking a sizable role in the football program in the school district, opting to be the offensive coordinator for the middle school program, which is being conducted as a co-op with Windham this season.
The first-year Wildcats coach wants to show that he's there to build a long-term program.
"The more you're involved with that and the more your presence is known with those kids, you get a bond with them," he said. "So they want to stay, show up to their practices. You show that you have the interest. That's your future. You have to take time out for those guys."
The importance of fielding a team this season extends beyond 2021. With the smaller schools in the area, a year off could be the end of the program for good. Small schools made it a priority to play in 2020 due to that reason.
"If these small school systems, if they lose a sport like football, then they may never get it back because of the expense to get it started," Wolke said. "That's a difficult thing as well."
For the Wildcats, while eight-man football is an option they utilized in 2019 for a few games, it's something Wolke would like to avoid.
"If we only have four or five teams in this area (with eight-man teams), that's only four games, and we have to find six more games to play," he said. "Are we just going to keep playing the same team on a home and home? We're playing four games here in our league that are eight-man, and then we're going to play four games in Northwestern Ohio where they have a few more eight-man teams and we have to do some traveling there.
"It becomes a juggling act when you're talking about eight-man football in my opinion."
While playing 11-man football is the goal, at the end of the day, putting a team on the field is Kren's top priority.
"I'm not really a fan (of eight-man football), but if it comes to the point where that's what we have to offer to keep kids here and keep kids playing, then I'm all for it," he said. "I'm 100 percent on board with whatever we need to do to keep offering the game to the kids."
Chalker's 2021 season is set to kick off a month later than other schools with a road game against Mathews in Week 6. The Wildcats will then close the season by playing the remaining Northeastern Athletic Conference teams.
byauger@tribtoday.com