Due to declining player numbers, there will be no girls varsity basketball at GISH in 2024-25

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) – Grand Island Senior High (GISH) will not have a varsity schedule for girls basketball in 2024-25.

The district said this decision came after careful consideration and months of discussions.

There are currently no junior or senior athletes playing sports at the Class A school.

Looking to the future of the program, the GISH Girls Basketball coaching staff, activities office and district administration worked together to find solutions to support the program.

Conversations with middle and high school parents and student-athletes were held throughout the process to ensure commitment to the program was at the forefront.

Ultimately, the decision was made to invest in developing younger players through the typical reserve and freshman tier process rather than fielding a varsity team full of freshmen and sophomores. With student experience and safety at the forefront, the GISH Girls Basketball program believes hitting the “pause” button on the Varsity season is best for everyone involved.

Coach Kathryn Langrehr and her coaching staff remain committed to the program as the “paused” varsity season is scheduled for the 2024-25 season.

Because the immediate news is unfortunate, GISH is addressing the situation with increased commitment.

“We are committed to this program. And because of our commitment to growing girls’ basketball on Grand Island – and in our state – we are taking this difficult but innovative approach.” Chris Ladwig, GISH activities director, said, “We want to provide our children with the best possible student-athlete experience. At the moment we don’t have the numbers to field a top-notch varsity team. Therefore, our focus will be on continuing the development of our freshman and sophomore players and assembling a “full court press” to rebuild our youth programs in our community. We stand behind Coach Langrehr and her vision for this program – she has our full support.”

Overall, the declining number of high school girls’ basketball programs is a hurdle many schools face.

“Unfortunately, we are seeing a trend across the state.” Matt Fisher, GIPS Superintendent, said, “Numerous high schools of all grades are faced with the challenge of fielding girls’ basketball teams. As difficult as the decision is to not offer a varsity plan for a year, we agree with our activities department and girls basketball coaching staff that we need to be more proactive in developing long-term solutions for the program. In this case, that means taking a step back so we can properly develop our student-athletes. We remain committed to girls’ basketball and the student experience.”

What’s next for the GISH Girls Basketball program?

• GISH plans to offer a Freshman and Reserves schedule for the 2024-25 season.
• Coach Kathryn Langrehr will continue her role as GISH GBB Head Coach and advance her vision of making girls basketball accessible to all students from elementary through high school.
• The GISH GBB coaching staff will be at full capacity to invest more time in your youth and middle school programs while continuing to develop our freshman and sophomore players.

“The Islanders aren’t going anywhere.” Ladwig said, “For us, it starts with developing our young high school players and refocusing our youth programs.”

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