As of Friday, Aug. 9, the Sedona-Oak Creek School District had canceled its girls’ soccer season for the second consecutive year due to lack of interest.

“We initially had eight to 10 players express interest, but only four ultimately signed up,” Sedona Red Rock High School athletic director Pedro Ortega Sr. said in regard to the program. “We held several meetings and gave the players time to recruit among themselves, but in the end, they decided they didn’t have enough interest to move forward.”

In soccer, teams typically have at least 18 players to allow for substitutions, with 11 players on the field at any given time. The district had a goal of recruiting14 to 15 committed players to ensure a viable season. Two of the four players who had initially committed have since joined the volleyball team, while the other two are undecided about participating in other sports.

Ortega said that no other SRRHS sports are at risk of cancellation due to low turnout, and the district remains committed to trying to build a girls’ soccer team for the 2025- 26 season.

“We’re going to start the signup process earlier next year, possibly towards the end of the current school year, to gauge interest and better advertise the opportunity within the school,” Ortega said. “We’ll also consider sending out a survey to assess interest levels and see if we can reach that 14- to 15-player mark, which is essential for running a competitive soccer program.”

The district has not yet explored the option of establishing a club soccer team but has hired Kaloa Neukan to be the program’s head coach, in place of Stephen Hanks.

During the Aug. 6 governing board meeting, SOCSD Superintendent Tom Swaninger said there had been a 32% increase in students applying to join varsity sports programs at Sedona Red Rock High School over the previous year, compared to 50% within the school’s middle school division, where the increase was driven by greater interest in volleyball and the creation of a cross-country program.

Sports Participation

“It is unfortunate that girls’ soccer was canceled again. Overall, our participation numbers are moving in the right direction and [we] consider this increase a success,” Swaninger subsequently said.

The total number of players who completed registration to participate in all sports was 77 for varsity sports and 125 players for middle school sports, up from 67 and 97 in 2023, respectively. High school volleyball participation rose from 20 competitors to 22, cross-country from six to nine, boys’ soccer from 22 to 29 and swimming from 10 to 13.

Middle school volleyball participation rose from 67 competitors to 78 and flag football from 14 to 18. Eight students are participating in an inaugural season of middle school cross-country.

“I’m in a unique situation [because] I’m the only teacher in the entire school district that knows every single student,” said Cody McKesson, SOCSD orchestra and music teacher, who teaches at both West Sedona School and SRRHS. “So I tried my best to create positive relationships with those fifth graders going into sixth grade at the end of the year. I sent a lot of emails to those fifth-graders, to the parents of kids who I thought would really benefit from joining a sport, whether it’s cross-country or not. So a lot of building that relationship with the families and the students.”

“I wanted to get a feel for their interest in promoting and possibly even expanding youth sports in Sedona,” Swaninger said of conversations with the Sedona Parks and Recreation Department about sharing facilities. “I assured them that if it’s a facilities issue, that we would open our facilities whenever possible, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the athletics and events that we have for our own students.”

Swaninger said that the district is also looking at hosting a Special Olympics event in the spring.

“We would like to take time out at the beginning of the board  meetings to highlight our student athletes,” Swaninger said. “I would also like to continue those celebrations in school for those athletes, maybe it’s during the lunch period where we get a microphone in hand and bring the students up and some of the coaches can speak to the accomplishments of those athletes. Student announcements, [we’re] also going to be highlighting … individual athletes on social media, newsletters … It’s better for those students but it’s also better for the community.”