More M-W flag football?

Monroe-Woodbury Girls Varsity Flag Football Head Coach Elaine Schelberg, joined by members of the team, asked the Monroe-Woodbury Board of Education at the June 18 meeting to consider adding a Junior Varsity and modified team to the school district’s athletic program.

According to Schelberg, flag football is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States, despite youth participation in sports declining in the last decade. She pointed to flag football becoming a sanctioned college sport at local colleges and the Monroe-Woodbury team’s success as reason to expand the sport in the district.

Each spring, an average of 50 to 60 girls try out for the Varsity team, Schelberg said, resulting in many being cut. She added that many won’t even try out for fear of not being qualified enough to earn one of the limited spots on the team.

Schelberg encouraged the district to follow neighboring schools which already have J.V. and/or modified programs and said the cost for adding them would be minimal.

Varsity Flag Football player Natalie Beers, who joined the program as a freshman, said a JV program would helped her learn the sport at a slower pace, instead of having to be put on a team with girls who were more experienced.

Also during the meeting, Monroe resident BJ Mendelson, encouraged the district to consider protecting the Monroe-Woodbury name through trademarking or other avenues, claiming a certain political group is using the school colors and other likeness to promote their candidates, resulting in confusion amongst the residents.

According to Mendelson, State Senator James Skoufis has invested nearly $10,000 in public relations in support of certain candidates in the Monroe Town Supervisor primary and the Woodbury Mayoral Republican primary. He said the political website protectmw.com can be and has been thought by Monroe-Woodbury parents as representing the school district.

Mendelson said he has spoken with a number of attorneys who suggest Skoufis’s actions may be in violation of the district’s intellectual property rights.