The Albert Lea Area Schools activities director presented strategies to the school board Monday the district is implementing to change the culture of Albert Lea sports and increase participation.

Paul Durbahn said of the about 986 ninth through 12th grade students at Albert Lea High School, only about 46% are involved in at least one activity, which includes sports and fine arts. He said this was eye-opening to him to know that the majority of students aren’t participating in an activity, and it led him to start asking questions about why that might be the case.

When looking at the same statistic at other schools in the Big Nine, many had substantially higher numbers. Mankato East had approximately 72% of its students involved in at least one activity; Northfield had 82%, Winona had 75% and Owatonna had 56% just involved in sports alone. Rochester schools had numbers more comparable to Albert Lea, Durbahn said.

With Albert Lea’s lower number, that equates to fewer students coming out for sports.

Add on top of that the average head coach tenure for Albert Lea coaches currently is only 4.2 years old, and he said he hopes the district can find some consistency. The district has had eight new head coaches in the last 10 months.

There are also a high number of students — 145 — who are considered ineligible to play because of grades, chemical or alcohol use or behavior. Though these students were typically only ineligible temporarily, it decreased the numbers further, he said.

Durbahn said the district has to look at ways to create a larger pool of students participating in sports, and this needs to start at a younger age. He said the district also can’t afford not to share athletes and needs to promote to students that it is healthy to participate in two to three sports.

Students who specialize in only one sport for more than eight months of the year increase their risk of injury, he said.

To increase participation, the district and community need to make activities more accessible to all students and work on issues that may be holding students back, such as transportation, language barriers or fees. He said he is working with the Albert Lea Education Foundation regarding the fees.

The district also needs to reduce the number of students who may be ineligible at one time or another through an emphasis on being good students first. Families need to be educated on drugs, alcohol and nicotine use and be informed well of the district’s policy for if students are found to be using these. Durbahn said he supports the district’s current policy on ineligibility.

School board member Dennis Dieser said although the number of ineligible students is high, the district has to hold students accountable and educate them about following through after being found ineligible.

School board member Jill Marin asked what could be done to reduce the stigma around students getting assistance with fees and noted that the number of students on free and reduced-price lunch goes down as students get older, though their family situation has likely remained the same.

Durbahn said the district is trying to come up with new ideas in this area in how the district can assure families that this data is protected and how they can make it easier for them to apply for this aid.

Marin said the more boundaries that can be reduced, the better, referring to instances where extra photos and warmup suits that families are expected to have to pay are not affordable to all families.

Many of these ideas were discussed at an activities summit Oct. 26 that he said went well. Discussion there also included talk about booster clubs and how to approach fundraising, he said.

Durbahn said many of these strategies will not be able to happen without a change in culture.

Look to the Wednesday Tribune for more about the school board meeting.