The last days of summer lead to fall where the new school year and sport seasons begin. The 2021-2022 fall sports are up and going with many new things to come. Dance team, football, cheer, cross country, and volleyball are the sports that start off everyone’s school year with anticipation for great seasons. 

At the stadium on Friday night games, the North Polk Dance Team performs their routine for the crowd. The team is divided into two different squads: The North Polk Dance Team, all athletes participate on, and the North Polk Competition Dance team, athletes have to try out to be on this team. The North Polk Dance Team performs before every home game this year and the annual showcase. The showcase will be on November 6. The competition team will be performing at the showcase as well as ISDTA Championships where they perform their solo dances and state routines on December 1 – 3. 

After the North Polk Dance Team comes the football games. This season the football team has two new coaches in addition to their past coaches. The two new coaches are Evan Groepper and Anthony Oros. Head football coach, Tim TeBrink, shared, “After a full summer of strength training and skills and drills, we had a quality preseason focusing on the basics of football. On Friday night, we had a great start to the season with a home-opening win against DCG 34-7.  It was great to see our athletes get out and compete at a very high level.”

On the track during football games are the North Polk Cheerleaders. This year, there are 15 athletes, which involve four seniors and for the first time in three years the cheerleading team has had seniors. Due to Covid restrictions last year, this coming season allows for different opportunities for stunting that needs to be relearned throughout this coming season. 

Kate Rutledge, cheerleading coach, wanted to share with her athletes that “You represent our school, community and each other with the utmost respect.”

Over hill, over dale, or in our case, through the fields and streets around Alleman, is the cross country team. This fall season there are 21 boys and 24 girls participating on the North Polk Cross Country team. As this season continues, cross country coach Steve Leach wants to work on “Deeper relationships with my athletes as well as providing them with opportunities to bond with one another.” As of this point in their season, the cross country team has been very successful. They won at Webster City in all four divisions: varsity girls, JV girls, varsity boys, and JV boys. Overall, the boys team is currently ranked second in state for the 2A programs and the girls are ranked fourth.

Inside the North Polk Gym, the volleyball team is on the court moving the ball over the net. This year, the volleyball program has had an increase of nearly 20 athletes from last year. The freshman class has 34 girls and the total number of athletes is just under 70. The team has set goals that include: competing for a conference championship and qualifying for the state tournament. 

Volleyball coach Steve Baas shared, “Our season record is 12-3 overall and 2-0 in the Raccoon River conference to this point. The Comets placed 4th in the 16 team tournament at Bondurant to start the season on Aug. 28. We improved on that finish at the BCLUW round robin tournament on Sept. 4 by winning the tournament with a 5-0 record for the day.”

Overall, North Polk High School has many sports events to come this fall season with bright outcomes. To find the Athletic Calendar, go to the North Polk Website.