Unit 5 may soon expand its athletic offerings to include girls flag football and boys volleyball.

The Unit 5 Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the proposal at its Sept. 17 meeting. If approved, both sports could launch as early as the 2026–27 school year, according to Community Athletic Director Mr. Nic Kearfott.

Kearfott said growing interest in both sports—at the local and state level—prompted the proposal.

“Flag football is brand new to the IHSA,” Kearfott said. “Seven schools in our conference currently have flag football. If we added it, we’d be the eighth—and West would be the ninth.”

Boys volleyball has also gained momentum in the area. 

According to Kearfott, Normal West has offered boys volleyball as a club sport in the spring, and participation has been strong.

“Volleyball is huge in this community,” Kearfott said. “We are going to have overwhelming support.”

A district-wide poll conducted last year found that over 44% of students expressed interest in both sports, according to Kearfott. The polling results aligned with what school officials had anticipated.

“We felt going into the survey, we would get a large amount of people voting in favor to add it,” Kearfott said. 

Student interest, Kearfott said, should be a driving factor in shaping the school’s extracurricular offerings.

“We feel just like in the academic world—if we have an overwhelming response to add a class, we should do that,” he said. “I feel the same way from an athletic standpoint.”

The proposed additions would align with Title IX guidelines, as one sport would be added for boys and one for girls. 

Currently, Community offers more sports for girls than boys.

The district would fund both programs through an increase to the overall athletic budget, Kearfott said. The proposal includes a request for Unit 5 to assume the financial responsibility.

Kearfott said adding the two sports would expand athletic opportunities for students who may not currently be involved in school sports.

“Numerous schools shared data that they had a lot of girls going out for flag football who weren’t currently involved in another sport,” Kearfott said. “After the season, a lot of those kids went out for a winter or spring sport that they had not participated in before.”

Scheduling is not expected to conflict significantly with existing programs. Girls flag football would compete in the fall and share the football field for games. Boys volleyball would be played in the spring, beginning one week after other spring sports.

While early-season weather often keeps spring teams indoors, a delayed volleyball start date would ease pressure on gym availability, Kearfott said. If space becomes limited, the school may utilize junior high gyms or other off-site facilities until outdoor sports can move outside.

Volleyball, Kearfott said, is “an indoor sport, they have to have that gym to be able to practice.”

Although no staff members have formally expressed interest in coaching, Kearfott said he expects that to change if the board approves the programs.

“If it gets approved, I have some people that I will address myself,” Kearfott said. “All of them are going to need assistants, so it would be ideal if we could hire within our school.”

Kearfott said the success of the new programs would depend on community support and committed coaching.

“As long as we have enthusiastic and organized coaches, they’ll make sure things are up and running,” Kearfott said. “But I think number one is making sure we have full support from the school district and the school alone.”