At the July meeting of the Panorama School Board, they made a decision to create a new athletic program.

Starting next spring, the high school will have both boys and girls soccer teams. Superintendent Shawn Holloway said the soccer program has been in the works for several years. The Board was approached by a soccer club in Panora that runs youth sports, which presented numbers and information about the interest level in the district. The school has worked closely with the soccer club in the past, letting them use the district’s facilities for games and storing equipment.

The school conducted their own research by sending a survey to the community, as well as compiling cost estimates for expenses. In the end, Holloway says the Board saw soccer as a sport on the rise in the state and felt like now was a good time to take a chance on starting the program. With the creation of the Panorama soccer teams, they will end their sharing agreement with Perry High School. Holloway indicated the travel involved with sending students to Perry created concerns among the community and Board, which also contributed to the program’s creation.

Holloway believes the soccer teams will be a good opportunity for the students, and looks forward to their respective seasons. The district is currently looking to hire two head coaches, and they are in the midst of submitting their paperwork to the Iowa High School Athletic Association to make everything official.