Orange staying in CCS football uniforms

    In the regular seven-year rotation for new athletic uniforms, high school football is next on the replacement schedule at Chase County Schools.
    There are also some new specifications being required by the Nebraska School Activities Association that could affect uniform designs starting with the 2024 season.
    That drew Head Football Coach Nathan Gaswick to the Feb. 14 board meeting, where he presented concepts of new uniforms and price estimates. One of the new rules involved numbers and lettering on jerseys, which Gaswick said last week could not have any outlining with a contrasting color.
    Gaswick said the coaches sat down with primarily the upperclassmen and looked at some uniform designs for next season.
    They came up with a two-color, black and white look. No orange was included in Gaswick’s presentation at last week’s meeting.
    “They liked it and I liked it, too,” Gaswick said.
    “Right now there is no orange,” he told board members last week.
    The kids liked it that way, he said, although a few did want some orange color included.
    “The vast majority wanted the clean black and white look,” he said.
    Most board members who spoke at last week’s meeting favored some orange color to remain part of the uniform.
    Orange could be included on the helmets or all-orange helmets could be purchased were among the suggestions. Wearing orange socks or belts was another option.
    “This [uniform] is a traditional look for Chase County going back. The stripes on the sleeve are very traditional, the only thing missing is the orange,” he said.
    “I think the design is great. But I’m a traditionalist; I’m not necessary liking the lack of orange,” said board member Willy O’Neil.
    Board member Jeff Olsen said he was hesitant to go all black and white, anticipating community backlash.
    Gaswick said their order deadline for the new uniforms was Jan. 31, but he was given extra time to get school board approval.
    While they could wait a year with the NSAA deadline not effective until the 2024 season, Gaswick said there won’t be enough jerseys this fall for an expected larger team of at least 10 more players.
    Gaswick said they could go with another sporting goods store with their order, but CCS does all of its business with Lou’s Sporting Goods in Fremont, where the $18,990.64 quote for 62 uniforms was from and presented last week.
    “Everything in the school is black and orange,” said board president Karl Meeske. “Going all black and white—there’s going to be some backlash.”
    Last week, Gaswick was directed to get new bids with orange striping on the jersey for board review.  
New bleachers
    The Longhorn gym may have new bleachers in the future after the board hired an architectural firm to design and oversee a potential bleacher system purchase and installation.
    Carrie Terryberry, a transportation/grounds/facilities committee member, said an added goal of the project is to fix the top row of bleachers so there is not such a large step down.
    The bid of $22,000 for architectural fees from Wilkins Architecture Design Planning LLC of Kearney was approved. According to the discussion, the board will be asking the firm to explore other handicap accessibility options, but new bleachers would be ADA compliant once installed, said Supt. Lambert.

Board approves uniforms at special meeting Tuesday

    In further clarification of the new NSAA rules on uniforms in recent days, it was discovered that numbers and lettering on football jerseys could be outlined with a different color.
    That drew CCS board members to a special morning meeting Tuesday to act on the football uniform purchase.
    Supt. Adam Lambert said the CCS uniform design presented last week can have the “Chase County” and “Longhorns” wording  outlined with orange coloring, and the numbers, too.
    That wasn’t the impression coach Nathan Gaswick had initially, he said.
    In fact, the letters and wording on both home and away jerseys can be outlined in orange, which will provide the orange coloring in the uniforms board members wanted.
    Since the Feb. 14 meeting, Supt. Lambert said both Gaswick and Activities Director Troy Hauxwell “triple-checked” with the NSAA, and sent in pictures of the designs. The NSAA then gave approval for the orange outlining.
    Board members Tuesday then voted unanimously to purchase the design at the same $18,990.64 price as presented last week. The price also includes an extra pair of pants, which probably would have been eliminated from the price quote if CCS submitted a new uniform design.