It is not well known, but some students are currently participating on a sailing team which is stationed and operated by the Saint Croix Sailing School (SCSS) in Hudson, WI. It is a small team consisting of students from different high schools around the area.

As of now it is only a club, where team members are not affiliated with a certain school, but members and the coaches have been thinking about school support to turn the club into an actual high school sport that would then be recognized by the community, the team is not all Stillwater Area High School students, there are other members whom attend Hudson High School and Sommerset High School. The team is currently competing in Midwest Interscholastic Sailing Association (MISSA) events, and if the team could grow, it would be able to compete as a school recognized team in more sailing events that happen on the numerous lakes in the Midwest.

Students who joined the SCSS high school racing team have just started their year sailing on Mondays and Wednesdays, racing in conference regattas on Saturdays. Many of the team members and the coaches are looking to recruit new members, primarily from the high schools in the area, “practices are open to anyone who wants to join,” Coach Chris Donnelly said, “The more people, the better.” The team accepts anyone from seventh through twelfth grade whether they have previous knowledge of sailing or are first time sailors.

The Sailing team consists of roughly 13 students from different high schools in the area. If the team wants to grow any more, they will need support from a school, Donnelly said, “I think it would be great. Right now we’re just sort of a club. I think if we get support from a school it will make things more official.” Donnelly added, “Right now we could have a maximum of 20 people in boats. If we maybe had some school support we could expand a little bit.”

Although SCSS provides the actual sailboats, the team is in need of replacement parts, ropes and other gear which the Sailing School cannot provide, freshman Brian Olson said, “It’d be great if we got support, we could upgrade a few of the things on the boats like new ropes and other parts that are extremely aged and overused.”

“Sailing is really fun and everyone on the team gets along very well,” said senior Summer Thompson. Many other members of the team do other activities alongside school and sailing, “we have practice only two days a week unlike other sports where you have to go five days a week which is nice,” Thompson said. Another senior Story Schwantes, said, “The team is really relaxed and nobody really cares how well they do compared to the other teams. I think it would be great to have more people join and to be recognized as a school sport.”