Pieces of Nipmuc Regional High School sports history could be up for grabs.
Banners for the district’s sports teams’ League, Divisional, and Clark Championships may be replaced with new and improved Team banners.
According to Nipmuc Athletic Director Christopher Schmidt, the proposed Team banners would include all past, present, and future League, Divisional, and Sectional Championships on one team banner for each sport. In the long run having one banner for each team would be cost-effective and would make sure all future championships can be acknowledged.
Space is the primary driver behind the change. “Visually, almost every inch is taken. There is no room left for League Championships,” said Schmidt. “You can’t put banners below a certain level,” he said. “Some of the banners are faded, some are ripped; they are in need of some TLC,” he said.
According to Schmidt other schools have moved to Team banners.
What would become of the old banners? Schmidt said the district is considering auctioning off the existing League and Sectional banners.
There has been some push back from the community regarding whether the old banners should be replaced or if they should be auctioned off. Some Nipmuc graduates have expressed on social media the old banners should stay, they are part of the school’s history, a history to be proud of.
“Every banner has a story, and means so much to the teams that lived those stories,” said Joyce Esker. “I am really hoping that at least the state championship banners and all banners from the last 5 or 10 years could stay,” she said.
“State Championship banners would not be touched,” said Schmidt.
One recent graduate wondered why the school hasn’t considered hanging the banners from the rafters or moving the banners to others locations in the school.
Schmidt said this is still in the investigative stage, “this is not a done deal.”
Below is an example of Team banners
UPTON DAILY 