STEELE SPORTS
Medford sports will be shorthanded this winter after the school announced the cancellation of its varsity girls basketball season.
The decision was made in order to focus on the development of younger athletes, by allowing them to play junior varsity instead of being thrust into a full varsity season with no experience.
Not only is the loss of an entire school sport a huge blow to school morale, but it’s also sneakily becoming the norm.
The Medford boys basketball team also elected to cancel its 2023-24 varsity season after 12 winless games to play only a junior varsity schedule.
The decision by each team to withdraw from varsity competition is not surprising when looking at it from an outsider’s perspective.
Both teams have only won one combined game in the past two seasons while amassing an abysmal 1-92 record.
To understand what has gone so wrong in Medford over the years, I spoke with current Tigers senior Aleah Vogt following a school board meeting where she gave a speech during public discussion sharing a student-athlete’s perspective on the current sports fiasco.
“Probably a lack of development. The season gets really long and motivation goes down for the sport. When you’re not getting any better, there’s not much point to play the sport,” said Vogt.
The notion is simple: losing sucks, but not improving is far worse.
I feel for Vogt because as someone who has watched countless hours of Medford sports over the past half-decade, I can attest to her opinion on a lack of development.
When looking at a large sample size of Medford team sports, most are consistently at the bottom of the Gopher Conference standings.
In the 2024-25 school year alone, Medford’s football, volleyball, boys and girls basketball, wrestling, baseball and softball teams finished a combined 17-119 – good for a 14.3%-win percentage.
As of the 2025 fall season, Medford is currently on pace for another grim year with a 6-28 record (21.4%) through football and volleyball season.
The numbers do not lie; this is a program stuck in a rut.
Something must change, and in my opinion – based solely upon what I’ve seen in recent years – the ugly, unwanted truth might be that co-op programs should be considered.
Medford has already utilized Faribault for hockey in the past, and with basketball, football and wrestling numbers steadily declining, it might be time to allow student-athletes the opportunity to combine with another small program to change up the system.
I understand that my opinion may not be a popular one for a town that thrives on an independent mindset and a strong work ethic, but pride can be blinding – especially when it comes to sports.
Regardless, I will continue to monitor the Medford sports situation and hope that the Tigers can turn the tides this winter.