School sports can save small towns. Kit Carson is betting on it.
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KIT CARSON, Colo. — “9 boys and 14 girls, assuming nothing changes.”
This is the Fall 2025 Kit Carson High School enrollment, critical numbers for the only high school in a town of fewer than 300 people. Like the population of Kit Carson, the high school’s enrollment varies year to year — there are projected to be 10 boys and 18 girls in Fall of 2026 and 9 boys and 20 girls in Fall 2027 — riding the fine line between sustainability and abandonment.
In many rural, Eastern Plains towns like Kit Carson, the school is the center of the community. Kit Carson High School is one of the leading employers in town. It is the only place in town with a weight room, so it also functions as the only gym, and it occasionally hosts funerals.
When autumn arrives, six-man and eight-man football is king, and an entire town’s population — connected to the school or not — supports small teams like the Kit Carson Wildcats. The same is true for co-ed basketball and volleyball games.
But school sports, and the lack thereof, can be a deciding factor for a rural town’s future. When enrollment dips too low to support a six-man sideline, sports programs go dormant, student-athletes and their families leave to compete in other districts, local housing and local spending takes a hit and community morale — and eventually population — declines.
If that sounds dramatic, locals like John Mitchum, Kit Carson Rural Development’s (KCRD) housing specialist, point to Haswell and Arapahoe, two Eastern plains towns that lost their schools.
“Schools are so important… they’re everything,” said Mitchum. “Everyone’s involved there, and if we don’t have a school, there’s no reason to stay long term. And the athletic program is critical in keeping a school.”
On Monday, about two dozen Kit Carson residents convened in the Kit Carson High School cafeteria to brainstorm ways in which they could bolster the school sports program. This was the second of such meetings in two weeks, the first focusing more on sustaining the town of Kit Carson as a whole.
Kit Carson School District Superintendent Robert Framel opened the meeting with a quote from anthropologist Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Three sheets of lined poster paper hung along the cafeteria wall behind Framel. Framel asked attendees to write down any properties in town they knew to be up for rent or for sale, to write any job opportunities they knew were available and to write any community development ideas, like fundraising events.
The KCRD, listed a property for sale, one of the many they’ve been able to construct, renovate and sell at reduced loan rates thanks to grant funding from private and state partners, like the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Due to funding pauses following the Trump administration’s HUD cuts, matched with residential energy code restrictions — which are being challenged in a Colorado Senate bill proposed this year — Johnson and Mitchum are concerned about the town’s ability to continue offering affordable homes.
“It’s a chicken and egg problem,” said Mitchum. “We need teachers and families, but with no homes, no one can move here, and then no one can work at the school or start a new business.”
The same is true for school sports. When the population dwindles, so does school attendance and athletic participation.
Sara Crawford, Kit Carson High School’s athletic director, counselor and the Junior High English teacher (grades five through eight), emphasized that in order to sustain their current programs — football, girl’s volleyball, boys and girls basketball and track and field — the school needs to field full teams in order to schedule against other schools.
“If you can play girls but you can’t play boys, schools will look to find another team to play,” said Crawfor. “Travel is expensive, and scheduling 23 or more boy’s and girl’s games in a season can be difficult.”
Framel remembers seeing towns without enough players to support a football team, and how it dampened the energy and morale of not only the school, but the entire community.
“Fall really drags on if you lose those Friday nights,” said Framel. “School sports affect more than people realize out here.”
At the meeting, Framel welcomed Kim Driscoll, a representative from International Cultural Exchange Services, an organization that coordinates international student exchange programs. She discussed the potential of bringing in foreign exchange students to attend Kit Carson High School and participate in school sports.
Driscoll recalled students visiting Eastern Colorado from Brazil, Germany and China. None of them knew how to play football, but all were experienced soccer players. By the season’s end, they were reliable place kickers on the football team.
Framel proposed inviting home-schoolers or virtual learners to participate in sports, and the group bounced around ideas of alumni events, paid online advertising and social media campaigns to raise awareness for Kit Carson and the Kit Carson School District.
According to the Colorado Department of Education, there about 10,000 students reported as homeschooled in the 2024 – 2025 season. Some rural districts which were able to access state funds by including virtual students in enrollment may lose funding by changes in the state budget.
“We need to spotlight our kids and families. We need to highlight the acceptance of our Wildcat family,” said one community member.
Framel plans on staying in Kit Carson in the near future, and he hopes that continued meetings like these will ensure the Wildcats continue to have a place on the field and on the map.
“Everyone looks forward to Fridays, everyone talks about sports… the elderly are sometimes the biggest supporters, as much as the parents,” said Framel.
“It’s not just sports for sports, but sports for community.”
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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