Kansas City Public schools combined two football teams last year due to low participation. With growing enrollment and a middle school feeder program, Central has its own team again this year.

In 2021, Southeast High School shut down its football team partway through a season for lack of players. Two years later, Central High School skipped an entire season for the same reason.

Now, a renewed focus in building up the team and a slight turnaround in enrollment have players putting on the royal blue and white uniforms of the Central Blue Eagles again.

That's vital for senior Coltin Ferguson, who hadn't played before but decided to seize his last chance to get involved before he graduates.

He could have played on Southeast's revived team last year, but that didn't interest him.

"I wouldn't play football if we would have had to combine with Southeast," Coltin said. "It's just a rival school."

In 2022, Kansas City Public Schools used the demise of Southeast's season as an example of the consequences of falling enrollment. Administrators called for closing some high schools, including Central, and consolidating into a few larger schools.

But Central stayed open under a scaled-back closure plan. And now, KCPS is using Central's football revival to tout rising enrollment.

Higher enrollment makes it easier to support a robust team. But KCPS athletic director Lee Meyers said it's only part of the story. He said the district has also had to figure out how to keep sports going even as more schools had fewer students.

That included launching tackle football in middle school last year to create a talent pipeline, he said, and hiring a new coach for Central who's been engaging with students for months.

While enrollment went up about 15% during the past school year, Meyers said the number of Central students playing football could double.

Interest in a sport can come in cycles, he said. Recently, more students want to "get out of the basement" and into the fresh air.

"You're just seeing more kids that either haven't played before, or weren't thinking they were going to do it, now deciding to take that jump back into some activities," Meyers said.

Shawn Bridgewater has played football since his freshman year. Wide receiver. Safety.

"I'm just an athlete through and through," he said. "I'll play any position."

He was on the combined team with Southeast last year but wasn't thrilled with the arrangement.

It was awkward to form a team with rival students, he said. As a senior, he's especially glad he doesn't have to finish out his high school career that way.

"It wasn't the same as playing with Central," he said.

Having sports teams can build a sense of school pride, instill positive values in athletes and motivate students to keep up good behavior and grades, Meyers said.

In Shawn's case, it also inspired him to speak out after KCPS included Central on a list of schools that might close.

"At the meeting, I was talking for the school, hoping they didn't close us down so we could still have our team," he said.

Coltin, who plays quarterback, was also relieved that he didn't have to switch schools again. He moved into the area from the Raytown district beginning with his sophomore year.

He said a combined school would be too big, and he appreciates the culture at Central where students are "not as preppy" and more respectful, especially to teachers.

Coach Michael Klyce said he can see players' excitement. About two dozen players have already signed up. That doesn't yet include freshmen or transfer students.

In June and July, some students were already showing up on the field for early morning training sessions, running passing drills and wearing helmets, pads and blue practice jerseys.

"Some of these kids have had a whole year and a half off," Klyce said. "July is just getting them used to wearing pads and making that contact."

KCPS is working on giving students more football experience before high school, Meyers said. It's starting its second year with middle school teams, hoping it will help more students arrive in high school interested in playing, and with some initial knowledge and skills.

That could lead to teams that skew young at first, but eventually could expand interest at all grade levels.

"We're going to see bigger numbers for our high schools now that they have a feeder program that's coming directly to them," Meyers said. "We are already seeing some fruits of our labor."

Located on Indiana Avenue and Linwood Boulevard, Central is the district's oldest high school. But it was rebuilt in the 1990s with a Greek-style theater and Olympic-sized swimming pool as part of the magnet program that came in response to court-ordered desegregation.

When they suggested that the school be closed less than two years ago, district officials said the building needed more than $14 million of maintenance, had less than 500 students and was continuing to shrink in enrollment.

The school started the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years with between 400 and 410 students, KCPS spokesperson Shain Bergan said in an email.

Central dodged closure when the plan was scaled back after community pushback.

During the most recent school year, as overall district enrollment saw a resurgence, Central's student body grew by about 14% between September and April to 467 students.

On July 31, Bergan said Central's current enrollment was 566 and fluctuating. For example, the enrollment count could drop in September as the school figures out that some students moved away or backed off on attending Central.

Meyers said it's basic math. A larger school has an easier time finding enough athletes for varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams.

It can work the other way, too, he said. A strong team can attract students. KCPS competes with local charter schools for students within its boundaries, and families can also move to suburban school districts.

Last year, East High School's soccer team won the state championship, and individual cross country and tennis athletes from Lincoln did the same. Central's basketball team made it to state.

Paseo Academy, the district's fine and performing arts school, recently brought back sports teams after more than a decade without them. It doesn't have a football team yet.

"We've got some momentum going," Meyers said. "(Students are thinking) 'Hey, things are happening. I want to be a part of it.' We always want to attract those kids ... to come back to KCPS."