We need a good town to raise our athletic kids (Des Moines: layoffs, school districts)

[hlalbrecht]

My husband and I are getting ready to move to Iowa from Colorado. We have family in Hawarden. We plan on staying there for a while, but my question is...after that where should we go?
We have triplets that are 12, and each of them are very athletic and play club sports. Our daughters play competitive soccer and basketball, and our son plays football, basketball and lacrosse. We REALLY need to live in an area that supports lacrosse as our son has a real future in this sport.
One of our daughters has real college potential playing soccer.
My husband is experienced in Heavy equipment operating and I have experience in retail / food management.
We will be living in a suburb or small town...looking for a place with a descent amount of land.
What do you all suggest?
Thank you!

[SharpHawkeye]

First, the bad news. (I hate starting posts off this way...)

I did a little research and as far as I can tell, the only High School level Lacrosse program in Iowa is at Valley High School in West Des Moines. They accept primarily players from WDM Valley and Waukee, but also players from other metro schools on a case-by-case basis. They play in a Nebraska league, and seem to be a pretty good program.

While that limits your options, Des Moines is a great city and WDM and Waukee are nice suburbs of that city. Both school districts are good, and have just about every sport for kids. Land will likely be more available in Waukee, but it's doable either way.

[Movingrightalong...]

Originally Posted by hlalbrecht

My husband and I are getting ready to move to Iowa from Colorado. We have family in Hawarden. We plan on staying there for a while, but my question is...after that where should we go?
We have triplets that are 12, and each of them are very athletic and play club sports. Our daughters play competitive soccer and basketball, and our son plays football, basketball and lacrosse. We REALLY need to live in an area that supports lacrosse as our son has a real future in this sport.
One of our daughters has real college potential playing soccer.
My husband is experienced in Heavy equipment operating and I have experience in retail / food management.
We will be living in a suburb or small town...looking for a place with a descent amount of land.
What do you all suggest?
Thank you!

IowaPreps.com - IowaPreps.com Football Archives

Here's a link to the Iowa State High School Football Champs by year. I'd probably look at these communities. With both the Univ of Iowa and Iowa State in its borders, if he's decent and can land a scholarship he has the opportunity to play big time football against big time opponents close to home.

[schneid75]

Okay, if you are stuck on Lacrosse. Waukee and Valley are you two best choices. I want to Waukee and lived in WDM. I know many of the current coaches at both schools. Waukee's girls BBALL coaches are OUTSTANDING! When the previous coaches left around 2004, they said Waukee wouldn't get to state in their lifetimes. 3 or 4 years later they moved to 4A and got deep in the playoffs. Girls soccer, they are really similar but Valley has a slightly better tradition.

As for your son, Lacrosse would limit him to these two schools. Basketball-wise, Valley has no tradition with basketball, but they have a promising young coach who started at Iowa for four years under Steve Alford. As where Waukee has a more established coach. Coach Woodley is a part of an Iowa coaching dynasty and has Pac-10 assistant coaching experience with Washington State. After this season, Waukee will have pumped out three D-1 basketball players in three years. (Drake, Creighton, Lehigh) Football-wise, Valley currently has the HUGE edge. But your son is only 12, so it is important to look 5 years down the road. Valley's head coach is getting a bit older. I don't know Gary Swenson, so I don't know his retirement intentions. Coach Carlson at Waukee has been there for 16 years(ish) and is still only in his mid 40s. All but one member of his staff is younger than Carlson. So Waukee will have more money and possibly more stability over the next 5-6 years.

Either way, you REALLY can't go wrong. Two outstanding schools and towns that garner both great fan support and recruiting attention. Waukee will soon have better overall funding, but Valley will likely have better facilities in the short term. Best of luck in your decision, make sure you pick the right school for the kids academics rather than athletics. If they take care of business off the field, they are more likely to excel on the field.