The LeRoy-Ostrander football program is hoping a little patience pays off in the long run.

Faced with the prospect of having just one upper classman and a bevy of potentially overwhelmed freshmen and sophomores on next year’s squad, the Cardinals decided to take a pass.

LO recently decided to not have a varsity football team in the fall of 2015, but the Cardinals plan to be back on the varsity field in 2016.

“We’ve been tracking our numbers for the last few years and we knew we would be low next year,” LO head football coach and principal Aaron Hungerholt said. “We thought it would be in the best interest of the football program if these kids could play at their same age level for a year.”

Hungerholt and other members of LO’s football committee felt the squad might lose even more players if it fielded a team next season. The team would have likely struggled at the varsity level and injuries may have scared some kids away from the sport. So instead, those players will play a JV schedule for LO next season.

The team will have the same coaching staff as the varsity squad had. The only difference is it will play on Monday nights against other underclassmen from other schools.

“We’re looking at this as a positive for the program,” Hungerholt said. “We could’ve had a varsity, but then you take the risk of kids not going out the next year because they got hurt or didn’t have success.”

The Cardinals are coming off a season that saw them go 1-8 overall, and LO hasn’t had a winning season since 2006. LO does have around 15 players that will be ninth and 10th graders next season and Hungerholt is hoping those players will learn a lot more playing in competitive games instead of struggling against older players.

“Nobody likes to lose a varsity program, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” Hungerholt said. “We’re trying to get a program turned around and this is what’s best.”

Hungerholt is in a unique position as he is a football coach and a football parent. He has two football playing sons — Trey and Trent — who will be freshmen next Fall. Trey played varsity basketball this past winter for the Cardinals, but Hungerholt said football is a much more physically demanding sport.

“I have the neat perspective as a parent and a coach,” Hungerholt said. “Football is physical and I don’t know if ninth graders are ready for this. This will be a great opportunity for them to play kids at their own age and hopefully have some success and get in the weight room.”