Oaks Plus offers our students a variety of extracurricular activities such as before and after care, clubs, and sports. Sports, in particular, provide students with a different atmosphere to learn and grow where they face new and different challenges. Offering a total of seven competitive sports throughout the school year, our Fall season is the largest with Cross Country (boys and girls), co-ed soccer, and girls volleyball.
The Oaks is one of 13 schools in the Indianapolis Independent School League (IISL), in which our Junior Varsity and Varsity Teams play. In addition to these teams, we follow a ‘no-cut’ philosophy that allows for every student that registers for a sport to be placed on a team in an in-house league. Tryouts are held at the beginning of the season so that coaches can assess the skills and abilities of players and assign them to an appropriately challenging team.
This year, our Cross Country team grew to 31 dedicated athletes, with 16 boys and 15 girls who compete to beat their own records over the course of the season in 3 kilometer races. By the end of the season, runners have spent 2 months improving their pacing and endurance. The end of the season culminates in the IISL Conference Meet, where the top 5 runners from each competing school contribute to overall team placement. Out of the 78 girls from 8 schools, we had one runner finish in the top 10, and our girls’ team placed 3rd overall. For the boys, 84 athletes from 9 schools competed, with two of our runners placing in the top 10, earning the boys’ team a 4th place finish. Impressively, 22 out of the 25 Oaks runners who participated in the meet recorded their personal best times!
In addition to the conference meet, 10 of our runners (5 boys and 5 girls) qualified for the Indiana Middle School State Cross Country Meet based on a combined group time. Unfortunately, one of our girls was unable to participate due to illness, so our girls’ team did not record a team score. Our boys’ team, however, placed 37th out of the 56 teams that competed in the meet.
This soccer season saw 78 boys and girls playing across five teams. Beyond our conference teams, this year marked a new development for our in-house soccer program. For the first time, teams were divided into different leagues Tab Rec program, allowing players to compete at their appropriate skill levels and gain valuable game experience. Our 7th and 8th grade teams (Team Green and Team Vance) competed in the 14U league on Monday nights, while our 5th and 6th grade team (Team Gillespie) played in the 11U league on Saturday mornings.
In the 14U league, Team Vance earned a bye game in the five-team tournament, while Team Green faced Team Scotland in the first round. Although they mounted a second-half comeback, time ran out before they could secure a win. Team Vance then faced Scotland and advanced to the championship game, which they won 2-1 in overtime, securing the 14U championship! Team Gillespie faced a strong opponent in the 11U tournament and was unfortunately eliminated in the first round.
In the IISL Conference, our Varsity team finished with an 8-1-1 record, while JV ended at 6-3. JV entered the tournament as the 3rd seed out of 9 teams. They won their first game against 6-seed Sycamore in an intense penalty shootout but fell to 2-seed Park Tudor in the semifinal game. Varsity was seeded 2nd out of 9 teams and fought hard to win the tournament championship, culminating in a remarkable season and a three-peat championship win.
The 8th grade students from all teams ended their season by facing their coaches and other school staff in the Staff v. Student game. Unfortunately for the students, the staff prevailed for the second year in a row with a score of 3-1.
This season, 56 girls participated across six teams. Our in-house teams (Black, Green, White, and Maroon) enjoyed the unique experience of competing against in-house teams from other schools, such as Orchard and Park Tudor. Unfortunately, our in-house season didn’t end with the usual tournament, as our opponents couldn’t participate. Instead, the girls finished with intramural games.
In the IISL conference, our Varsity volleyball team ended the regular season with a 6-4 record, while JV finished at 6-3. JV, seeded 7th out of 12 teams, made an impressive run to the semi-finals, defeating two teams before falling to 6-seed Hasten Hebrew in a close 2-1 match. Varsity was seeded 5th out of 11 teams and had a dramatic run in the tournament, with each game going to three sets. They made it to the championship game but ultimately lost in two sets, closing out a valiant effort for the season and bringing home the runner-up trophy.
To conclude the year, the 8th graders will have their chance to face off against the staff in the annual Staff vs. Students game, held before Thanksgiving Break.
Change is always challenging, especially when it may effect your children. Please share any questions or comments you have using the form below, or by emailing me directly at ahart@theoaksacademy.org.
I’ll respond to your inquiry directly and as quickly as I can.
