NORWICH – Norwich’s athletic director reported increased participation, high academic achievement and the impact of the building project in an update to the school board last week.

At the Norwich City School board of education meeting on Oct. 21, Athletic Director Steve Griffin gave board members a status update on the fall athletic season.

According to Griffin, a total of 323 student athletes participated in the nine athletic programs fielded this fall. He broke this total down into 155 girls competing as a part of 11 teams, and 168 boys on seven teams.

“Last year I set a goal to improve communication lines,” said Griffin. He reported that, in an effort to increase participation in the athletic offerings, sign-ups had been conducted during the lunch period starting last May.

Once those sign-ups were completed, sports physicals were scheduled. To further open the lines of communication, Griffin said, he himself made reminder phone calls to each student household before practices began on Aug. 18.

“The building project created a challenge,” said Griffin, but students and coaches responded well and without complaint.

Because team locker rooms were not ready for the early part of the season, swimmers wore their suits under their clothes to practice and football players changed in shifts.

“Our JV and Varsity volleyball teams faced the largest challenge,” explained Griffin. Not only did these teams face a lack of practice space, but their season schedule was changed as well.