St. Mary’s cancels 2026 softball season amid low participation, coaching void

Storm Lake St. Mary’s will not field a softball team in 2026, a decision that cuts one more athletic option for girls at the small parochial school and underscores how quickly low enrollment and staffing gaps can shrink opportunities in Buena Vista County. School leaders said the Panthers could not move forward with a varsity season because only nine players were available and no coach had been found.

The cancellation lands hard because softball was already part of the school’s athletic calendar, not a dormant program waiting for a restart. The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union had already set the 2026 season calendar, with teams allowed to begin competition on May 18 after 10 hitting days and five fielding days in preseason. St. Mary’s will be sitting that schedule out while other schools open practice and prepare for summer games.

For the girls who were ready to play, the immediate issue is where they go now. School leaders were exploring other possibilities for students who still wanted to play, but those arrangements had not been settled. That leaves athletes and families in limbo, and it also narrows the menu of activities available at a school where one small roster issue can ripple through the entire extracurricular lineup.

The shutdown follows a difficult recent run on the field. St. Mary’s finished 0-10 in Twin Lakes Conference play and 2-17 overall in 2025, even though a May preseason preview said the Panthers were returning several players, including pitcher Neely Bacon. The contrast between that outlook and the 2026 cancellation shows how quickly a program can go from rebuilding to disappearing when participation drops and no coach steps forward.

St. Mary’s softball also carries a long history that makes the loss more noticeable in Storm Lake. The school’s athletics materials point to the 1984 Panthers, coached by Dwight Widen with assistant Deb Leslie, who finished 35-6, the most wins in school history. Against that backdrop, canceling a season is more than dropping games from a schedule. It reduces the number of places local students can belong, compete and represent St. Mary’s, and it serves as another warning sign about the pressure small schools face as enrollment and staffing constraints shape what opportunities survive from year to year.