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With the passing of the four-day school week for the 2010-11 school year in the North Branch School District, there is going to be plenty of changes to not just the academic side of the school, but also the athletic side.

The new school week, beginning this fall, will run Tuesday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Not only will that push regular start times of practice back by a half hour, it also leaves a void on Mondays for practice.

According to North Branch Activities Director Mike Cunningham, there will still be practices and games on Monday. Although he doesn't know what time those practices will be at yet -- he has to sit down with each coach individually to discuss it -- he does know that once the time is set, it will be that time on every Monday throughout the season. "The key is going to be consistency," Cunningham said. "No matter what time it's at during the day, it's going to be consistent throughout the season."

Cunningham also explained that Monday practices will still be mandatory for student-athletes to attend. The most likely solution for getting kids who may not have a ride on Mondays will be a carpool situation. "We're going to have to be semi-flexible here," he said. "It's going to be a learning process for everyone involved."

Cunningham has been in talks with MACCRAY and Warroad, two schools that already implement a four-day week, about how they schedule their sports.

Although the schools can help North Branch with some advice, NB is in a unique situation because they have a lot more students to deal with than MACCRAY or Warroad, and they also have more sports.

The late fall season was a little worrisome to Cunningham, and it's not something those schools can help out with. With dark falling so fast in late fall, and a limited amount of lighted fields, the junior varsity and ninth grade soccer and football teams will be in a time crunch to start their games. MACCRAY and Warroad can't sympathize, as they don't have soccer programs in those districts. "We won't have such a home field advantage if we have to schedule these games earlier," Cunningham said.

Another large concern for first-year AD is the basketball practice schedules. With so many teams and so few gyms, the schedule was already hectic in the winter time, but with even less time to work with, it's not going to be easy to figure the schedule out for the 2010-11 winter, but it's something that will have to be discussed with the basketball coaches.

Although most would be angry with the change, Cunningham is trying to take it in stride and be positive about the situation. "I don't look at it as a handicap," he said. "Over the years, sports has taught us to adapt and problem solve. It's going to be a challenge, but we're going to make it work and we're going to make it work well."

One thing that Cunningham is grateful for, however, is that the gymnastics program was saved, and no activities were cut. "We're all in agreement that we'd rather see this than have to cut programs," he said. Gymnastics was in a tight spot because all of their equipment and home floor are set up in the Main Street School. Along with the budget cuts, that school is being closed, and gymnastics was searching for a home within the district.

Cunningham said they will be moving the gymnastics equipment to the Primary School, and only some additional padding will be needed. There is still a question of where the seating will be for the crowd, but that's something that will have to be approached once all the equipment is set up. Cunningham said the North Suburban Conference is being understanding about the situation and working with the school to figure it out.

There was one other change to activities with this budget cut, but it's a relatively small one. All activity fees across the board were increased by $5 besides boys and girls hockey. Both of those sports will stay even for the next year.

With the financial burden greatening, Cunningham is turning to possible fundraising options, and he already has two that he hopes will be a big help to the activities department. The Coaches Association is no longer doing their annual golf tournament, so Cunningham wants to take that over as an Activities fundraiser and put the funds straight to the department.

Also, Cunningham is bringing some live professional wrestling to North Branch. On Saturday, May 15, there will be a pro wrestling card in the North Branch main gym. More details will be announced soon, but Cunningham is excited about the regional promotion doing their show in North Branch.

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