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Jenkintown is canceling the rest of its varsity football season

The school district canceled all varsity games for the rest of the season, but practice will continue.

Delco Christian defensive back Chris Chung has a fistful of the jersey of Jenkintown running back Steven Charlemagne while the Knights' Jalen Mitchell (22) moves in for a tackle during the first quarter of a state-qualifier Class A football game on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016.
Delco Christian defensive back Chris Chung has a fistful of the jersey of Jenkintown running back Steven Charlemagne while the Knights' Jalen Mitchell (22) moves in for a tackle during the first quarter of a state-qualifier Class A football game on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016.Read more

The Jenkintown School District is canceling the rest of its varsity football season over safety concerns from low participation, officials announced this week.

The high school team in Montgomery County’s smallest school district had played two games so far this season and was set to play Lower Moreland on Friday.

There were not enough players on the team, nor enough active participation, to safely play a whole season, high school principal Thomas Roller and athletic director Aubrie Breisblatt wrote in a letter to the school community Tuesday, and the team had already been forced to forfeit games.

“Continuing to compete under these circumstances would place significant physical demands on a limited number of players,” the school leaders wrote, adding that the decision had come at the head coach’s recommendation.

While the team will not play any more games this year, the program will continue to hold practices, and officials hope to rebuild the program in the future.

“Sports participation, especially at a school as small as Jenkintown, ebbs and flows over time depending on students’ interests,” school board president Carolyn Riley wrote in a text Wednesday.

”We remain very supportive of our students committed to playing football."

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