NORWAY — At its July 22 board of education meeting, Norway-Vulcan Area Schools unanimously approved girls tennis as a fall sport option beginning with the 2020-21 school year.

The sport, which was available in the past in the district, was brought back due to there being enough interest, said Joe Tinti, high school principal and athletic director.

“We had several students and several parents of those students reach out to us, to express that they’d like to play and would continue to do so for the foreseeable future,” Tinti said. “Without the interest and commitment from the students and parents, we wouldn’t have added the sport.”

The district has hired Cassandra Gustafson to coach the team. Gustafson is a physical education teacher in the district.

Tinti also notes that he has secured a handful of meets for Norway to compete in, with the hopes of acquiring more to add to the schedule.

With their current enrollment, Norway would be placed in Division 2 of U.P. girls tennis by the MHSAA. The Lady Knights will join seven other schools: Bark River-Harris, Gwinn, Iron Mountain, West Iron County, Ironwood, Ishpeming and Munising.

Norway is scheduled to open up the season at Kingsford on Aug. 19, with the team’s first home meet scheduled for Aug. 27.

The team will practice and play their home matches at Marion Park.