SLEEPY EYE — It’s official.

After years of talks between the two schools, Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s and Sleepy Eye High School have agreed to have a co-op for the varsity football teams, beginning in 2023.

The team will be known as Sleepy Eye United and as of now, there’s no nickname for the team. The uniform colors will be anthracite (a dark shade of charcoal) with green, orange and white accents on the jersey. The elementary programs had the same jerseys last fall after becoming unified. The junior high teams will be combined this coming fall and then it will move to the varsity age in 2023.

“I think probably the spring [of 2021] is when we had our discussion on it and we basically agreed that we would do it after two more years of being 9-man ourselves,” St. Mary’s Activities Director Bruce Woitas said Thursday.

As of now, St. Mary’s has a 9-man program and Sleepy Eye High School plays 11-man in Class A. The two schools will still qualify for Class A status once they combine the program, but that could change down the road.

Because of Minnesota State High School League rules, one of the schools has to become the host school and that will be Sleepy Eye High School. The plan is to have two home games at both St. Mary’s and SEHS and playoff games will probably alternate on a game-by-game basis.

The plan also says that the host school of that week’s game will get to keep the money raised from concessions, but the money raised from the gate will be added to the SEU Football Booster Club, which benefits both schools and is designed to offset costs.

Also, a head football coach will be named after the fall of 2022 seasons are over and the schools will consult on hiring assistant coaches.

As of now, the district alignment is unknown. There are plans in place to organize a booster club, SEU Football Booster Club, and volunteers from both schools will be on the club. There will also be a combined pep band from both schools at home games and both school songs will be played. Cheerleaders from both schools will also collaborate to form one squad.