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Middle School and JV sports


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That Allen stadium was closed for a while because the concrete had already started cracking. I'd hate to think I spent $60+ million for something that had to be redone a year later. That joint is impressive though.

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I was in McKinney TX last week for a special event. 

On Friday, several of us met  for an informal lunch .... then decided to drive over and see the Allen, TX stadium...the 'first' TX mega HS Stadium built, originally costing around 60 million.

 

 Three of us got out of the rental car and the others stayed in the vehicle... they didn't know what would happen later.  :)

 

I had my phone out doing the video thing , as did the other two,  with mouth wide open trying to grasp the enormity of a

high school stadium of this magnitude. We, slowly, moved away from the vehicle   toward the large Athletic building ...still in utter awe of what our eyes and phones were tracking.  We approached some large glass door at the AD building...they were unlocked and one in our group walked in... we followed. We were in a vestibule viewing an entirely glass enclosed weight room with HUGE players lifting.

 

With our cell phones out taking vids...we attracted the attention of one of the coaches in the weight room and he came out to see who we were.  

 

One in our group explained we were just wide eyed spectators (one being a head FB coach ... it wasn't Mance) just wanting to see this unbelievable stadium.  The Allen coach then introduced us to another Allen coach, who asked if we wanted a tour of the facility....UH, YEAH ... we quickly accepted the offer.  

 

Now for the tour...the weight room was enormous...the equipment in there had to rival what many colleges have...we were told the players lifting that day... the large room was FULL...were only the JR and SR. defensive players lifting...the JR and SR offensive players were  studying game film  down in the bowels underneath the stadium. ( IF,  I remember correctly, the tour coach said the underneath section encompassed 20,000 s.f.)

After leaving the weight room, we entered another glass door off the vestibule...and another WOW...it was a huge indoor turf practice field...from there we proceeded out some doors into the stadium.  My mouth was just gaping open to see a HS football stadium of this size...I'm doing the video "thing" again... slowly panning the stadium while the other two were talking to the tour coach. The scoreboard was ENORMOUS.

 

The tour coach told us the band was approximately 850 members...a high school band!!!

 

As the tour coach was talking...another coach came out of the doors into the stadium...the tour coach introduced him as the Head Coach. 

The coach said they would be playing Hoover AL this upcoming season at Allen and the game would be on TV.  

 

FYI for the Gate City fans...Jeff Herron, GC grad and E&H player...new HC for the Grayson HS Rams here in Gwinnett Co. will also be playing Hoover on Oct. 28, 2016 at Hoover.

I was stationed in various parts of Texas for 4 years while in the military.  I attended several games in Austin, Killeen, Temple, Odessa, and Midland.  We never ventured up to the Dallas area but with the abundance of excellent high school football in Texas, we didn't feel the need.  

 

On a side note, Permian has a nicer practice "stadium" than any high school stadium in SWVA with the possible exception of Graham and Salem.  Look it up on Google Maps, its impressive.

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You would sooner see me on the cover of SI's Swimsuit Issue before you see any elementary schools closed under the current composition of the TCSB. The only thing remotely likely is consolidating Dudley and GIS.

 

Is either facility large enough to accommodate what would be the combined enrollment of Dudley and Graham Intermediate?  Consolidation of a local primary and elementary school was the "obvious" thing to do here until our central office "discovered" that they are both individually among the largest elementary schools in the district despite the fact that they include limited grade ranges.

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Is either facility large enough to accommodate what would be the combined enrollment of Dudley and Graham Intermediate? Consolidation of a local primary and elementary school was the "obvious" thing to do here until our central office "discovered" that they are both individually among the largest elementary schools in the district despite the fact that they include limited grade ranges.

Dudley definitely isn't. I'm fairly confident that GIS is. For the old timers, that was the site of the "old" Graham High School.

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For the old timers, that was the site of the "old" Graham High School.

 

True, but the only thing left of the "old" Graham High School is the gym...the rest of the school was destroyed by fire.

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  • 3 months later...

Portion of the original post edited out of this quote

 

As the tour coach was talking...another coach came out of the doors into the stadium...the tour coach introduced him as the Head Coach. 

 

The coach said they would be playing Hoover AL this upcoming season at Allen and the game would be on TV.

 

 

FYI for the Gate City fans...Jeff Herron, GC grad and E&H player...new HC for the Grayson HS Rams  in Gwinnett Co. GA will also be playing Hoover on Oct. 28, 2016 at Hoover.

 

 

Just saw this on the GA Board...wow, this trip is costing Hoover $90,000 to travel and play Allen in the Tom Landry Classic...

 

http://highschoolsports.al.com/news/article/307970672354533498/how-much-will-hoover-spend-to-play-in-tom-landry-classic-in-texas/?platform=hootsuite

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I thought that Wise Co. should have went to a maximum of two schools, if not one. I believe that going to two was discussed, but the setup was going to be a little odd, with the two schools virtually next door to each other. 

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I thought that Wise Co. should have went to a maximum of two schools, if not one. I believe that going to two was discussed, but the setup was going to be a little odd, with the two schools virtually next door to each other.

Numbers wouldn't have worked (looking at two large 3A/4A schools very much by themselves), and there's no nice dividing line that would give even enrollment for those schools.

 

That's why I think Tazewell County rides the 3-school systems a couple decades longer than it should.

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I was thinking more in terms of cost effectiveness/savings, not athletics. Even if you added Burton though, they would still be under 1000 each. Abingdon is at 900.Without JIB, they are under 900. Either way, it's unlikely they would ever get bigger, and if anything lose some enrollment given the economic plight of the area.  Add them to the SWD, then let them fill out the remaining schedule against some of the Kingsport, area schools who would dearly love to see their visitors stands full at least once a year, and maybe Letcher Central which is just across the mountain. 

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Not much on the knowledge of Tazewell but if you split the county into two high schools with half going to Richlands and half going to Graham I would think academics would be even better and athletics would have a football and basketball team in the state finals every year. That district would be a true beast!

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I would hate to be one of those kids that lives in Tannersville or Burkes Garden and have to ride the bus to Bluefield.  

 

On a side note.  Rumor is this is the last year of middle school sports. Supposedly next year 8th and 9th grade will be JV in Tazewell County.  Has anyone else heard this?  I know it was talked of before this year started but was shot down.

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I would hate to be one of those kids that lives in Tannersville or Burkes Garden and have to ride the bus to Bluefield.  

 

On a side note.  Rumor is this is the last year of middle school sports. Supposedly next year 8th and 9th grade will be JV in Tazewell County.  Has anyone else heard this?  I know it was talked of before this year started but was shot down.

 

At Richlands you can try out for JV as an 8th grader. So it's not much of a change other than having more depth at the JV level.

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I would hate to be one of those kids that lives in Tannersville or Burkes Garden and have to ride the bus to Bluefield.  

 

On a side note.  Rumor is this is the last year of middle school sports. Supposedly next year 8th and 9th grade will be JV in Tazewell County.  Has anyone else heard this?  I know it was talked of before this year started but was shot down.

A bunch of the Tannersville kids did and still do attend Northwood.

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A bunch of the Tannersville kids did and still do attend Northwood.

I don't blame them.  It's a long haul from Tannersville to Tazewell on a bus.  When and if they do combine schools I'd like to see them build a new one there at that "Bluestone Technology Park".  As of now the county has spent a pile of money for a walking track.  Unfortunately that hasn't developed like we would've liked.  

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I wouldn't be surprised. I think the property at Springville may be one of the biggest if not the biggest acreage wise owned by the school system. That, according to a previous principal at the school.

It's 2nd to Graham Middle. And it's probably the most structurally sound school in the county. Were it not for space considerations, Dudley would close before Springville. This I know.

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Just wish Buchanan County would look at what the rest of swva has done by consolidating schools. As of today, the enrollment for the entire county for 9-12 is 870! They are spread out over the county in FOUR high schools! (with Grundy down to 430)

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Just wish Buchanan County would look at what the rest of swva has done by consolidating schools. As of today, the enrollment for the entire county for 9-12 is 870! They are spread out over the county in FOUR high schools! (with Grundy down to 430)

Buchanan County's problem is geography. There's no real simple solution to the problem.

 

If you were going to create 2 high schools, it would make the most sense to route the Council kids to Twin Valley and the Hurley kids to Grundy. However, the numbers would still be lopsided in favor of the Grundy school; the Twin Valley school would still be A.

 

What is most sensical is to consolidate everyone into one central high school in Grundy, but that's a long (and unsafe in buses) ride from Council and Hurley.

 

This would be a monumental task fot any school board, but it's certainly too great an ordeal for potentially the most mismanaged school board in SWVA.

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