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I know when my wife ( at the time ) and I decided to have our first child back in the early 80's that if we had a son ( had a beautiful girl ) that I would not push him to play football, and in fact, try to nudge him toward a more none contact sport ( if he decided to play sports ) because of what I have had to deal with, which has gotten worse as I get older. ( now 61 turn 62 in July ). But if he really wanted to play, then of course I would help him any way I could. I started playing football when I was 7 in Maryland and continued through high school at Richlands. I transferred here back in the mid 70's. My parents were from Richlands and moved to Aberdeen Md in 58 after they got married for work but would get homesick every time we came back to visit family, anyway I digress, I also played baseball and had a couple of small injuries, but most of my issues have come from the sport I absolutely love........football. I have had 3 knee surgeries, 1 ACL, 1 MCL and 1 to remove the meniscus from my right knee, I am now told that I will have to have a total knee replacement on my left knee. I recently had a total shoulder replacement done to my right shoulder ( done by Dr Hommel in Bristol - highly recommend him ) because of 2 shoulder separations and 1 dislocation on my right shoulder, and I suffer from migraines and vision issues that the Dr's at UVA say are more than likely from the concussions I "probably" had from football. I say probably because back in the days I played, ( and I am sure a lot of you old guys on here know about this } they were simply called "getting your bell rung " and you were very often told to "suck it up and get back in there" which is what I wanted to do. I don't blame my coaches because they did not have the info back then of course that they have now. Now let me say this, I still would not change my years of playing football ! I learned so much about life and how to push myself and made some fantastic friends because of football and still have a love for the sport, but I do understand why some parents do not want their kids playing and maybe nudge them in a different direction or to flag football. I also think that maybe flag football for the younger kids is a good idea. One of my knee injuries and I of my shoulder separations were during youth football. I just would not want my son ( if I had one) to have to deal with the pain and surgeries and other issues that I have to deal with, and will probably have to deal with for the rest of my life. But I guess each parent has to make that decision for them selves. But you know, saying all of that..........if I had do it over again, as I sit here and think about this, I think I would still want to play ! God I loved being on that field with my teammates ! Sorry about the long post just wanted to give my perspective.

Ive got a bad knee, back injury (that has healed with time and daily stretching) and a bad shoulder(both are damaged but my left more so) from playing football. Also a few other injuries from weightlifting(one of which actually bothers me more than any other injury). As far as concussions, well I got my bell rung a few times, I'm no Doctor but those were without a doubt concussions. I didn't play football until 7th grade so I cant speak on the effects of little league. I think for the game of football it would be better to play only flag until they're 12 years old: too many bad habits are formed and too many players lost from sitting on the sidelines or being told "just block somebody". Better to play 7 on 7 flag and keep them interested in the game. I wouldn't trade my playing experience for anything. I wasn't the best player but what the game taught me and gave me, is still giving me, is irreplaceable and without a doubt made me the man I am today. Well worth the injuries and long term effects to me.

I played four years of Little League back in the day when the Richlands program had only 4-teams (Richlands Green Waves, Richlands Golden Eagles, Cedar Bluff Blue Devils, and Jewell Ridge Red Raiders) those were fun years full of many good memories, but I also played a lot of flag football later in life. I, like many others, feel that flag football at the younger age would be a good way to go. Back in our time, you couldn't play Little League until you were 8 yrs. old, and we really smacked the heck out of each other, but fortunately there were no bad injuries that I can recall, just good old fashion hard nosed football. Maybe we're just starting our youth league at to early an age, and when they start let them play flag for the first couple of years. Maybe hold off on tackling until they reach the age of 12 would be a good way to go, in my opinion.

Until Middle School , kids should be playing flag football. Number one, young kids don’t need to be wearing full gear & tackling, etc. Number two, too many little league coaches don’t teach proper technique then coaches in middle & high school have to try and correct it. That’s no easy feat sometimes. All this just my humble opinion.

I'm not sure why some are mad about this game, shouldn't have ended this game too begin with. TW is different story though.

Yikes! That was a bit crazy.

I have to disagree on the flag football being safer. My sons played flag football where we lived prior to moving to VA. There were way more injuries without the pads. I saw more head injuries, busted mouths, teeth knocked out (even with a mouthpiece in), and broken clavicles were often seen. Kids still collide hard into each other in flag football and there is nothing there to protect them. I'm of the opinion to play with pads and try to teach correct technique in tackling and blocking. This was when they were 5-7 years old, then they went into pads at eight.

You'd have to be 20 points better to beat Paintsville in KY would be the only problem

Ricky is a top notch guy and a 100% improvement in administration for Richlands. Ronnie Davis a welcome addition to Graham High School as AD & teacher. It’s good when you have some coaches in the school system that interact with kids in school setting IMO.

I can speak to “concussions.” I’ve had 6. And the damage it has done has made me lean towards not letting my son play when he’s old enough. I know how hard the mood swings, panic attacks and questionable thoughts feel on a personal level, and know what they do to my family and friends. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.

At one time the Richlands little league football program was a well oiled machine. I can't speak to the status it is now but 8 or 10 years ago it was doing good. Richlands hosted the Big Blue Bash as an end of season tournament that was always a lot of fun and attracted some great teams. You are 100% right. If the feeder program fails so will the high school eventually. Travel basketball, soccer, baseball, knitting, and whatever else travel team parents can come up with has crushed youth football. Not to mention "concusions". I'm old school and I have always been part of the tackle football or nothing crowd. Im not so sure the folks that push flag football for 6 year olds may be on to something as hard as it is for me to admit.

Mr. Vencill will be missed at THS. I'm sure he is glad to be back home at RHS. Whoever gets the coaching job has a lot of work to do. The cupboard isnt empty, but supplies are running a tad low. Ronnie Davis is the new A.D. at Graham, so he wont be returning to RHS. Good addition for Graham to have him in that role.

You mean you have to take in consideration several factors such as your geographical location, available date, travel time, and gate money? I thought every team would just set a date no matter the location and base it solely on competition.

It's not ever going to happen, but I would like to see all the Wise Co teams + Burton play each other every year.

Union playing two Cumberland teams is a joke. If they are lucky enough to beat Graham and win the region, you can forget playing at home in the semifinals. That schedule won't outpoint Appo or whoever comes out of C. I'd rather play someone with a pulse and lose than this, how does this help get ready for the playoffs?

The prominent Lee County businessman: