I wonder if the difficulty could be the reputation that Wise has with football coaches.
I still think that if they got a coach and admin would get out of the way Central could be a force in the area.
I can see sports like basketball, baseball, and volleyball going more home school/ club team oriented because of the travel system already in play it would be easy to do. However football is a different animal. The money needed to start that up is more that any of those other sports. The cost to play on a true travel 11 on 11 real football team would be insane. Helmets alone are getting close to the $350 range and that is for the Riddell speed (which the kids now a day think is a bad helmet) to get the "Cool" Helmet would cost you more like $500. A normal pair of shoulder pads are going to run you $200. When you add practice gear, jerseys, pants, ect. That adds up quick. Game Jerseys are around $160 for the top and around $100 for the bottom. At the end of the day you are asking these families to foot $1500 bill at a minimum just for equipment to play the sport. Then you have to think about insurance because no one in their right mind would run a club football team with out it. I am not sure what that cost but considering the nature of the sport I would say it is not cheap. The next question is where are that going to play? Its pretty easy to find a gym to play AAU basketball in or a massive baseball complex to play games at. However there are not as many Football fields that are open on Fridays and or Saturdays. If I was in charge of a high school you wouldnt be using my on campus field to play considering your club team is killing my biggest money maker. How are you going to fill out a coaching staff and where does that money come from. If you have been in the school system for lets say 15 years and you are a Head Coach right now you are making around $50,000-$60,000. That would probably be a minimum of what you would have to pay a current Head Coach to run your club team. You got to fill out your staff as well if you pay a supplement like that high schools currently do I would cost another $15,000 to $20,000. Honestly I do think you could pull it off in a large city where you may have a community field and enough people to fund raise but in SWVA I think we are safe for a while because we dont have the money or the infrastructure to pull that off.
This is correct for football, but I see the day coming soon when some high school programs may combine just for football. Twin Springs and Rye Cove for example. The schools would stay open but they would field one team.
There was a time when you didn't have to move around too much as a High School football coach, not so now because a coaches life span seems to generally be shorter.
The expectations are definitely higher now at most places. High level championships are expected early and everyone thinks their kid is the next superstar because they were good in 7 on 7s.
With all sports becoming basically year round and the rat race to keep up with the Jones(even if it's not productive or really necessary) it can be very time consuming.
From everything I’ve seen as an outsider, (no kids and not in the school system) the booster programs probably need to be revved up more so than they are not. But that has its own unintended consequences for one making the coaches year round fund raisers. Like our members of Congress.
It’s just not a high school issue. Good coaches are disappearing at the college level too.
I'm not an Alabama fan but I did become a Saban fan. He was great for college football and he adapted as the game kept changing around him. I admire the job he did having to replace coordinators on a yearly basis. I enjoyed watching his teams play but I did notice that he didn't seem to have the same fire in him the last couple of years. He said it was a constant grind and I also think NIL got to him but the man is like 72 years old.
I’ve read NIL is getting to a lot of coaches, but it’s been in the SEC the whole time Sagan was there. The transfer portal on the other hand is the big game changer. It’s basically made frequency a 12 month thing in CFB.
I’ve always wondered something. How has gw remained in class 1 when there’s a population of ~8,000 in wytheville. Some counties barely have that amount in our area and still have schools in the county that are class 2. Always seemed odd to me
They also must have some Augusta County level line drawers! Lol
I think the playoff situation is certainly a contributing factor but it's more than that.
Region 6A only has 11 schools while Region 6B has 19. Region 5B only has 10 schools. Class 5 only has 48 schools while Class 6 has 60. VHSL breaks down regions within Class 5 and Class 6 to pacify those schools that balk at having to travel 20 miles for a regional contest. It has nothing to do with balance and everything to do with those large schools expecting everyone to cater to them. If VHSL had a backbone and made a 5 Class system, broken down with even distribution of Regions, a lot of ths knucklehead stuff that takes place within the playoff format would solve itself. Schools like Freedom-Woodbridge would complain about having to travel 40 miles to Briar Woods for a regional battle but they will get over it. Now factor in Freedom-Woodbridge is 6B with 1,600 students and Briar Woods is 5D with 1,400 students, it makes even less sense.
I thought it was established here years ago that sense and the VH$L shouldn’t be in the same sentence! Lol
First of all, if it’s true that a coach and or school administration can say yes or no to what officials show up that is a joke and the VHSL needs to fix that immediately. I haven’t watched the game in question and probably won’t so I won’t comment on specifics of it just posts here. Like @sixcatsaid, who is going to want to officiate games for what they are paid. These schools are getting what they pay for. I’ve looked at doing it as I know there is a massive shortage of refs. But there is no way I’d put up with RV, Central, and Union fans for what refs around here are paid for each game.
Most transfers are relocations with one or both parents residing in the county. That's just the truth. There are exceptions. I've went into detail about this before as we looked at relocating for my eldest's senior year. We were "recruited' by 3-4 schools and all of them stated that one of the parents would need to relocate. Nothing else was said about that and all the coaches deferred to the school's principal. Money was never discussed, nor did I bring it up. Don't know what would have happened if I did to be honest. There is a lot of hyperbole around this subject.
I used to be a die-hard anti-transfer guy but I have changed my view considerably. There are numerous viable reasons to transfer and there are some reasons that aren't. A QB with considerable arm talent transferring for developmental improvement is a smart decision. There are tons of kids that missed scholarship money due to playing for inept staffs and didn't see it as their duty to prepare their talented kids for next level opportunities or due to archaic offenses (QB running a single wing).
As for those kids who transfer for bad reasons....that usually washes out. Sometimes both parties are the better for the parting.
All I know is that the Blues are gonna draw interest, especially if they run a "fun" offense that showcases skill. For those who say you can't win with a passing offense.......Radford says you can. Ridgeview was on that path until they self imploded with the coaching change. Honaker made it to the Final Four before losing to the eventual state champs....but it was their defense that let them down...not the high flying passing offense. If the past, those talented basketball kids didn't play football....too skinny. Those kids are now WRs and DBs and are flying up and down the field. Skill and speed kill.
I’m glad that no money was discussed but this is going to change over the next decade. Not necessarily in the M7 or SWD. I believe kids from this area with d1 talent will get looks from DB where there will be money. Also the big Ky schools will not hesitate to pay a kid.
I believe the school that figures out how to get to 50/50 run pass will become the dominant school in region d. I’m assuming it’ll eventually be Graham because of the talent pool, but Union, Gate City, and especially Abingdon can’t be ruled out.
I don't favor the transfer deal, but at this stage Richlands needs all the talent they can pick up. As student numbers show, Richlands should have a bevy of talent compared to other area schools, their just not playing. IMO the coachinf staff needs to make it a point to visit all the classes especially the phys. ed at both the high school and middle school to find potintial players and let them know if they come out and have talent, they will get to play, no matter their life situation. It's hard for a player to come to every practice, work their butt off to prove they are good enough, and then end up sitting on the bench because of the parents social status. Many will say that hasn't happened, but many will man up and tell you that this has been the situation sense Mance left, and maybe some of it even occured during his last few years. Play Talent not prestige! Play Talent not daddy ball!! Play Talent not Buddy Ball!!!
The last part of your post is a violation is SWVA protocols. Daddy ball and social status are what’s most important. Lol
Paintsville knocked them out that year they played Ridgeview with the QB that went on to play for Kentucky. But yeah, typically Pikeville has had their number. Hazard knocked them out in 2020 on a very wet muddy field that didn't fit well with their style of offense that year, or else we could be talking about five straight for Pikeville.
Pikeville has built an impressive program, and they are a magnet for athletes at the moment.
There are so many things this is evident with them on. I don't think the school board has any fans from any of the three schools from what I know. The superintendent does what he wants regardless of what anyone suggests to him but yet he has no spine to stand and make a firm decision either way. Still trying to figure out how that works
Are you all referring to Tazewell or Dickenson county?
We have the same issues over here. But when they get rid of somebody, the next family member will get the job or whoever was incompetent enough will fail upward.
Having been to 2 games and a bluegrass event there this year. Bullet park is where Union should be, but the next major investment will probably be in turf. I love the grass field but also know the expenses may force their hand sooner than later.
The NFHS needs to authorize the ear pieces like they have in the NFL. I wouldn’t think they’d be that expensive. That’d cut down on a lot of those types of issues.
4th and 3 at the 3 and getting stopped was the game ender. Union couldn’t stop Clemens but Graham couldn’t really stop Anderson either. Bears had their chance to create some distance that they sorely needed and couldn’t do it. Graham made their big plays count, Clemens gonna need some ice tomorrow tho. Kid touched the ball on almost every single Graham play. He’s a monster.
Pretty much how the pack felt last year. Every time you think you’ve got ’em he hits a big one on you.
Credit Graham. I'm surprised Union lost. 100%. Playing down there and with Union's ability on the LOS and athletically, very shocked. I thought the game would get away from Graham and Union would win by 13 to 16 points.
Going to be much more Union and Graham action in the next 2 years..or more
Probably true but I think RV and Tazewell may have a bit to say about that next year as well.
People can say what they want but witnessed th a t last week as well. Bad when Tazewell, Richlands, Graham and even a Lee Co fan were fussing about the non calls on holding
But Ridgeview fans are just whining when they see holding at the park. Lol
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At the current set up I see Union and Ridgeview dropping in 10-20 years if not sooner.