footballfan08

Tough year for Grayson to Go (0-10)

Bland County Beats Grayson County 29-14

To clear up any confusion in my last post, I really wanted to sum up things by saying that you do not want to create a sense of "Jealousy" or "animosity" between team members. To clear up my statement in the first paragraph, when I was referring to teams a "few" of the HOGO "8th Grade Football Teams" having over 60 players dress out for a school like George Wythe as compared to Patrick Henry, which SOMEHOW has a "slightly" larger student enrollment than GW, but PH is lucky to have One-Third that number on the Sideline.

I think that many schools are using 8th Grade Football now as 7th and 8th Grades. So this really helps with numbers as many smaller schools cannot have eleven student athletes come out for the team and stick with it. I know this really builds programs in Wythe and Smyth Counties, as every year it seems that the "8th Grade" team from George Wythe has 60 kids on the sideline, with Rural Retreat and Chilhowie having nearly the same amount. You don't find this @ Patrick Henry and Holston usually not at Northwood even though just about everyone uses 7th Graders for football. You definitely don't see 60 kids on the sideline for "8th Grade" teams out of the Cumberland District, even though many of those schools are holding back anyway. I have never heard any complaints about talented 7th Graders stepping up and making plays in football and taking playing time away from the 8th Graders. I feel the same should hold true with Baseball. As for the issue with JSB baseball, some schools must have 8th Graders to keep enough to field a JV baseball team. Usually most 8th Graders are not as talented as high school sophomores, but a lot of Freshmen and Sophomore athletes are good enough to play sometimes even start on varsity over top of Juniors and Seniors. Many 9-10th graders may start on JV and move up if there is an injury or some type of special situation. If a freshman starts on the mound against a district rival and throws a gem, then why would anyone complain. If a senior had pitched against the same team and gave up six bombs and 15 earned runs he wouldn't expect to start against them the next time around., or most coaches would certainly use a different pitcher. You would not get any complaints out of that senior pitcher, if the freshman pitcher just won them a district title. If a student athlete has the talent and "gets the job done" you should give them the nod, as you are building a sense of teamwork and sportsmanship.