sixcat

Abingdon Central Gate City Union Graham Richlands Giles J.I. Burton Castlewood Eastside Hancock Co Chilhowie Patrick Henry George Wythe Narrows Galax Oklahoma Florida Virginia Tech Texas A&M Colorado Alabama Miami Baltimore Minnesota Pittsburgh Denver Dallas Green Bay GotW Hurley 52

The runs are impressive but watching the Abingdon kids avoid any contact whatsoever with Cousin is quit telling.

1. Richlands 2. Union 3. Graham 4. Pulaski 5. Abingdon 6. Galax 7. Hurley 8. Grundy 9. George Wythe 10. Patrick Henry GS

Galax had several 4th down conversions on a drive that lasted almost a quarter.

I believe that's part of the parent's issue. Why trade a 10 mile trip to Glenvar for a 70 mile trip to Buena Vista for the same result?

I think to a larger degree, this is true for most state and local elections, especially this year. For example, what is currently happening in Charlotte and what has happened in the recent past with the "bathroom bill" will have a far greater affect on North Carolina election results than the presidential race this year. Those results tend to have a far greater local impact than who occupies the White House anyway.

I would be willing to bet some folks in Eastern Montgomery county aren't going to be very happy. They are already upset with the decision to leave the Three Rivers for the Pioneer which will be a sizable athletic budget increase. Adding Hurley to the travel schedule isn't going to sit real well, I would imagine.

Setting aside all the posturing filling this thread and a few others lately, if Hurley and Galax meet in the playoffs, Hurley will have coach Dixon's undivided attention.

I wouldn't know for certain but I would agree, 175lbs seems a little much for that age. My daughter is a 6th grader and I wouldn't expect any of her classmates to be squating that much.

A dad of a Galax 6th grader?

Exactly. Dixon doesn't have 6th and 7th graders lifting serious weight. It's more about learning the proper technique before high school.

From what I understand from coworkers with sons in the program, Mark Dixon starts the Galax kids when they reach middle school. He spends quite a bit of time teaching proper technique. I do not believe they get into actual "strength training" until he is certain they have a good understanding of what they are doing to avoid injury.

By all outward appearances, Galax has fixed the issues they were experiencing between August and early September. If this is indeed the case, I believe they will beat Giles by a couple of scores. DIxon is the most prepared coach in SWVA. By having two weeks to prepare puts Giles at a severe disadvantage. Dixon has said many times in recent months, the second half of the Giles game is where everything clicked for this team last season. The following story was passed along to me by two coaches and a co-worker who has a son on the team. The Rural Retreat game is something you don't see too often nor have coaches admit to publicly. Dixon was so frustrated with certain dad's, he didn't coach and allowed the kids to call their own plays for the entire second half. I am not sure if they even gained a first down! If the intent was to get certain people to back off, it worked.

I haven't seen the first Clinton sign in the Twin County area. I don't think that is a reflection on how voting will go locally. I do feel like Trump will carry this area but not by as large a margin as one might expect given the outward support for Trump.

1 Richlands 2 Abingdon 3 Pulaski County 4 Graham 5 James Monroe 6 Union 7 Galax 8 Giles 9 George Wythe 10 Hurley

Nice! I got up after making a tackle in Fries one time with a wire coat hanger sticking through my jersey and into my lower back. Still have a nasty raised scar. Dr. Vuurmans gave me a tetanus shot on the sideline. That would never happen in today's society. Dr. Vuurmans would lose his license, school administration and the coaching staff would be fired and my mother would go to jail. Okay, okay, maybe a little hyperbolic but not that much!

That isn't the only problem but it has been a huge issue. The hillside and tree coverage limits sunlight for a large portion of the day. That has the biggest impact on bermuda. Several industry professionals strongly recommended Grayson not go with bermuda but the former superintendent was insistent.

I completely forgot about Jordan Vaughan from Galax. He is a senior DB at Concord.

Yes, Galax uses the field for soccer games. Practices are held in Felts Park.

Bermuda has been attempted at other local facilities in the past. For various reasons, it doesn't remain healthy in this area as it does in North Carolina and closer to the Bristol area. A couple of golf courses experimented with it at one time to no avail. Grayson County installed it a few years ago and have had an extremely difficult time with it. They are looking at alternatives.

Mitchell is one example they are using. I wouldn't blame you for making Mitchell unusable prior to the next time Galax comes to town. All joking aside, given the people associated with this endeavor, I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn the results of the last two times Galax played at Mitchell are a contributing factor. Richlands, Ridgeview and Honaker are the other facilities being used as examples. As I stated before, I don't believe taxpayer dollars payed for any of these facilities, at least not directly. Please, correct me if I am wrong. Galax simply stopped taking care of the field in an effort to garner support for turf. The lack of transparency and honesty has bit them in the ass.

Not a lot of remaining room for a field house. There has been some talk of backfilling the lower parking lot behind the end zone up to the level of the playing field and building a field house there. I'm not sure if this "talk" is serious but that would be a significant investment in material. Based on Google Earth elevations, about 200,000 cubic yards of material would be needed. Or, to put it another way, about 25,000 dump truck loads at about $300 a load.

In my opinion, the field itself doesn't need improving, it needs better attention and maintenance. For a fraction of the yearly cost of turf, they could hire a professional landscaper to care for the grass. As for improved facilities, I agree. Lighting, concessions, restroom and visitor seating all should be improved before the field itself. My biggest concern in this matter is the fact that school board members are appointed by city council rather than elected by the voting public. This process amounts to what could effectively be defined as "lifetime appointments". In the rare occasion a position on school board does come open, an application must be submitted to city council. City council then actively recruits against anyone they feel would be "difficult to work with", or, as I like to put it, not a member of the good ole boy system. I know this to be fact because when a friend of mine applied for an open seat on school board, a coworker was approached to fill the vacant seat because the person applying was "an outsider". The "outsider" decided instead, to run for an elected city council position. He was elected to council and has been a thorn in the collective side of the "good ole boy network" ever since.

This is going to be a bit more pointed than the title indicates. I have been researching various stadiums and other athletic facilities throughout SWVA recently based on some political issues locally. I have become fascinated by the circumstances surrounding some of the regions best facilities. For a little background, the Galax City School Board is trying to push a resolution through in order to resurface the football stadium with FieldTurf. The issue I have isn't the unnecessary nature of the request but more in terms of the misinformation, lies and half-truths being put forward by certain members of School Board and the division superintendent in an effort to get what they clearly want. First, a school board member has used several far SWVA facilities as examples of what they would like to have done. What this person fails to inform the remaining school board members and the general public is the fact that each and every facility mentioned was not funded by local tax dollars, at least not the ones I have been able to research. And another isn't owned by the school system (Graham). It isn't an apples to apples comparison and they are asking a relatively poor community like Galax to foot the bill for a million dollar upgrade that isn't a necessity. Second, they are claiming to be able to have the entire project cost "a little more than $600,000". Another half-truth because the field turf alone will cost that, if not more. My best educated guess would be closer to $800,000. That would cover the turf and nothing more. Stormwater management would also have to be brought up to meet current Virginia regulation before necessary permitting would be granted for construction to begin. As a general rule of thumb, stormwater costs an average of 50% of the remaining project. Therefore, if the turf costs 800k, the stormwater measures would be an additional 400k for a project total of 1.2 million dollars. Third, studies show a significant health risk associated with kids playing on these surfaces from increased injury to the carcinogenic nature of the "rubber dust" lining the bottom of the field. There are more than a thousand lawsuits nationwide associated with the later. Forth, they had an article posted in the Galax Gazette where coach Dixon asked the Miami Dolphins to provide community support grant money to pay for the field. They were denied and told Miami isn't in the region covering Galax. This is purely and effort to distract the general public into thinking the turf will be funded by outside dollars when, in fact, it will be entirely funded by taxpayer dollars. Fifth, the school system has far more pressing needs than artificial turf for the football field. The school system hasn't given much effort to maintain the grass facility they currently have. I realize the field isn't in great shape but, in my opinion, no effort has been made to get the field in better condition because the worse it looks, the more likely they are to get turf. I would love information on how other communities have handled these issues in the past. Thanks for listening/reading.

From Galax: Steven Peoples - Virginia Tech Caleb Spurlin - Appalachian State Joseph Dixon - Liberty Zamir Eacheagaray - Ferrum Charles Harris - Bluefield Plenty more can be found in the following thread. http://www.swvasports.com/ipb/index.php?/topic/32450-locals-in-college/