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Low Numbers in HS Football


swvasportsnut
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15 hours ago, swvasportsnut said:

Hearing that some teams may not finish the year due to low numbers.  The Fort is one of them.................stay tuned.

I feel bad for the kids at Fort.  They replaced the best coach in school history, Stephen James, with arguably the worst coach in SWVA history, Tom Hale.  He eroded the program for several years, even though he was only there for a season.  Todd Tiller left just a few weeks prior to the beginning of the season last year after three very solid years rebuilding the damage Hale left behind.  Josh Wingate surpassed expectations in a big way in his lone season as the interim head coach.  

Those kids deserve some continuity and stability.  Five head coaches in seven years is difficult to overcome for anybody.  Based on his experience at Gate City, I'm not sure Akers is the right choice to rebuild the program.  A couple of Fort's better players transferred to Galax prior to the end of this past school year.

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16 hours ago, swvasportsnut said:

Hearing that some teams may not finish the year due to low numbers.  The Fort is one of them.................stay tuned.

And Football Season has officially begun.

 

12 hours ago, chipinbogey said:

We’re not even out of dead week and this is already a topic, really? Most schools usually don’t know what they’re REALLY working with until two a days start. 

Amen!  Preach! 

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Make no mistake, the head coaches definitely have a firm idea about what the numbers are right now.  Any of them who aren't on top of them well in advance of two a days probably aren't long for the profession.

This is a real and growing issue with a lot of contributing factors.

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23 minutes ago, GDUB said:

Wythe county should Consolidate their schools! No sense in having 3 single a schools. 

 

6 minutes ago, sixcat said:

Wythe County doesn't have 3 Single A schools!

To elaborate a bit further, consolidating Wythe County schools would result in a high school enrollment of 1,296 based on the March 31, 2018 official VHSL ADM figures.  To put that in perspective............

  • Proposed Wythe County High 1,296 (4A)
  • Salem 1,282 (4A)
  • Pulaski County 1,279 (4A)
  • Blacksburg 1,191 (4A)
  • Amherst 1,159 (4A)
  • Carroll County 1,096 (3A)
  • Christiansburg 1,046 (3A)
  • Lord Botetourt 1,028 (3A)
  • Abingdon 924 (3A)

This is a smattering of the schools that are somewhat SWVA based and would all be considerably smaller than a middle of the pack 4A Wythe County school.  The smallest 4A school in Virginia is Bassett at 1,133 and the largest is Menchville at 1,528.  With an enrollment of 1,296, a 4A Wythe County school would be almost perfectly in the middle of 4A enrollment with no shot at dropping to 3A. 

Good luck with that!

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1 hour ago, Pioneer pride said:

I know Lebanon will have low numbers. Schools should look at 8 man football. Some say that's where the state might be heading, any thoughts?

I think the smaller schools should look at it, mainly the Cumberland and Black Diamond schools. Schools like Lebanon are a different story, they've got around 500 students, they  would have no business playing 8 man ball with the schools -200.

 

Whats going on over there anyway?

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5 hours ago, GDUB said:

Wythe county should Consolidate their schools! No sense in having 3 single a schools. 

Buchanan County has FOUR single A schools. Put them together and you have 750 at the most🤦🏻‍♂️!

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Tazewell County has talked about consolidation for several years, but hasn't quite gotten to that yet.  Talk is that in the future we could see a Tazewell County East and West situation, (or North and South) however they plan the location. One school would be Richlands and part of Tazewell and the other would be Graham and the rest of Tazewell. It all comes down to busing kids over mountain terrain for long distances, and irate parents not understanding why, but it's most likely going to happen sooner or later.

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12 minutes ago, Blue 72 said:

Tazewell County has talked about consolidation for several years, but hasn't quite gotten to that yet.  Talk is that in the future we could see a Tazewell County East and West situation, (or North and South) however they plan the location. One school would be Richlands and part of Tazewell and the other would be Graham and the rest of Tazewell. It all comes down to busing kids over mountain terrain for long distances, and irate parents not understanding why, but it's most likely going to happen sooner or later.

I think if Tazewell County ever consolidates, it will be into 1, not 2.  There’s no clear geographic or logistics divide that would make the schools of equal number.  And since Tazewell County combined would be a 5A high school, with no local competition in that division, I think it will be a long, long time, potentially decades away.

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8 man football in this area would pretty much eliminate the 1a classification on this side of the state but at the same time might give smaller schools a better chance to have some success. Coaches would have to adapt in a big way if we went to 8 man and would probably keep assistant coach from getting paid and force them out of the area.

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Also I wouldn’t worry about numbers until August 1st unfortunately a lot of kids have lost the value of hard work in this day and age so off-season numbers are going to be lower

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49 minutes ago, Jags52 said:

Also I wouldn’t worry about numbers until August 1st unfortunately a lot of kids have lost the value of hard work in this day and age so off-season numbers are going to be lower

What you're seeing differs from what I'm seeing, at least locally.  Kids are working jobs to offset the lack of family funds.  Many of these kids are my daughters age (14).  I see several Twin County (Galax, Grayson, Carroll) athletes working all over the place.  Some even work in the Christmas tree farms from daylight to dark.  Several of these kids forgo athletics when school starts back and keep the job to help the family.  

I had someone tell me recently, "fumes" hurt high school athletics more than any other single thing.  Gas fumes and perfumes!

Galax began 8-man football at the sandlot level over a decade ago.  The proof is in the pudding as they say.  The results can be seen at the high school level every Friday nights.  More kids actively involved at a younger age means less quit at an older age.  Don't discount 8-man football as something that can greatly benefit SWVA.  Especially when used properly in the feeder systems.

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It is getting harder to sell football to kids that have in there mind no chance of success when trying to compete against superior teams at any level. Galax and others reloads with transfers and homegrown kids. How does teams like a Bland, Rye Cove etc. compete and how do you sell football to them. Dixon job lot easier than the coach at Twin Valley. 

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3 hours ago, Blue 72 said:

Tazewell County has talked about consolidation for several years, but hasn't quite gotten to that yet.  Talk is that in the future we could see a Tazewell County East and West situation, (or North and South) however they plan the location. One school would be Richlands and part of Tazewell and the other would be Graham and the rest of Tazewell. It all comes down to busing kids over mountain terrain for long distances, and irate parents not understanding why, but it's most likely going to happen sooner or later.

Thought I heard once upon a time that there could be an option to roll Graham into Tazewell and leave Richlands as is...Could have been just a thought someone had but the logistics of that make more sense than an east and west.

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1 hour ago, Meatchop said:

It is getting harder to sell football to kids that have in there mind no chance of success when trying to compete against superior teams at any level. Galax and others reloads with transfers and homegrown kids. How does teams like a Bland, Rye Cove etc. compete and how do you sell football to them. Dixon job lot easier than the coach at Twin Valley. 

How quickly people forget when Dixon got to Galax, they were a laughing-stock in virtually every sport.  The Galax football program had 5 total playoff victories in school history prior to the arrival of Dixon (1916-2009).  He broke that playoff win total in his second season!  Galax had a total of two team state championships prior to Dixon's arrival......both in golf!   

Dixon may have some advantages in Galax.  Most notably, Galax is the engine that supports Carroll and Grayson County and to a lesser extent, Alleghany County, NC.  Those residents come to Galax to work, shop, eat and for entertainment.  Many bring their kids and drop them off at the school while they are here.  It's been happening this way here since long before I was in school.  Most other communities see their residents leave the area for work, shopping, dining and entertainment.  

Dixon may have some advantages but he also has a talent for what he does that is rare in SWVA.  

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8 man football is probably where we r headed in Va especially in SWVA the numbers r low due to so much talk lately of concussions&concussion sendrom thst kids r backing out of playing&parents arent letting them plus lots more kids 14+ are working jobs to help support their families and for themselves sad that we have come to this point these modern times there are already many many 7on 7camps so thatstendung to 8man as well its a shame football just isnt what it used to be 

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3 hours ago, Igor 5150 said:

8 man football is probably where we r headed in Va especially in SWVA the numbers r low due to so much talk lately of concussions&concussion sendrom thst kids r backing out of playing&parents arent letting them plus lots more kids 14+ are working jobs to help support their families and for themselves sad that we have come to this point these modern times there are already many many 7on 7camps so thatstendung to 8man as well its a shame football just isnt what it used to be 

Moving to Tennessee may be best option.  If 8 man football happens in SWVA, Tennessee High is the move!

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7 hours ago, sixcat said:

How quickly people forget when Dixon got to Galax, they were a laughing-stock in virtually every sport.  The Galax football program had 5 total playoff victories in school history prior to the arrival of Dixon (1916-2009).  He broke that playoff win total in his second season!  Galax had a total of two team state championships prior to Dixon's arrival......both in golf!   

Dixon may have some advantages in Galax.  Most notably, Galax is the engine that supports Carroll and Grayson County and to a lesser extent, Alleghany County, NC.  Those residents come to Galax to work, shop, eat and for entertainment.  Many bring their kids and drop them off at the school while they are here.  It's been happening this way here since long before I was in school.  Most other communities see their residents leave the area for work, shopping, dining and entertainment.  

Dixon may have some advantages but he also has a talent for what he does that is rare in SWVA.  

Heard Bland numbers were expected to be lower than last year. I'm not sure how they field a team year after year with declining enrollment in an already small school system.much less a competitive team.  

 

Oops...responded to wrong post. Meant to quote "Meatchop" comment. 

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