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DAWG1

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  1. I believe this is a true statement, but this sort of ideology is prevalent throughout that county and not only concerning football.
  2. I only brought up the cheerleader issue because it is a sign of support by the school. I have been to many JV and Varsity games and the home team always had JV cheerleaders and every away Varsity team also had cheerleaders. If you want to make Friday nights special then that means cheerleaders and bands at every game, even if it is a spirit band for away games. I know the difficulties with this because of band competitions on Saturdays but where there is a will there is a way. If you have seen games in Texas and other parts of the country you would see how a school truly supports a football team. It takes effort which at this time the school or community are not willing to make.
  3. Dixiefan1 brought up some valid points. The attitude towards football in Grant county is the main reason why football has and will continue to struggle in Grant county. There is a serious disconnect between the Boosters and the high school team. The boosters won't give any money to the high school because the boosters believe not enough high school parents are working bingo, which is the main money maker for the boosters. There are 2 people with voting rights that have a child in the high school program. The other 6-8 people do not have any kids at any level playing football and 1 other member has a child in the youth league. High school parents do not want to work bingo because most of them believe the boosters are not being run by honest people. There are no checks and balances when it comes to the boosters financial books. The boosters determine who coaches in the youth league, even though there is a youth league board of directors. The boosters support the youth league but only if the boosters get to have the final determination in youth league matters. The youth league, which is run by the boosters, play their games on school property. The district should have told the boosters to fund the high school football program or the youth league would not be allowed on school property for practices or games. This may have hurt the youth in the county but I believe it would either bring both sides to the table or force a change in the leadership within the booster organization. Most successful teams come in on Saturdays to watch the previous night's game film but in Grant county the parents will not bring their child because they believe it is not necessary. Cheerleaders do not attend away games and they do not cheer for home JV games. The school truly does not know what it means to support their football program. Little things like not having cheerleaders for away varsity games and home JV games show that the school really doesn't know what it means to support the team.The football field was built poorly years ago which causes it to drain improperly. Artificial turf is needed not only for football but all sports and activities would benefit from the turf. I believe when Grant county moves into the new district Highlands, Cov Cath, and Dixie Heights it will hurt the program. The numbers of kids participating will decline and the interest in football will shrink even more. Going independent would have allowed a better record and confidence could have been built, which is necessary to build a winning program. Some say that by going independent would admit failure but when you are trying to build a program it is about confidence and high participation rate. I hope they can turn it around in Grant county but it is going to take people in power to make tough decisions.
  4. Grant County chose not to go because the league they were and continue to be in is being run people who do not want to give up control. The President and Vice-President, who also ran the Grant County Booster program told them that if they left for Boone County than the Boosters would cut off all funding. These people have no kids at any level playing football in Grant County. On a side note, the Grant County Football Boosters chose not to fund the Grant County High School football team this year and also are not funding the Middle school this year. They chose not to fund it because high school and middle school parents were not volunteering to work bingo. Parents are staying away because no one on the Boosters Executive Board have kids playing ball at any level. 90% of the voting body of the Boosters do not have kids playing at any level. Parents are also afraid that the Boosters are not a transparent organization. The organization brings in over a million, yes I said a million, dollars at their bingo every year. After paying the bingo players their winnings and the rest of their bills they have about 90k left to fund the youth league, middle and high school programs. The Boosters do not have an accountant and their treasurer does all their tax forms. The Boosters treasurer was recently found guilty by the State of not keeping receipts for many so called food purchases and other expenses. This same treasurer is still the acting treasurer. Parents do not want to be a part of an organization with questionable accounting procedures and is run by people with no vested interest in football in Grant County. A sad time in Grant County for sure.
  5. My mistake, the GC band took 3rd in state this year. Go Braves.
  6. Thank you CincySportsFan for your post. I agree with a lot of the information in your post. I would like to add a few things that I have seen over the years. I want to start out by saying the things I am about to write are backed up by the Kentucky Dept. of Eduacation website, the Kentucky Gaming Commission and personal emails. In order for a program to be successful it takes quality coaching, kids willing to learn, administration support and parents/boosters who are willing to sacrifice their time in order to raise money and do all the little things it takes to support the coaches and kids. I will start with parent/booster activity. I was a booster member for 4 years and a past president of the boosters. When I joined the boosters I along with a small group of parents worked 2 bingo sessions a week which averaged 3 to 4 hours a session. My wife joined the boosters a year later and volunteered as much time as I did. We often wondered why more parents didn't volunteer. We are relatively new to Grant County, approximately 10 years. I know the following reasons why parents do not volunteer do not apply to all the parents, but over time I have found a majority do not volunteer for the following 2 reasons. 1) Football at the middle school and high school level are free for all players. Only shoes have to be bought and the middle school coach actually has a box of used shoes that players can use. These shoes came from players who moved up and were going to buy new ones so the coach asks that they put their used cleats in the box to help the less fortunate. Sadly some parents know that they do not have to volunteer because their child will get to play regardless. This is a sad reflection on our community but you can't force morals on people and these parents will probably never change. After I became booster president I found out the other main reason why so few parents volunteered. There was a perception in the community that while the boosters were providing a lot of what the kids needed, some thought the boosters were not a reputable organization. According to the IRS tax paperwork, which anyone can observe on the internet because the law mandates all non profits have their IRS paperwork visible to the public, the boosters bring in over a million dollars every year. After their expenses, not including football bills they make anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000 a year. The boosters provide support to the pee wee, middle school and high school programs in Grant Co. After becoming booster president I along with some members became aware that 2 of our members did our taxes every year. One of the members is the booster treasurer. We thought it would be a good idea if an accountant or tax company did our taxes because of the large amount of money that was coming into the possession of the boosters and this would show those who doubted the integrity of our organization, that we were an honest group of people who could account for every dime. Our request was voted down because the other members said we have never been audited. Being a non profit organization the boosters pay no tax and are not entitled to a refund. I believe the government does not look hard at non profit's tax paperwork because no money is paid to either the organization or the government. We wanted the change because of the perception in the community. Their refusal caused me to do some research into our organization. I requested paperwork from the Kentucky Gaming Commission to ensure background checks had been done on all current and past booster board members. This paperwork showed the boosters submitted a false name as a past president because the president before me was not legally allowed to be president due to his failure of the background check. I along with other booster members voted to elect this person and this person acted as president for his entire one year tenure. We as boosters also voted to give the past president a $50,000 contract to renovate our new bingo hall, not knowing about his past. The booster treasurer, who had to submit the names to the state, never told us the president was not eligible and no special election ever took place. My wife and I were voted out of the booster organization because we pushed for transparency. Three other full time members left after they did this to my wife and I. The Kentucky Gaming Commission just completed an investigation which showed the boosters paid a volunteer approximately $10,000 over the past 18 months, which is a violation and must now possibly pay a large fine. Again this information is verified by the Open Records Law in Kentucky. I have all the past booster meeting minutes to confirm these details. The majority of voting booster members have no children playing football at any level in Grant Co. 3/4 of the executive board have no children in the program. I find it odd so many people would volunteer so much time without a vested interest in the program. These events caused and continue to cause hesitation in parents to get involved in the booster organization. As far as a lot of kids leaving the football program during their high school career I think a major reason is a lack of coaches. Because Grant Co has so few assistant coaches a lot of kids don't get the necessary attention as freshman and sophomores. The coaches have to rightfully coach the varsity squad first which leaves little time and reps for the younger kids. If they could get more coaches than these younger kids could have their own practice and be taught the techniques necessary to be successful. Kids hate conditioning especially if they are not being an active member during practice. For these reasons kids are not returning. Again not the coaches fault, they are so limited due to so few coaches at practice. This has been a problem for the last 3 head coaches at Grant Co. I volunteered my coaching services to Coach Siple after last year and he accepted. I also refused any stipend because the teachers on staff needed it more than I did. I just wanted to teach kids the game of football. I waited til after my son graduated because I believe it's not fair to me or more importantly my son to put him in that situation. I helped coach at the middle school the previous year and had the recommendation from the long time middle school head coach. After our second meeting Coach Siple emailed me and said the high school principal did want me on the coaching staff. I emailed the principal and asked for a meeting to discuss her decision and she emailed me back saying no meeting will take place. I do not blame Coach Siple for not going to bat for me because he knows the politics of being a new teacher/coach. He knew the previous coach only lasted one year. I was booster president when the principal fired the previous head coach, David Arvin. I along with other parents met with the principal because of the slow hiring process of the new football coach. We also questioned the academics at the school and why our kids were not being challenged in the classroom. We also went over the results of the Kentucky Dept of Education yearly test results, which showed Grant Co being below the state average. She also printed out my posts on this website and asked if I was Dawg1. Apparently she did not like me questioning low test scores and a slow hiring process so she figured she would get back at me by not allowing me to help coach, an unpaid parent volunteer with a clean background and a recommendation was not needed at Grant Co. I now enjoy watching my daughter perform in the Grant Co marching band, her second year. I try to volunteer when I can. The band has so many great parent volunteers, it is unbelievable. Marching band members must pay a decent amount of money in order to march. This may be one reason why so many parents volunteer. The band boosters are transparent and parents are encouraged to become voting members. These kids spend more time practicing for a seven minute performance than an average football team does. This may be the reason they finished 2nd and 4th in the state the last two years. A great group of kids and a great group of parents. I am also sorry for the long post but I think we all should know what is going on in our schools. Go Braves, never quit fighting.
  7. The AD doesn't limit the amount of coaches. Getting quality coaches in a county that does not have a lot of adults that ever played or adults who know something about coaching kids is the problem. Most folks in GC are lifetime residents, only a small part have come in from so called football counties or football regions.
  8. I think it comes down to both sides of the ball are not good. So GC only has 2 options. Either continue to run the same offense and defense and wait for that special class that has the skill players and big bodies to be successful or change things up. I believe if you wait for the special class and go 1-9, 2-8 or 3-7 every year til you find that special class, you will never find that class. Kids want to be a part of a winning program, especially in a sport that is so physically demanding. Football is a 10 month sport at the high school level and kids will not put in that much work over that long a period just to loose 80 or 90 percent of their games. A high school coach with limited players and a limited pipeline playing teams without those same limitations must be flexible and I hope the GC football staff can see the handwriting on the wall. Good luck Braves.
  9. The defense does need some work, but when the offense consistently goes three and out the defense gets demoralized. I think the defense knows if they give up 2 touchdowns the game is over. The best way to keep an offense from scoring is to keep them on the sidelines but the GC offense consistently puts their defense in bad situations. I believe the team is averaging around 13 pts a game, you won't win many games with that average. Now the defense has given up over 40 a game. If you have a defense that has trouble stopping the other team you have 2 options. First you use ball control to minimize the other teams offensive opportunities or you can try to out score them in a shoot out. Right now Grant is not capable of getting in a shoot out so they may want to try ball control.
  10. I would like to give a little history about how the Grant County program got into the shape it is in today. When David Arvin was hired as head coach in 2011 he brought in a youthful attitude and was a big believer in using the latest and best training techniques and equipment. He talked the Boosters into leasing a Speed Tracs speed and agility machine. The exact same machine that a number of prominent universities, such as Universty of Texas, Florida State and Tennessee utilize. In addition to hundreds of high schools, mostly in the southern states. I think we all know the type of speed the teams from this part of the country have. They used this machine during one off-season and the results were incredible. When used in conjunction with the new weight system the boys really improved. He was also able to get wireless internet in the locker room and coach's office, yes there was no internet in 2011 in a high school coach's office. David Arvin installed a no huddle spread offense. Prior to this Grant County was a traditional 2 RB, 2 WR offense which ran the ball a majority of the time. Those of you who know anything about football know how difficult it is to totally change your offensive scheme. David Arvin used a QB who last played QB in the 6th grade and won 3 games the first year because GC had a few skill players to run this style offense. Because David Arvin was not from the area he was only able to hire 3 assistant coaches his first year. Another blogger has already mentioned why it is so difficult to hire assistants in Grant County and I agree with their post. David Arvin was fired after one year because what I believe were disagreements with the administration. This took place in late March 2012. Kevin Siple was hired around the May/June 2012 time frame. Coach Siple also runs a spread offense but at a slower pace. The same QB played under Coach Siple but was benched after 6 games. The team won 2 games last year. Coach Siple said he was pressured by the then AD to get rid of the speed tracs machine prior to his first year because of Title IX concerns. Any boy or girl in the school was able to use the machine. David Arvin even volunteered to teach other school coaches how to use the machine. Coach Siple did not want to rock the boat, especially after seeing what happened to the previous coach who questioned the administration and got rid of the speed machine. The AD then left his post and took a job at the board office. Coach Siple also struggled getting assistant coaches. His first year he brought along some coaches he coached with at Bracken Co and previous schools. After year one 3 of those coaches did not return. Now onto what I see are the problems with this years team. The offense uses a 5ft 6in 240lb running back in the spread offense. All the spread offenses I have watched at both the high school and college level use a small and fast RB who can run screens and hide behind the offensive line on draws. I believe the current starting RB would be a great pulling offensive guard. The offense must be able to stretch the field by throwing the ball 15-20 yards down field. This year Grant Co's offense throws WR screens and quick throws to the WR at the line of scrimmage. Since they can't stretch the field the DB's press the WR's and put 8 defenders in the box which nullifies any running game and short passing game. This team does not have the QBs or skill players to effectively run Coach Siple's offense. As far as the defense goes they run a 3-4 defensive scheme. In order to run this defense you need a very large NT to occupy the center and a guard in order to let the LB's run free. GC does not have a large NT, which allows them to be blocked solely by the center which allows the guards to pull or fire off into the LB's. Maybe a change to a 4-3 defense would improve their results. It seems like they are not willing to try a different scheme. I do know Coach Siple and a majority of the coaches and they are good people. I do think they need to coach to the kid's strengths and not try and make kids do things that they are not able to do successfully. Both the current QBs, WRs and RBs and the future QBs, WRs and RBs are not capable of being successful in this offense. Grant Co has an above average size OL and alot of young big OL in the pipeline. A change to a pounding style offense would allow the kids to use the talents they have. I believe in a rural school with a limited pipeline of kids, a coach needs to look at the talent he has and adjust his offense/defense in order to maximize their talents. I hope the best for these kids and coaches and hope they are able to win in the near future.
  11. Your statement was condescending and demeaning towards Mr. Burgess and you are too arrogant to realize it. If you spend as much time at that school as Mr. Burgess you get a good sense of how things are being run.
  12. She does not have much wrath. She is in over her head and struggles every day to do a less than average job. The problem is no one in the board office or community hold her to a high standard. Mr. Burgess is well respected and appreciated by everyone except the principal. He has seen more wrong doings and cover ups than you could imagine. Hating Mr. Burgess is like hating the Dalai Lama. That district is full of administrators who just want to get a paycheck and go home and most only have Grant County experience to fall back on. When you hire from within a bubble, aka only Grant Co folks need apply, this is the sort of incompetent leadership you receive.
  13. First of all, they couldn't fire Hicks as an Educator because they had no grounds to do so. That administration makes people's lives hell if you are not a yes man/woman. And yes a lot of great teachers are leaving but teaching jobs are hard to come by so if you have tenure you do not leave one school till you are hired by another. You sound like one of the locals who have their head in the sand and thinks the Principal is such a pretty lady and does a great job. Why don't you ask the basketball booster president, who has been around that school forever and does great work what he thinks of this administration. He has seen many administrations and thinks this by far is the worst ever during his 20+ years being around the school.
  14. I agree totally. The Grant district heard a sales pitch from Northern Kentucky University and handed over $34,000.00 of tax payers money. They may say things like, it's a different poof money than teachers salary or this will help the kids. I would like to meet the person who CREATED a pot of money intended to give a Superintendent $34,000.00 to get an optional Doctorate degree. I bet the Superintendent retires from the district in 5 years and uses his tax payer paid Doctorate degree and goes to teach at a college somewhere in Kentucky. I think if you make over $100,000 a year there is no way you should be given $34,000 of tax payer dollars to go get an optional Doctorate degree. Grant County seems to be like the town in Peyton Place. Looks nice from the outside and everyone says the right things but when it comes down to doing the right thing, people ignore their civic duty.
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