I have to call you out. You never called CovCath. This I know to be fact.

 

Better read his post again.

I do the same thing I described. I call Cov cath and HHS. Then a Cincy school. Want proof? I am the head coach at HHS for their fast pitch team. I took over 2 years ago. The year before I took over, the team was 10-19. We beefed up the schedule and out in extra training my first year. After the first year, we were 18-12. In our second year we added 7 out of state teams including several large, very good Ohio teams. In our second year, we won the ninth region and went to state. My kids learned how to play against bigger, stronger and faster kids and we built on that. When we got to the end of the season, we were prepared. We finished the final game of the region on a 19 game winning streak and ended up 27-11 with one of the toughest schedules in the state.

 

I don't tell you that to brag on our program. I tell you that so you know that I would absolutely do what im telling you.

 

Congratulations on your teams success but I wouldn't even know where to begin to talk about the differences between football and softball. If we can't agree that there are huge fundamental differences in those two sports we will have to agree to disagree.

As for your scheduling scenario, SK before 2003 had like 5 winning seasons in its existence. They were building a solid foundation and along came 2011. In your scenario you would jeopardize fan and player interest to prove you can play a tough schedule. The last thing that needed to happen in Indy was a second 2-9 season. Just take a look at what scheduling over your head did to Ryle. Granted there were several factors that led to where they are now fighting out of but one of which was a loss of players participating. I don't have any numbers to back this up. All I know is the number of kids on the sidelines during the Elliott Hempel run seemed like a lot more than what they had last year.

 

I understand your thinking and I agree playing tough competition can only make you better. I just disagree with the timing of trying to pull it off. If you go back to the summer of 2012 when the schedule was made there were only two games on that schedule you would have considered guaranteed wins.

Congratulations on your teams success but I wouldn't even know where to begin to talk about the differences between football and softball. If we can't agree that there are huge fundamental differences in those two sports we will have to agree to disagree.

As for your scheduling scenario, SK before 2003 had like 5 winning seasons in its existence. They were building a solid foundation and along came 2011. In your scenario you would jeopardize fan and player interest to prove you can play a tough schedule. The last thing that needed to happen in Indy was a second 2-9 season. Just take a look at what scheduling over your head did to Ryle. Granted there were several factors that led to where they are now fighting out of but one of which was a loss of players participating. I don't have any numbers to back this up. All I know is the number of kids on the sidelines during the Elliott Hempel run seemed like a lot more than what they had last year.

 

I understand your thinking and I agree playing tough competition can only make you better. I just disagree with the timing of trying to pull it off. If you go back to the summer of 2012 when the schedule was made there were only two games on that schedule you would have considered guaranteed wins.

 

Could care less about the differences between softball and football. I played football at HHS. Im talking about the way of thinking and changing culture. Challenging kids and exposing them to teams that expose their weaknesses and then go back and work on those weaknesses. I actually told my team before the season that we would probably be 500 going into post season with the schedule I had put together for them. But I told them if they would stick with me, we'd be better off in the long run. It has nothing to do with which sport you're talking about. It's the culture. You talk about having guaranteed wins in your schedule. I could care less about that. I don't want guaranteed wins. I learn nothing about my team in guaranteed wins. My players learn nothing. I don't coach for my record. I coach to compete and to teach my kids to compete. HHS' softball program was about as good as SK's football program.

 

Show your kids what's out there and challenge them to pick up their game. Quit coddling them. They will respond. I promise! Sports, like life is set up about work harder if you aren't succeeding. Don't create a schedule that allows your team to feel good about themselves. Life doesn't do that for you. Work hard and get better. That's the culture I'm talking about. That formula works for all sports...and many other things.

Congratulations on your teams success but I wouldn't even know where to begin to talk about the differences between football and softball. If we can't agree that there are huge fundamental differences in those two sports we will have to agree to disagree.

As for your scheduling scenario, SK before 2003 had like 5 winning seasons in its existence. They were building a solid foundation and along came 2011. In your scenario you would jeopardize fan and player interest to prove you can play a tough schedule. The last thing that needed to happen in Indy was a second 2-9 season. Just take a look at what scheduling over your head did to Ryle. Granted there were several factors that led to where they are now fighting out of but one of which was a loss of players participating. I don't have any numbers to back this up. All I know is the number of kids on the sidelines during the Elliott Hempel run seemed like a lot more than what they had last year.

 

I understand your thinking and I agree playing tough competition can only make you better. I just disagree with the timing of trying to pull it off. If you go back to the summer of 2012 when the schedule was made there were only two games on that schedule you would have considered guaranteed wins.

 

Spot on. There is a lot consider, and bad choices can set a football program years. You've only got 5 or 6 games to schedule (the rest are mandated by district play). If you go too heavy, you end up with a bad season, injury problems and possible loss of fan base. The best case scenario is a cupcake of two, a couple really tough games, and a couple of toss up that you should probably win most of the time, but will be challenging. Ryle is a great example of what biting off more than you can chew can do to your team. There's something to be said for learning how to win, and playing a game or two when you can get other kids live action game reps.

Could care less about the differences between softball and football. I played football at HHS. Im talking about the way of thinking and changing culture. Challenging kids and exposing them to teams that expose their weaknesses and then go back and work on those weaknesses. I actually told my team before the season that we would probably be 500 going into post season with the schedule I had put together for them. But I told them if they would stick with me, we'd be better off in the long run. It has nothing to do with which sport you're talking about. It's the culture. You talk about having guaranteed wins in your schedule. I could care less about that. I don't want guaranteed wins. I learn nothing about my team in guaranteed wins. My players learn nothing. I don't coach for my record. I coach to compete and to teach my kids to compete. HHS' softball program was about as good as SK's football program.

 

Show your kids what's out there and challenge them to pick up their game. Quit coddling them. They will respond. I promise! Sports, like life is set up about work harder if you aren't succeeding. Don't create a schedule that allows your team to feel good about themselves. Life doesn't do that for you. Work hard and get better. That's the culture I'm talking about. That formula works for all sports...and many other things.

 

I don't disagree about challenging kids. I just don't think the best idea for building a solid foundation is overwhelming them.

Fast pitch also has select teams where the players go and compete to get better. 8th graders can compete and succeed in high school fast pitch, which means it is a lot easier for a fast pitch(baseball) team to turn it around, because there is a larger pool to pull from at the school and you need less players. HHS is also in a district that does not seed, so who cares if you lose every game during the season. Sometimes all it takes is a dominate or very good pitcher to turn a program around. Heck look at NDA in 2012 they did not have any upperclassman on the team, that I can recall, even had 7th grader. They got experience and a pitcher for 2013, suddenly they are at the top of the region.

 

 

Football you cannot run 9th graders out there, 10th graders is not good either. Getting beat in football is a lot different than getting beat in non contact sports.

 

SK should have scheduled the GCL South, called X and T and played them? Yeah that would have got the kids excited to come out.

 

I guess coach could come into the locker room after that murders row of a schedule every game and say " boys you just have to compete harder, hey Bobby if you compete harder your collar bone won't be broke...I know you just starting playing football this past season and are our best athlete in your class but we are building a culture here, this isn't JV, I know Sam got knocked out and I mean knocked out against X last week, well son it is simple, next man up....

 

Billy, I have you playing guard on the OL, NG on the DL because you are the best we got at that position,I know you are only 180lbs but if you compete harder and take on that 230lb DT and handle that double team from the center and guard on defense we can get things done here...Billy, Billy, Billy did you hear me....(other player)coach he got a bad concussion on defense when the double team drove him into the ground, plus they said he might have broken ribs. Yeah, coach the play before, in the huddle, he said his ribs were hurting but he said he was there to compete and change the culture at SK!

Fast pitch also has select teams where the players go and compete to get better. 8th graders can compete and succeed in high school fast pitch, which means it is a lot easier for a fast pitch(baseball) team to turn it around, because there is a larger pool to pull from at the school and you need less players. HHS is also in a district that does not seed, so who cares if you lose every game during the season. Sometimes all it takes is a dominate or very good pitcher to turn a program around. Heck look at NDA in 2012 they did not have any upperclassman on the team, that I can recall, even had 7th grader. They got experience and a pitcher for 2013, suddenly they are at the top of the region.

 

 

Football you cannot run 9th graders out there, 10th graders is not good either. Getting beat in football is a lot different than getting beat in non contact sports.

 

SK should have scheduled the GCL South, called X and T and played them? Yeah that would have got the kids excited to come out.

 

I guess coach could come into the locker room after that murders row of a schedule every game and say " boys you just have to compete harder, hey Bobby if you compete harder your collar bone won't be broke...I know you just starting playing football this past season and are our best athlete in your class but we are building a culture here, this isn't JV, I know Sam got knocked out and I mean knocked out against X last week, well son it is simple, next man up....

 

Billy, I have you playing guard on the OL, NG on the DL because you are the best we got at that position,I know you are only 180lbs but if you compete harder and take on that 230lb DT and handle that double team from the center and guard on defense we can get things done here...Billy, Billy, Billy did you hear me....(other player)coach he got a bad concussion on defense when the double team drove him into the ground, plus they said he might have broken ribs. Yeah, coach the play before, in the huddle, he said his ribs were hurting but he said he was there to compete and change the culture at SK!

 

Or just go play 10 teams you know you're going to roll. That's works great.

 

Not sure where I said go play the entire gcl south and Trinity. Keep up is you want to make sense. For gods sake. They are a 6a school that only plays the 6a schools they have to in NKY. I don't care how bad my team was the year before, my schedule would still be extremely challenging. I said play HHS, Cov cath, any good Ohio school and a challenging down state school. That doesn't quite sound le what you're describing.

Fast pitch also has select teams where the players go and compete to get better. 8th graders can compete and succeed in high school fast pitch, which means it is a lot easier for a fast pitch(baseball) team to turn it around, because there is a larger pool to pull from at the school and you need less players. HHS is also in a district that does not seed, so who cares if you lose every game during the season. Sometimes all it takes is a dominate or very good pitcher to turn a program around. Heck look at NDA in 2012 they did not have any upperclassman on the team, that I can recall, even had 7th grader. They got experience and a pitcher for 2013, suddenly they are at the top of the region.

 

 

Football you cannot run 9th graders out there, 10th graders is not good either. Getting beat in football is a lot different than getting beat in non contact sports.

 

SK should have scheduled the GCL South, called X and T and played them? Yeah that would have got the kids excited to come out.

 

I guess coach could come into the locker room after that murders row of a schedule every game and say " boys you just have to compete harder, hey Bobby if you compete harder your collar bone won't be broke...I know you just starting playing football this past season and are our best athlete in your class but we are building a culture here, this isn't JV, I know Sam got knocked out and I mean knocked out against X last week, well son it is simple, next man up....

 

Billy, I have you playing guard on the OL, NG on the DL because you are the best we got at that position,I know you are only 180lbs but if you compete harder and take on that 230lb DT and handle that double team from the center and guard on defense we can get things done here...Billy, Billy, Billy did you hear me....(other player)coach he got a bad concussion on defense when the double team drove him into the ground, plus they said he might have broken ribs. Yeah, coach the play before, in the huddle, he said his ribs were hurting but he said he was there to compete and change the culture at SK!

 

By the way, we have seeded out district the last two years. And that nd team had way more than a dominate pitcher. They just graduated 7 good seniors who were 7 good juniors the year you are talking about. And they had a second pitcher that is very good as well. So you're wrong. It doesn't happen that fast. Even if you have travel kids, so do the other schools so I'm not sure why you think it's easier to turn softball around.

 

As for not putting underclass man out there, they are 6a. Why would they have to put middle schoolers out there. Varsity Football teams carry way more players on their varsity roster than my 14 player roster. Isn't that supposed to account for depth and injury??? There aren't many younger kids that would ever see a chance to hit the field regardless of all the things you mentioned. I'm surprised you can't see it has NOTHING to do with the comparison of softball vs football. It's the mindset and culture that drives success.

 

 

But at the end of the day, you are over exaggerating the point to make it sound silly when you know that I'm saying it's best to challenge the kids and not coddle them. I don't care what sport you play, I would never add a guaranteed victory to my schedule. Just not the I do it. How does having a game on your schedule that you are 100% sure you are going to win help anything?

Let's face it, Simon Kenton is king of NKY 6A, no matter who they schedule in the regular season. In the last six years they have been to the Regional Championship five times and the State Championship one of those years. What other 6A team in that district can say that? Would they have went further if they had played a stronger schedule? I doubt it, and I may even argue that they would have not gone as far. They have went from a loosing team to the top of the food chain in NKY 6A.

My two cents worth. SK program is on the rise and it's time to adjust the schedule. This doesn't mean to go get the GCL South, Trinity and St. X. This does mean stop scheduling the 2A schools even if they were state champs. The weak schedule is hurting SK"s football program. Instead of UK#1Fan screaming "we beat Collins twice" it would be more impressive if he was screaming "we lost to Cov-Cath and Highlands, but we gave it all we had."

Let's face it, Simon Kenton is king of NKY 6A, no matter who they schedule in the regular season. In the last six years they have been to the Regional Championship five times and the State Championship one of those years. What other 6A team in that district can say that? Would they have went further if they had played a stronger schedule? I doubt it, and I may even argue that they would have not gone as far. They have went from a loosing team to the top of the food chain in NKY 6A.

 

Can't dispute that, but that's not really that impressive where our 6a has been for years. I'm saying it would be nice to see a 6a team step it and compete for state championships instead of saying well as long as the Louisville schools are in 6a, We'll just be happy making as far as we can. I'm on their side! Like I said, NKY is ready to back someone whole heartedly. But we need someone to step up! NKY would embrace and support any team that would.

Can't dispute that, but that's not really that impressive where our 6a has been for years. I'm saying it would be nice to see a 6a team step it and compete for state championships instead of saying well as long as the Louisville schools are in 6a, We'll just be happy making as far as we can. I'm on their side! Like I said, NKY is ready to back someone whole heartedly. But we need someone to step up! NKY would embrace and support any team that would.

What are your thoughts about Simon Kenton playing Highlands and Covington Catholic next year? That's about as strong as they can schedule without going across the river.

My two cents worth. SK program is on the rise and it's time to adjust the schedule. This doesn't mean to go get the GCL South, Trinity and St. X. This does mean stop scheduling the 2A schools even if they were state champs. The weak schedule is hurting SK"s football program. Instead of UK#1Fan screaming "we beat Collins twice" it would be more impressive if he was screaming "we lost to Cov-Cath and Highlands, but we gave it all we had."

Simon Kenton is playing Highlands and Covington Catholic the next two years. What will people say after they play them and win? Or, lose?

The biggest disappointment in this thread for me is people don't give the kids enough credit. Kids, if exposed, will do something about it. They will make themselves better. They will work harder to get the edge once they taste it and see it. If you coddle them by making up schedules that are easy to have success, that is what you breed. Kids that don't have to do the extra work to feel successful because it was fine for them in the schedule. The 6a school had one bad year, so let's take the schedule down to something lighter than a 2a team plays. I just disagree with that completely. Just my opinion. There are plenty of unsuccessful 6a schools that don't play a 2-4a schedule.

What are your thoughts about Simon Kenton playing Highlands and Covington Catholic next year? That's about as strong as they can schedule without going across the river.

 

I love it! I'm glad. Although someone posted it earlier and I didn't see CC on it. May have just been an oversight. They should play them every year. I said earlier if I took over a NKY 6a team, HHS and Cov cath would be my first two calls and beg them to play me.