I just got word today that Raceland has got approx. 62 kids commited to begin their summer conditioning for football after the school year ends this year :ylsuper: :ylsuper: . That number of kids is great to hear considering that Raceland is a small class "a" school. The coaching staff that is now in place is one big reason why imo. With the additions last year of Coach Parker :thumb: ( he relates to the kids very well and is a "players" coach and his knowledge of the game is unlimited), coach Maynard is a former head coach and is imo a defensive specialist. These coaches along with Coach Francis, Fannin, and Burroughs and Helton are in place and are very valuble additions to Head Coach Randy Vanderhoof. Lets go Rams, with the young talent that you have and this coaching staff in place you should be good for years down the road!:banana: :banana:

62 from how many grades?

Four grades, Fr. thru Sr. I believe.

As a fan I'm really glad to see this happening.Good luck in 06.

That is great to hear. Good luck this year - except in your season opener.

Numbers are great but still only play 11 at a time.

The coaching staff at Raceland is as quality as any in the area.

I never understood why football people get so fired up over numbers. Still have to have players. Morgan has been good the last few years with less than 30 players.

Where did this info on the # of players come from???

Numbers are great but still only play 11 at a time.

The coaching staff at Raceland is as quality as any in the area.

I never understood why football people get so fired up over numbers. Still have to have players. Morgan has been good the last few years with less than 30 players.

I understand where you are coming from but disagree a little bit. When you have a 1A school with that many kids coming out it is a sign of a couple of things. 1: There is a passion/fire for the program right now. 2: The coaches are getting kids out of the hallways which is a HUGE part of being successful.

High School kids will suprise you sometimes. Kids that have never played before sometimes get in there and make a huge impact because they took the chance on coming out. Kids wanting to make football a part of their life is good for our society too. All the kids might not be stars but being a part of a football team can have an impact for life. A place like Raceland sees a lot of its students live there the rest of their life. Being a part of that tradition not only helps instill community pride down the road but it also helps Raceland have better citizens because of the lessons that were learned from football. I know it's outside the box a little but there are a lot of good things that come out of big numbers participating in a school that small I think.

Good numbers are nice to have, it shows that the kids are interested in the sport and there is some excitement within the program. However they do little in terms of success. Although large numbers look good for getting off the bus and pre-game Cals, they do little in terms of wins and losses. You only put 11 on the field.

 

In 2003, Elizabethtown played Belfry for the AA State Championship and dressed 23 players for the game.

 

Fact is, you can have 80 players and go 0-10, and as few as 23 and play for a state championship. Look at some of the H.S.'s in Texas, they love their football and you will continually see teams with Large rosters and 1-9,2-8, and 0-10 records. Good numbers don't equal success.

 

It's nice to see a small school with good numbers and excitement about their program in this basketball crazy state.

Numbers are great but still only play 11 at a time.

The coaching staff at Raceland is as quality as any in the area.

I never understood why football people get so fired up over numbers. Still have to have players. Morgan has been good the last few years with less than 30 players.

 

 

I'm a little confused and amused by the number of various folks throwing cold water on someone noting a high turnout for football (not to pick on Jay;) )

 

Stick1 covered several nice points - all of which should be easily understood by those who follow HS football. I find it hard to believe there are more than a few oddball coaches(Duffy?) who would NOT want a high turnout of players for their team. Simple common sense leads one to realize that more to choose from can offer more talent, competition, flexibility, comraderie(sp?), replacements for injuries, friend/relatives of players supporting your program, etc, etc....... It's like a snowball rolling down a hill - ever increasing positives IMHO :thumb:

The downside is .... uh, ........ what, you have to buy more jerseys & pre-game spaghetti dinners?

 

Bravo Raceland :ylsuper: and all the other programs generating such involvement by their young people in this day & age when so many kids are more focused on the release date of the next PSP3:cry: Besides, in the end the scoreboard is not the primary measure of success - is it?

 

P.S. Jay, I guessing Morgans success in the last 2 years is due more to the nice run of talented players (& perhaps coaches) than the numbers?? After all, I doubt that you had a whole lot MORE than 30 boys for the numerous years of less than stellar success before this ? Correct me if I'm off base:sssh:

 

Woody Jr

Good numbers are nice to have, it shows that the kids are interested in the sport and there is some excitement within the program. However they do little in terms of success. Although large numbers look good for getting off the bus and pre-game Cals, they do little in terms of wins and losses. You only put 11 on the field.

 

In 2003, Elizabethtown played Belfry for the AA State Championship and dressed 23 players for the game.

 

Fact is, you can have 80 players and go 0-10, and as few as 23 and play for a state championship. Look at some of the H.S.'s in Texas, they love their football and you will continually see teams with Large rosters and 1-9,2-8, and 0-10 records. Good numbers don't equal success.

 

It's nice to see a small school with good numbers and excitement about their program in this basketball crazy state.

I fully realize what you and JB are saying. To me the numbers are just a sign of the interest in the football program at the school. With this many kids wanting to play it shows the tradition at Raceland and the love for football is in very good shape. Raceland has been down for a few years lately from what they were in the 70's,80's and most of the 90's, came back with a 7 win season last year with I think around 18 senoirs. At a class A school, that 18 is a large amount of kids to lose. the freshman class last year was big in numbers also along with the jr. high kids being very talented. Yes, you can only play 11 at a time and with numbers like that and I am sure that not all will stay out (teams usualy lose a few as practice/camps/workouts heat up) but with the more kids that come out you might get a few more that would not have that end up being pretty good.

Best thing for Raceland would be a move to six classes and moved away from NKY districts in playoffs.

I'm a little confused and amused by the number of various folks throwing cold water on someone noting a high turnout for football (not to pick on Jay;) )

 

Stick1 covered several nice points - all of which should be easily understood by those who follow HS football. I find it hard to believe there are more than a few oddball coaches(Duffy?) who would NOT want a high turnout of players for their team. Simple common sense leads one to realize that more to choose from can offer more talent, competition, flexibility, comraderie(sp?), replacements for injuries, friend/relatives of players supporting your program, etc, etc....... It's like a snowball rolling down a hill - ever increasing positives IMHO :thumb:

The downside is .... uh, ........ what, you have to buy more jerseys & pre-game spaghetti dinners?

 

Bravo Raceland :ylsuper: and all the other programs generating such involvement by their young people in this day & age when so many kids are more focused on the release date of the next PSP3:cry: Besides, in the end the scoreboard is not the primary measure of success - is it?

 

P.S. Jay, I guessing Morgans success in the last 2 years is due more to the nice run of talented players (& perhaps coaches) than the numbers?? After all, I doubt that you had a whole lot MORE than 30 boys for the numerous years of less than stellar success before this ? Correct me if I'm off base:sssh:

 

Woody Jr

:thumb: :thumb: Thank you Woody (and Stick1), very well said.

Best thing for Raceland would be a move to six classes and moved away from NKY districts in playoffs.

I will agree with you on that in moving away from the N.Ky. districts in the playoffs. I know that Coach Ross when he was at Raceland for years lobbied for a "rotation" of the playoffs each year. Meaning that one district would not play the same district in the playoffs year in and year out, would rotate as to which districts face each other in the playoffs each year. I personally think that would be a good system. The NKY class A schools are very good, the way the playoffs are set up Raceland (or other teams from our district) would not just have to beat one NKY power but have to win three weeks in a row against the NKY district in order to advance to the state semi's.

I fully realize what you and JB are saying. To me the numbers are just a sign of the interest in the football program at the school. With this many kids wanting to play it shows the tradition at Raceland and the love for football is in very good shape. Raceland has been down for a few years lately from what they were in the 70's,80's and most of the 90's, came back with a 7 win season last year with I think around 18 senoirs. At a class A school, that 18 is a large amount of kids to lose. the freshman class last year was big in numbers also along with the jr. high kids being very talented. Yes, you can only play 11 at a time and with numbers like that and I am sure that not all will stay out (teams usualy lose a few as practice/camps/workouts heat up) but with the more kids that come out you might get a few more that would not have that end up being pretty good.

 

Very true, the more kids you get out, the more chances you have of finding a surprise in the bunch or a key replacement due to injury in say week 5 or 6 of the season. I think numbers at a small school do the best job of creating a better practice environment for the kids. The #2's at a small school may not be as good as the #2's at a large school, but the more kids you get out the greater the chance that those #2's might be a little better on a squad of 60 players as compared to a squad of 40 players. There are always exceptions to this and people will differ on opinions, but I think the Raceland fans should applause the job the coaching staff, kids, and administration is doing with the football program. Interest and excitement is the first step in earning many W's in the upcoming season.