They had JV last year I think. Did decent in the JV regional if memory serves.

The schedule says that Beechwood is fielding a freshman, JV, and varsity mens team.

All this bickering and comparison... I'm just happy they are able to have a varsity team this year. Last year they had a freshman and JV team. Weren't too bad for a first year team either. You don't see any home games because that was the stipulation to have the program. Not an ideal situation regardless of cause, but I have to applaud everyone involved for getting the program together and making it happen.

Never have understood the politics of schools' athletic departments, how the administration make rules on the fly, etc. I would think in today's time every school would have written, fair to every student policies they must follow. Maybe Beechwood does and they are following their policy, if so how does such policy ever get approved? Either way it makes no sense nor does it appear to be fair to stipulate the soccer program agree to a no home game policy to get the soccer program approved. And how long will this agreement be in place? IMO Beechwood not having soccer and lacrosse lines installed in the turf when installed illustrates very poor planning on their part. And lacrosse is growing and in the near future any school not offering a program will be behind the times will be doing their students a disservice.

Never have understood the politics of schools' athletic departments, how the administration make rules on the fly, etc. I would think in today's time every school would have written, fair to every student policies they must follow. Maybe Beechwood does and they are following their policy, if so how does such policy ever get approved? Either way it makes no sense nor does it appear to be fair to stipulate the soccer program agree to a no home game policy to get the soccer program approved. And how long will this agreement be in place? IMO Beechwood not having soccer and lacrosse lines installed in the turf when installed illustrates very poor planning on their part. And lacrosse is growing and in the near future any school not offering a program will be behind the times will be doing their students a disservice.

 

So where will lacrosse teams take kids from, soccer or football? Or will lacrosse be a spring sport and take kids from track or baseball?

So where will lacrosse teams take kids from, soccer or football? Or will lacrosse be a spring sport and take kids from track or baseball?

 

Good question, lacrosse is a spring sport, so maybe the soccer players (soccer players not playing club soccer, which I suspect at Beechwood there a few or even many) will be two sport athletes. It is happening a ton at the D3 collegiate level. Or here is another great benefit, schools that offer lacrosse (NDA as an example) increase enrollment by offering more extracurricular activities that reach a wider spectrum of students, by doing so the school is more successful in many ways.

Another point, I never understand why some sports, i.e. football feel threaten by another sport. Players switch activities for a lot of different reasons. Not enough playing time, to much time commitment, friends, cost, or just maybe because they just like one better then another (sorry football). It makes no sense for one sport to blame another when players decide to switch sports. If a football, baseball or any sports program looses players to say soccer, lacrosse or another sport or activate, theater for example then we should champion that sport or activate instead of blaming them. It's a free country students should feel free to switch activities with out threat, and the more activities a school offers the better.

Edited July 24, 201511 yr by gameplayedright
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Never have understood the politics of schools' athletic departments, how the administration make rules on the fly, etc. I would think in today's time every school would have written, fair to every student policies they must follow. Maybe Beechwood does and they are following their policy, if so how does such policy ever get approved? Either way it makes no sense nor does it appear to be fair to stipulate the soccer program agree to a no home game policy to get the soccer program approved. And how long will this agreement be in place? IMO Beechwood not having soccer and lacrosse lines installed in the turf when installed illustrates very poor planning on their part. And lacrosse is growing and in the near future any school not offering a program will be behind the times will be doing their students a disservice.

 

Poor planning, or intentional?

Absolutely intentional. They have kept soccer out of Beechwood for decades, probably to the detriment of the school overall. Surely they are losing (or were) students over it. You have to remember that to many coaches, the purpose of having a particular sport is for their own personal glory and not just an extracurricular activity to enhance the high school experience.

Best of luck to coach Zach Rechtin and Beechwood this fall. 40 kids coming out for soccer sounds like steps in the right direction.

 

Short article from July 7 NKY Tribune:

 

Prep Sports Notebook: Beechwood boys? soccer prepares for first varsity season; Ludlow coach resigns for good reason | NKyTribune

 

Unless there's something unique about Beechwood's turf, field width can't be the real issue. There's enough turf within the (2 - yard minimum, each side) restraining lines outside the 53 1/3rd yard wide football field width to get minimum 55 yard width required for soccer. The real issue I suspect is the inconvenience and unsightliness of putting down temporary (aerosol chalk) soccer lines for home soccer games. That, plus at this point it's probably easier for Beechwood to schedule games if they're offering to play at everyone else's field.

If what groinpull writes is true,

"You have to remember that to many coaches, the purpose of having a particular sport is for their own personal glory",

for many coaches (not all) I suspect he is dead on accurate, it is a shame. And some of the blame should be placed on the administration not just the coach. Do these coaches' contracts have dollar rewards for so many wins, Regional Championships, State Championships, etc? If so this is part of the problem and the administration should share the blame. HS sports is not professional, khsaa defines HS sports as an extension of the classroom. Does the math teacher, the english teacher's contract have dollar reward incentives? I think not but it would be much more beneficial to the students to have the teachers' contracts incentive based instead of the athletic coaches.

 

The game(s) belongs to the players, not the coaches.

It's pretty comical really, unless of course you are a Beechwood soccer player.........sure, you guys can have your program as long as you agree not to play your games at the school you attend or on the field that your parents' tax dollars help to pay for....

 

Might interrupt the freshman football practice or something.

A couple quick thoughts here ...

 

*The plan that the Soccer team SUBMITTED stated that they would not use school facilities for the trial period. That is what they asked for to prove that things could work. That is a FACT ... and documented.

 

*Football constantly comes up with this topic ... but I always find it very interesting when I read this thread and people try to act like football was worried about losing kids. NOT TRUE (there were other fall teams that were worried about losing kids--cross country being the main one ... especially since they were added the previous year ... and was added due to KHSAA Survey completion interest--which were 40+ .. there were 3 kids who wanted soccer--I am not even going into the part where a certain group tried to discredit the validity of the survey--which was submitted to the KHSAA without issue). Then you have an "interest list" .. created by parents with MANY kids names who were listed as being interested in playing soccer .. WHO NEVER SIGNED/AGREED/OR WERE INTERESTED in Soccer .. I guess that is okay though ... forgery isn't that big of a crime.

 

*Football (MS/Frosh/Varsity)/Band (110 Kids)/Girls Soccer/Cross Country and many parents/teachers, etc listed their main concerns as Facilities .. we don't have places/fields/locker rooms, etc for the programs that were already in existence (which is another reason why the Soccer team -- to their credit -- came to the table with the idea of not using school facilities for the few 3 years).

 

*The 2nd point .. was that we are out of kids ... EVERY fall sport (and the band/cheerleading) was already sharing kids (yes ... including all levels of football)--and the concern was--at one time .. we were really good in some specifically chosen sports ... now--we have kids who are spread out to 2/3 and sometimes 4 different sports/activities. The fall and spring sports coaches have been able to make this work ... but it isn't something that anyone felt great about. Our kids are running ragged already ... now .. we put kids in a situation where they have to make choices. Everybody says ... think about the kids ... think about the kids (meaning the soccer kids) ... I agree ... but the other fall sports coaches were not thinking about the 18-20 kids who ended up playing soccer ... we were worried about the other 200 who have worked their guts out for years to build up successful programs. Now .. those kids/teams are missing parts of their team that they have worked with .. who either are no longer involved ... or are told .. soccer first ... who cares if you are worn out when you go to football/cross country/band, etc.

 

*There are behind the scenes situations that I will not put out on the board .. but I would be more than willing to entertain in conversation in person or .. in a PM.

 

*From there--boys cross country was added not just for interest .. it evened up fall sports .. to where we were nearly perfectly even on Title 9 money spent per student athlete. Then you have some behind the scenes people either high up ... or connected high up who tried to skirt those numbers .. and I am not talking about the current AD.

 

I can tell you ... the boys to girls money spent is no longer even ... and not close (because ALL money has to be reported via title 9/KHSAA guidelines--even DONATED MONEY--which certain people knew .. but ... followed their agenda anyway. Title 9 reports are online for anyone who questions this ... if this past years isn't on the website yet ... if will be soon.

 

*I was asked to put together a class A (for cross/track) that included cross country/football/soccer/volleyball comparison .. that speaks to which teams/schools had which sports.

 

At the time--there were 92 schools in Cross Country Class A (which is basically the same thing as football Class A plus Class AA) ...

 

At the time:

Total Schools (A/AA or Class A in Cross): 92

Total Schools Playing Football AND Soccer: 17 (15 of those schools fit in the highest number of students in the combined class)

There were MANY that just had football and cross country

There were some that had Soccer and not football.

 

That data .. which was requested from HIGH up ... was never presented ... because it did not fit the back door plan that "certain" behind the scenes players were trying to manipulate. (I have this data ... and I am more than willing to send it to anyone who wants to see it ... all of it comes straight from the KHSAA).

 

*When the school was looking at adding cross country to even up the numbers and for interest ... parents/coaches/etc were NOT ALLOWED inside the school to drum up interest or support ... and were not even allowed to come to the interest meeting (I know this .. because I am talking about me).

 

But for some reason ... parents were allowed in the building to drum up interest--as well as having parents and potential coaches in the soccer interest meeting. Again ... fact ... been there .. witnessed that.

 

*As far as the field goes ... there are major issues with the field that are going to be corrected in the near future. If soccer is successful ... they have a great chance to add lines to the field.

 

Oh yeah .. thats right ... you then take away a lane from a four lane track that already stinks because one end has square corners. Or .. you get lines on the track .. which is extremely dangerous for any high school kid with cleets on their feet). That's okay though ... lets punish the 100 kids in the track program with one less lane when they already have only 350 Meters/4 lanes and two 90 degree corners plus--dodging the 3 baseball teams and 2 softball teams long toss and infield. Ever seen an 8th grade girl get hit with a 70 mph baseball? I have ... NOT PRETTY. (google map it). Then you have to chop up a TON of concrete in front of the fieldhouse. People think that football is pushing here ... nope. Things are already squeezed in down there .. just to fit the football field. If you don't believe me ... bring up a tape measure .. and I will meet you there in 30 minutes (no joke).

 

*Lacrosse ... not sure WHY they are included in this argument ... Beechwood does NOT have a lacrosse team. If you are talking about the NKY Warriors .. that isn't Beechwood .. its a club team .. they pay to use the facility/they paint their own lines on the field (which is drastically smaller than the football outline or a potential soccer outline). They work hard to make it a home field for their program ... but they have absolutely no dawg in this fight unless it becomes a KHSAA/school sponsored program.

 

I know that I am going to regret posting this ... but I can back everything up with FACTUAL data--which I am more than happy to discuss. I have kept my personal thoughts and feelings out of this ... and basically for one simple reason ... we got over it (football/cross/girls soccer/band) ... we had soccer kids on the cross team .. everyone did a great job ... we (meaning cross country/parents/etc).

 

At the end of the day ... say whatever you want .. I haven't ever told a football player/soccer player/volleyball player/band member/cheerleader that they had to come to cross country out of season workout as opposed to going to an inseason regional week practice or game. And if a kids showed up like that ... he would have been sent back immediately. Those things HAVE happened from the beginning. Don't expect people to work with you ... or support you .. when you disrespect kids/coaches/parents who are trying to prepare properly for a championship.

Interesting info, QS.

I'm not going to try and reply to all of this because I don't have a dog in the fight but I do know the work and effort over the years that Beechwood soccer parents have put into getting a program started and I believe what they have told me is the truth:

 

*The plan that the Soccer team SUBMITTED stated that they would not use school facilities for the trial period."

 

Would this program have been approved had they demanded fair and equal usage of school facilities? Probably not.

 

*Football constantly comes up with this topic ... but I always find it very interesting when I read this thread and people try to act like football was worried about losing kids. NOT TRUE"

 

Football coaches and a couple players didn't show up at the meeting where soccer was approved (or other meetings) and speak against approval?

 

I won't address the rest of this rather lengthy post because I'm not intimately involved in this issue but on the two items above, I believe my info is accurate.

 

It seems clear that the "interest" in soccer is there on both the boys and girls side. I find the comments about "sharing" kids/players a little odd. Sharing them? Aren't they allowed to play whatever sport they want?