Here let me clear a few things up about this whole mess. Everyone on here is bashing Breckinridge - and I'm not going to argue against what is said. I am associated with the program and can give you an idea as to what was behind the decision.

 

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If you are looking for someone to blame then you need to blame - the players, coaches, administration, BOE, parents, community and everyone else you can think of. One person or group does not put a program into as bad a shape like this by themselves.

 

Thanks for the input. It really sounds like a sad situation.

 

How is the feeder system set up in Breck. Co.? The fatal flaw which dooms a number of programs is the lack of a feeder program to generate interest and develop fundamentals at a grassroot level.

 

Secondly, what would you guess to be the average home attendance at games? Simply put, if the program can show signs of generating revenue then board support doesn't become an issue.. for every action that a school system takes to turn their head to a program their is the opportunity for the community to balance it out with their support.

 

Personally, I feel as if Rockcastle County is the blueprint for an athletic program in a rural area. The rock school board took pride in athletics from the start and it has paid off. Rockcastle has been successful and competed on the statewide basis in Football, Mens and Womens Basketball, Softball, Baseball, and now in volleyball. The catalyst for change...a committment by community and a committment by the coaches to devote their time and energy to turning the program around.

 

Example 2: My alma mater Belfry. Belfry has had one of KY's top football programs for years and the success can be directly accredited to Phillip Haywoods role in the feeder systems (and within the past five years a newfound push in the feeder systems has put Belfry into an even higher tier I feel), the communities role in improving facilities (namely a weight complex that really knocked the program up a notch), and administrative support both on the secondary school and BOE level. The results... football, as well as a good run of mens and womens basketball teams in the 90's, generated the fuel and now Belfry has seen success in other athletic programs which had not been there before.

 

My point is, in rural areas, success truly does breed success. The only stipulation is that success has to be earned through a committment of coaches, administration, and community alike. And we already see the flaws in admin committment. If the community isn't supporting this program and if the coaches aren't making an effort to instill the program at the grassroots level then this success will not be visible.

Personally, I feel as if Rockcastle County is the blueprint for an athletic program in a rural area. The rock school board took pride in athletics from the start and it has paid off. Rockcastle has been successful and competed on the statewide basis in Football, Mens and Womens Basketball, Softball, Baseball, and now in volleyball. The catalyst for change...a committment by community and a committment by the coaches to devote their time and energy to turning the program around.

 

Being a former manager/stat guy/student trainer, I am truely honored that you would think of the Rockcastle County school system in that way.

 

Now as far as the game in question...I really don't care how many freshman and sophomores you have to use...there is absolutely NO excuse to forfeit a game just because you know you're going to be blown out...NONE!!!

Statmanhensley - it's not a question of getting blown out. Breck has been blown out all season. It's a question of kids getting seriously hurt. If Breck's kids played against Bowling Green men then someone is probably going to get hurt severely. Breck's closest game was Hancock County which is a small single A school. They were still outscored by two touchdowns. They were not "afraid" of being blown out. They were afraid of getting kids sent to the hospital like they were last year.

 

In other sports you can play against a VERY dominant team and not get players hurt but in football if you play a very dominant team there may be some kids who are going to get hurt for the rest of their lives. Football is a dangerous sport but a great sport in that it does teach you many things about life but let's keep things in perspective here. It's still a game that is very physical and if you have one team more powerful than another kids may get seriously hurt. Bowling Green could beat some small colleges but Breck might struggle against some Freshmen teams. It's not cowardly to keep kids from being hurt when there is a precedent there - it's embarassing but it's not cowardly.

 

Orisionspi - as for the feeder system let me just say the middle school coach will not run the same offense nor defense as the high school team. The high school coach has asked several times for them to do it and he refuses. This same guy dogged this freshmen class - said they were terrible, no athletes, couldn't play etc... and that this 8th grade class would be the best to ever leave the middle school. He asked at the start of the season if the 8th grade group could scrimmage the freshmen team. He honestly thought it would be a blowout by the 8th grade team over the freshmen team. We didn't keep score but the 8th grade group was blown out by the freshmen team. I think that shows 1) there is a some talent there and 2) the high school coaches can coach. By the way the 8th grade group (the best ever - remember?) only won 2 maybe 3 games.

 

The home attendance is not bad. In 2000 it was great - standing room only but the 1 - 9 seasons still have good turnouts.

 

I really don't know what the problem is.

Hang in there, Tiger Fan. It really sounds like you care about the program. Best of luck to you and your team.

I have a lot of relatives in Breck and what Macdon pointed out is correct. There is no interest in football on the elementary level. That is where you develop interest and talent is in the youth leagues. The fact is basketball is king..everything else dies on the vine. I coach youth football here in Meade County, and we have 1 Hardinsburg kid and several Irvington kids in our league this year because there is no interest in Hardinsburg. It's sad.

They absolutely DO need to drop the football program, if they're going to forfeit even one district game. None of the qualities football can teach is being learned by the players at Breck now, if they're forfeiting district games.

 

Bracken County plays in a class A district with three of the top 10 class A schools in the state, they show up every week to play though.

Shoot, how about Evangel?! They'll show up with only 11 or 12 players & get their hats handed to them, but they show up and play.

 

Now, in all honesty, I don't think BG is hurt AT ALL by the forfeit. LCA played Evangel under the circumstances above & killed Evangel. LCA gained NOTHING from the scrimmage. It was agonizing to watch, even from the winning side.

 

As a matter of fact, LCA started "not hitting so hard" so that Evangel would not get hurt. Excellent sportsmanship, but a bad habit to get into, especially entering the playoffs (& it showed).

I do not ever see a need to foreit a game. The best way to get more competitive is to play in competitive games.. I do not know the whole situation. I have never been in a position like this and hope I never am.

 

 

 

Orisionspi - as for the feeder system let me just say the middle school coach will not run the same offense nor defense as the high school team. The high school coach has asked several times for them to do it and he refuses. This same guy dogged this freshmen class - said they were terrible, no athletes, couldn't play etc... and that this 8th grade class would be the best to ever leave the middle school. He asked at the start of the season if the 8th grade group could scrimmage the freshmen team. He honestly thought it would be a blowout by the 8th grade team over the freshmen team. We didn't keep score but the 8th grade group was blown out by the freshmen team. I think that shows 1) there is a some talent there and 2) the high school coaches can coach. By the way the 8th grade group (the best ever - remember?) only won 2 maybe 3 games.

 

The home attendance is not bad. In 2000 it was great - standing room only but the 1 - 9 seasons still have good turnouts.

 

I really don't know what the problem is.

There's your problem... as stated earlier... to have the successful program you have to have all the things I listed. Without that cohesion in the feeder system you are handicapped. The dicension between the closes will also play a role... who is going to be excited to play at the HS level when you hear the middle school coach dog him? IMO, step 1 to fixing the problem comes right there. Even if it means changes,, the HS and MS coach HAS to be on the same page.

I agree completely and hope those things do work out eventually. I am just a little tired of getting called cowards and other things. I DO NOT AGREE WITH CANCELING THE GAME but there are reasons for why it happened and want people to understand what went on.

 

You want another example of sad at BC - the baseball and softball teams have to raise every single penny for their program because the BOE won't build them a field on campus. They lose so much revenue from gate and concession they have no way to generate revenue. Plus the park board over the field they use try to screw them. They had an agreement worked out on how much the teams were supposed to get from concession but the park board didn't like it and changed it.

I agree completely and hope those things do work out eventually. I am just a little tired of getting called cowards and other things. I DO NOT AGREE WITH CANCELING THE GAME but there are reasons for why it happened and want people to understand what went on.

 

You want another example of sad at BC - the baseball and softball teams have to raise every single penny for their program because the BOE won't build them a field on campus. They lose so much revenue from gate and concession they have no way to generate revenue. Plus the park board over the field they use try to screw them. They had an agreement worked out on how much the teams were supposed to get from concession but the park board didn't like it and changed it.

 

I've read all your posts, and I'm not trying to take shots at you, but if the players were really this overmatched (i.e. risk serious bodily injury) against a team from roughly the same area and pretty much the same enrollment, then it's the school district's JOB to elminate football. If you are on record as cancelling a game for fear of safety to the players, what happens if, and I hope it would never happen, but if a kid gets hurt in the future? It's a lawsuit the school can't win because they're already on record as citing safety concerns.

 

Cancelling this game really give Breck no choice but to back to square one with football IMO.

Breckenridge County should look up North to Grant County High School to see how a school plays a game even when over matched. Grant County played the Team from Ft. Thomas and CovCath in back to back weeks and yes they got beat each time, but at least they played the game. Their players and coaches showed up and gave it their best, their cheerleaders and fans cheered on their team throughout the game. Maybe the Grant County kids were the real winners in each game for they learned a great lesson in life, and that is you don't ever, ever quit no matter how bad it gets. I would like to give the Kids and Coaches a standing "O" for their efforts during the last two weeks, and at least Grant County can look themselves in the mirror and know that they tried their very best against the worst of odds but at least they tired, can Breckenridge County say that. Good job Grant County

Possible.

 

Clay County, a basketball school, did this a few years ago when they were placed in 4A and had difficulty competing. Now that they are back in 3A they are doing fine. I see no problem with this and it beats dropping the football program.

 

You are wrong, when Clay Co. was in 4A, they made it to the playoffs one year. They played Tates Creek. Their district was Boyd Co., Perry Cent., North and South Laruel, and Johnson Cent.

I'm not really going to disagree with you Sandman on most of what you said. You are right except that I would hate to lose football because there are some good players that are Freshmen and Sophomores. Those were the kids who would have had to tackle the Hibbett kid and their other studs.

 

I don't want to cancel football but BC does need to go back to square one. Maybe just play district games next year since it would be a better district than the one they are in now. Who knows??

 

Old Guy - I agree that Grant County should be applauded for showing up but let me ask you this - how many players do they have vs the number of players of the teams they compete against?

 

I'm sorry but you are not going to learn some life lesson by showing up and getting your brains bashed in. Breck is outscored 342 - 76. The closest game was an 6 point difference with Hancock Co which is not a dominant Class A team.

 

Breck is realistically a small Class A football team in a solid Class AAA enrollment.