What will the big public's have to do? I'm not as familiar with Highland, but know they have a great tradition.

 

What do they do to keep the program focused and always competitive? Is funding at Highland similar or better than other publics? Are the Boosters really involved? Are they made up of more than parents? Do they have a strong feeder system that brings a stream of talented young players to their doors every year? Do they have coaches that can teach and develop unseen talent?

 

What makes Highlands (and any other strong public) the perennial power that they are and others aspire to be?

What will the big public's have to do? I'm not as familiar with Highland, but know they have a great tradition.

 

What do they do to keep the program focused and always competitive? Is funding at Highland similar or better than other publics? Are the Boosters really involved? Are they made up of more than parents? Do they have a strong feeder system that brings a stream of talented young players to their doors every year? Do they have coaches that can teach and develop unseen talent?

 

What makes Highlands (and any other strong public) the perennial power that they are and others aspire to be?

 

Highlands has the long tradition, but they also have a city junior league that feeds mainly Highlands (and some other schools) players that have had the opportunity to practice and play for 5 years before high school. And everyone plays with small numbers on each team. Plus boosters, coaching, etc. and it pretty much means a quality team year after year.

The Junior leagues may help some, but areas like Louisville have the optimist and the Catholic leagues that feed the public and privates alike. Is Highlands in a smaller city/county that doesn't dilute the talent pool as much or is the talent pool big enough that it can supply all the schools sufficiently?

The Junior leagues may help some, but areas like Louisville have the optimist and the Catholic leagues that feed the public and privates alike. Is Highlands in a smaller city/county that doesn't dilute the talent pool as much or is the talent pool big enough that it can supply all the schools sufficiently?

 

The advantage Highlands enjoys is that almost all players that play at Highlands have played in the Ft. Thomas junior league or in a more competitive league in NKY if that is the route they choose. So in essense they have multiple QBs, multiple RBs, multiple centers, etc. ready to compete for that position in high school. The league mostly feeds kids to Highlands although many NCC players that live in or near Ft.THomas also start playing in that league also. (For example NCC's QB in 05 and QB in 07).

 

Whereas other schools/areas have Junior leagues they probably do not appeal to massive numbers like the Fort Thomas League does. And the key is that team numbers are kept low by adding additional teams, so everyone plays.

Sounds like a sound program that continues to develop talent. With the low numbers per team in the juniors everyone can get comfortable in their skin.

 

How do they distribute players? Are they drafted, lottery or do the players pick the team?

 

Is there much competition for players from soccer? It seems kids have a lot more options for their time then I had when I was young.

Sounds like a sound program that continues to develop talent. With the low numbers per team in the juniors everyone can get comfortable in their skin.

 

How do they distribute players? Are they drafted, lottery or do the players pick the team?

 

Is there much competition for players from soccer? It seems kids have a lot more options for their time then I had when I was young.

 

As a general rule, the first cut at dividing the players is based on where in the city the kids live. Since the teams are themselves geographically based, they try to put the kids on the team closest to their home to make it easier to get to and fro practice. Kids that sign up late or are from out of town are then placed to try to balance out the teams to the extent possible (ie if through the first cut one team has a lot of linemen but another team does not, they'll put any big kids that sign up late or are from out of town on the team that didn't have many). There is also some "manipulation" done so that if one team for example would have two 8th grade qbs and another team would have none, one of the 8th grade qb's would get shifted to the other team. It doesn't always work out totally fair, and sometimes a coach feels he's getting the shaft (although the league officials work very hard to get coaches to "sign off" on the moves) at the end of the day, since it is considered an instructional league, most people don't get too upset with the manuevering. And if they do, then they aren't asked to coach the next year.:thumb:

 

As for soccer, sure it draws some kids away, but most coaches work with the kids to permit them to do both. Interestingly, its not the football coaches that get upset when the kid has to miss a football practice or game to play soccer; rather its the soccer coaches that get all bent out of shape when the inverse happens.

 

Hope that answers your questions.

Great information, Thanks Leatherneck!