I went to practice last night and counted 62 players (not including freshmen) at Highlands. It seems to be a little down number wise compared to years past. I think that its just a trend for this year with only having 14 seniors this year. Jr and sophomore class have good numbers.

I don't think Highlands is now nor was then a "typical" program. It placed a much greater importance on football than many schools in the 70s.

 

Agreed and didn't mean to imply to the contrary. My question was based on just general curiosity. Not trying to be combative; this is the Football forum, not P and R.

Agreed and didn't mean to imply to the contrary. My question was based on just general curiosity. Not trying to be combative; this is the Football forum, not P and R.

 

Forgive my brevity which can lead to the wrong tone. I assume you know also that my P&R debates do not come with malice.

 

I think in the 70s that the majority of schools in the state of KY conducted football from July through the final game of the year. Some may have had weight programs but I'd guess many did not have much in the way of weight rooms. I played for a great coach who had a fair amount of success. However, he didn't see us until July once school was out.

 

HHS , on the other hand, sounds like it has a long tradition of putting more time into the sport than most. Their success bears that out.

Edited August 5, 200818 yr by Clyde

I went to practice last night and counted 62 players (not including freshmen) at Highlands. It seems to be a little down number wise compared to years past. I think that its just a trend for this year with only having 14 seniors this year. Jr and sophomore class have good numbers.

 

I dont think Lewis Co. in Northeastern KY has seen 62 players the past 4 seasons combined. Last year they finished the season with only 19 available players. I think it was 2 years ago they brought in a new coach who challenged the kids more then the previous coach and the kids failed to meet the challenge. The kids were simply to lazy and undetermined and therefore simply quit. The team only won 1 game in 2007-2008.

 

After last year, the coach took a new job with a program to be closer to his family. A new coach (previous assistant and current head baseball coach) was hired toward the end of the school year. This coach is a great guy but is considered by the students to be somewhat of a push-over. In a meeting held by the coach within the last week of school, something like 90 kids (9th-12th) attended. Of course, not all 90 turned out for summer practice but they have had 30+ at every practice. This isnt a huge turnout, but tremendous considering previous years.

 

What I am getting at, kids dont want to work as hard and put forth the effort needed to become better football players. They enjoy the game just as long as they dont have to exert any energy. Because there are so many alternatives, kids find enjoyment in things requiring less work. I also think tradition has an impact in numbers, but parents are the greatest factor. This is just my insight on the situation.

I heard from some parents that the new CCH middle school program of 7th and 8th graders has about 65 players.

Money is required to play club volleyball or travel soccer or travel baseball.

 

Football requires you to have access to a weight room (free of charge), a place to run sprints, a place to run long distance, and a football.

 

Right, but I was noting how the landscape changes for players/parents when the kids move up from youth leagues to HS FB. If a kid finds out his parents' money isn't getting him that starting spot anymore, many of them quit and pursue other interests where their money can give them a leg up (such as in the pursuit of girls).

Right, but I was noting how the landscape changes for players/parents when the kids move up from youth leagues to HS FB. If a kid finds out his parents' money isn't getting him that starting spot anymore, many of them quit and pursue other interests where their money can give them a leg up (such as in the pursuit of girls).

 

Gotcha. I was taking it from the standpoint of the necessity to have money in order to excel.

I've never heard of schools transporting athletes to and from practice.

 

If this is something they have done in the past, I can understand why they can't afford it now.

 

Rock has been doing this for 15/20 years. It has really helped out.

As for Spring football back in my day, heck, I can't remember for certain if we even had spring football back then. Guess I took one too many shots to the head. Maybe DMZ can remember as I don't remember him ever hitting anyone hard enough to cause any memory loss. Just kidding my friend.

 

You are lucky to remember what you had for lunch, with all the shots you took to the head...and those were just from your Dad!! Cannot believe that you don't remember the North side/South side game!! We divided the team as closely as possible into teams by where you lived. And let's just say the South did rise again!! don't remember the details though...must be because of that 1 tackle I made!! :lol:

Raceland has been fairly consistent for, at least, the past 15 years, we always have between 45-55 kids on the team. I have not counted them, but I would guess that number is about the same this year. Raceland is a compact community, so there is not much reason for a problem with transportation.

 

Raceland has had, pretty much year around football conditioning and practice, since at least 1988, that is when I started.

Football is a great game. But, there are alot more choices out there for kids these days. Alot of those choices are not as demanding. Alot of those choices don't ask you to put others ahead of yourself. And, more of a time commitment is expected from kids than in the past. Also, kids can choose to play any sport year round- focus on one sport.

 

For most programs, I would expect numbers to continue to be an issue.

I've never heard of schools transporting athletes to and from practice.

 

If this is something they have done in the past, I can understand why they can't afford it now.

 

Same here!!

In my area of the state (Henry, Trimble, Owen, Carroll and Gallatin County) the numbers are up at each school.

The old saying "My son has to work on the farm" went out in 1977.

I believe that Parnets, community support and coaching is what gets kids to play.

You are lucky to remember what you had for lunch, with all the shots you took to the head...and those were just from your Dad!! Cannot believe that you don't remember the North side/South side game!! We divided the team as closely as possible into teams by where you lived. And let's just say the South did rise again!! don't remember the details though...must be because of that 1 tackle I made!! :lol:

 

I knew we had a North South game, but I couldn't remember if it was in the spring or part of 2 a days. But now that you mention it, it was in the spring. Thanks for joggling the brain cells. And I'm sure it was one heck of a tackle you made. :thumb: Besides, you were saving your big plays for the state game.

I can only offer an opinion from my region of the state, that being the northeastern corner of the Commonwealth in Ashland. I would estimate that our numbers of players turning out for football is slightly down from over the past 5 years. Although a modest amount, our turnout this year appears to be in the mid 40ish range but have had some in the upper 50s only a couple of years ago. Word out of Boyd County HS is there are about 24 players participating; Greenup Co (geographically very large) has a small turnout compared to the population base. Perhaps some of my friends from Raceland, Fairview and Russell can comment on those programs. Rose Hill Christian School I believe is developing a football program too...those players would have more than likely attended one of the public schools if playing football was of some significance to them.

 

At the risk of sounding like an "old timer"...it just appears that kids today simply are not as interested in enduring the demands of football whether due to more choices on how to spend their time or some other reason. I have witnessed a tendency that players are looking for "instant" success and/or playing time early on in their high school careers instead of waiting their turn and "paying their dues" so to speak.

 

As for bussing athletes to and from practices, I have never heard of that at any public school and with today's gasoline crunch and school systems scrambling to offset the rising cost of fuel...I doubt that this would likely occur

 

Haven't been to any Russell practices yet, but I was told they had over 60 grades 10-12. Seems like the average number Russell is used to having. Although I think numbers will dip some, with the inception of the 6th-8th grade teams, kids who don't get PT will quit earlier on. Used to be with JFL all the way to 8th grade, you'd have 10-15 8th graders per team. Ive seen freshman classes with 50 players out at the begining of practice. Considering theres only about 60-70 boys per class, those are pretty good numbers.