CovCath also got a lot of kids from Spartans and a few kids from Beechwood middle school.

 

It will be interesting to see how the kids from outside the CCH middle school program fit in and how that works out.

It will be interesting to see how the kids from outside the CCH middle school program fit in and how that works out.

 

CovCath has a program at the school that helps kids not from the "traditional" schools to assimilate into the school and its traditions. It's called "New to the Blue" and I have heard very good things about it.

 

As for the football team, I don't think it will be any different than how it is for Beechwood, NewCath and Highlands when kids join the program from places other than where the majority of the kids are from.

 

What type of athletes are the kids in question?

CovCath has a program at the school that helps kids not from the "traditional" schools to assimilate into the school and its traditions. It's called "New to the Blue" and I have heard very good things about it.

 

As for the football team, I don't think it will be any different than how it is for Beechwood, NewCath and Highlands when kids join the program from places other than where the majority of the kids are from.

 

What type of athletes are the kids in question?

 

I couldn't tell you who all the players are or what their size and abilities are. But there is a difference between the schools you listed. I am only talking athletics and not assimilation into the student body. The difference is the athletes who go to the smaller schools like Beechwood, NewCath, Holy Cross etc. can count on playing time and more than likely being a key contributor. The athletes going to CCH and Highlands face much higher numbers and a much higher risk of not playing. For the top notch players, they know they are going to play. For the players who may be more borderline and/or have size issues, they take much more of a risk going to the bigger schools. That is the purely athletics side of things. Obviously, there are many more factors than playing time in choosing which school to attend and I am not addressing those in this post.

I couldn't tell you who all the players are or what their size and abilities are. But there is a difference between the schools you listed. I am only talking athletics and not assimilation into the student body. The difference is the athletes who go to the smaller schools like Beechwood, NewCath, Holy Cross etc. can count on playing time and more than likely being a key contributor. The athletes going to CCH and Highlands face much higher numbers and a much higher risk of not playing. For the top notch players, they know they are going to play. For the players who may be more borderline and/or have size issues, they take much more of a risk going to the bigger schools. That is the purely athletics side of things. Obviously, there are many more factors than playing time in choosing which school to attend and I am not addressing those in this post.

There are politics at EVERY school. If you have a certain family name, parent on school councils, have money...etc. If you are coming in from outside the school system (unless you are a stud athlete) you do have to fight harder to prove your worth. I would expect backers from successful schools like NCC, Highlands, and Beechwood to deny this. And this is fine, but its true.

Tell me who should have been playing last year at Highlands that was not playing because of politics. Dale will play who he feels will give him the best chance to win regardless of what grade they are and what last name they have.

Word on the street Mac Franzen is to follow is older brother's footsteps and head to NCC where apparently they only had 16-17 kids show up for Frosh workouts. Mac is a very good athlete and very big kid. He should develop into a very good TE.

There are politics at EVERY school. If you have a certain family name, parent on school councils, have money...etc. If you are coming in from outside the school system (unless you are a stud athlete) you do have to fight harder to prove your worth. I would expect backers from successful schools like NCC, Highlands, and Beechwood to deny this. And this is fine, but its true.

 

I wasn't talking politics at all. I am just talking numbers. Bigger schools like Highlands and Cov Cath will probably have 50+ kids come out for freshman football. And many of those kids are well seasoned, very good players. You go to a smaller school like New Cath or Beechwood and they rarely if ever have 30 kids come out for freshman football. Where do you have a better chance of playing time, coaching focused on you getting better, etc.?

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Tell me who should have been playing last year at Highlands that was not playing because of politics. Dale will play who he feels will give him the best chance to win regardless of what grade they are and what last name they have.

 

Very, very true FT. Contrary to what some think, Dale shows no preference to where a kid comes from; what his parents do or did; the kid's last name; or how much money the family has. That may be true in other programs; I don't know. But I know it's not true at Highlands and my strong guess is that it's not true at Beechwood or NCC either based on what I know. Dale's played kids from out of town over kids from in town; he's played kids from in town over kids from out of town; he's played kids whose families have little money over kids from families with lots of money; he's played kids whose families hasn't been involved much at all in the football program or the school over kids whose families have; and he's played kids whose families are new to town over kids whose families have lived in town for generations and have fathers, uncles, grandfathers and brothers who were great players for the Birds in the past. Dale frankly doesn't care about that; he just wants to put the best football players on the field. Which is one of the reasons he wins so much.

Very, very true FT. Contrary to what some think, Dale shows no preference to where a kid comes from; what his parents do or did; the kid's last name; or how much money the family has. That may be true in other programs; I don't know. But I know it's not true at Highlands and my strong guess is that it's not true at Beechwood or NCC either based on what I know. Dale's played kids from out of town over kids from in town; he's played kids from in town over kids from out of town; he's played kids whose families have little money over kids from families with lots of money; he's played kids whose families hasn't been involved much at all in the football program or the school over kids whose families have; and he's played kids whose families are new to town over kids whose families have lived in town for generations and have fathers, uncles, grandfathers and brothers who were great players for the Birds in the past. Dale frankly doesn't care about that; he just wants to put the best football players on the field. Which is one of the reasons he wins so much.

 

I question Dale occasionally but I've never once thought of him or questioned him as a "politics guy."