A five-class proposal ...

[ActionDan]

Name them ...

 

Arkansas has atleast 7 classes

[leatherneck]

What schools have started football since the decision was made to go to six classes?

 

I'll contact the KHSAA, or you can, and get that info.

[HIGHLANDS GUY]

I bet they are. Much easier to defend your coaching abilities when you advance farther in the playoffs/win district/have a winning record etc.

 

Exactly.

 

Actually I know the KHSAA (and a large majority of the football coaches) are happy with what we have now and that is the way it will be at least for the next 4 years.

 

My son thinks chicken nuggets every meal is a great idea, the Jiffy Lube guy always says I need a new air filter, etc. Sometimes it is difficult to seperate what is correct or right, from what we want, what makes us happy, what is easiest, or ... gasp... what makes us look best.

[HIGHLANDS GUY]

That could be their motivation; I don't know. But that doesn't change my point. It's not going to change. I understand that since we've gone to 6 classes, almost a 1,000 more young men are participating in football and more schools have started football teams. Those are good things. I think the 6 class system has had a hand in those good things happening.

 

If that is true, and the KHSAA has been able to determine that there are 1,000 additional boys partipating in football due either solely or primarily to going to six (6) classes. I wonder what the participation levels of other sports would be, if the KHSAA either added classes to to non-classifed sports or added additional classes (the most any other sport has is 3 I believe) in the sports that now have classes. What is unique to football?

[rockmom]

In the last 25 years, Trinity has won 12 state titles in the state's largest-enrollment class, and St. Xavier has won seven. They have combined to win 10 consecutive titles. Trinity hasn't lost in the postseason to a school other than St. Xavier since 2004. The Tigers haven't lost to a program other than Trinity in the postseason since 2002.

 

We can debate all the issues if we want, and we have in this forum. No one denies that Trinity and St. Xavier have good coaching and work hard to maintain their excellent programs. No one denies that both schools offer fine educational opportunities and are attractive options for students for a myriad of reasons other than football.

 

But it's very clear, painfully clear, that the two programs have some sort of inherent advantages. I think one of them is the enrollment disparity between those schools and the rest of their 4A/6A brethren. And frankly, I think their dominance has become almost self-perpetuating in Louisville. In this age of open enrollment in Jefferson County, I wonder how many prospective football players that are considering Trinity and/or St. Xavier as well as some public schools choose one of the Catholic schools because they know it gives them the best chance to play fo r a state championship.

 

I am well aware of the accomplishments of programs such as Highlands, Boyle County, Beechwood, Danville, Newport Catholic, Mayfield, Fort Campbell and others ... but there is one huge difference. None of those programs enjoy the enrollment advantages over the rest of the teams in their respective classes that Trinity and St. Xavier do, and that is an indisputable fact.

 

So...it's OK to be successful, and actually it's a good thing....as long as you aren't named Trinity or X. Gotcha.

[leatherneck]

If that is true, and the KHSAA has been able to determine that there are 1,000 additional boys partipating in football due either solely or primarily to going to six (6) classes. I wonder what the participation levels of other sports would be, if the KHSAA either added classes to to non-classifed sports or added additional classes (the most any other sport has is 3 I believe) in the sports that now have classes. What is unique to football?

 

For what it's worth, if I had a vote, I'd vote to bring classes to other sports including basketball if it would result in more kids participating. I know that 1,000 more kids are playing football since we went to 6 classes, although I doubt that any one can say with certainly that such is solely or primarily because we went to 6 classes, which is why I said I believe it had a hand in the higher participation. westsider, I have not heard back from the KHSAA in re which schools have started football teams since 06 (we started 6 classes in 07). The total number of teams did decrease due to consolidations, but I thought there were some schools that started football since 06.

[leatherneck]

Exactly.

 

 

 

My son thinks chicken nuggets every meal is a great idea, the Jiffy Lube guy always says I need a new air filter, etc. Sometimes it is difficult to seperate what is correct or right, from what we want, what makes us happy, what is easiest, or ... gasp... what makes us look best.

 

And when the Jiffy Lube guy tells you that you need a new air filter, hopefully you look at the old filter, examine the car's maintenance records and then make what you think is the best decision. That's what the KHSAA did on the 6 class proposal: they analyzed the recommendation of the coaches advisory committee, looked at the disparity of size in the then 4 classes, considered whether having 6 classes would be good for participation and well as the sport of football long term and analyzed what happened to the sport since 75 when they went from 3 to 4 classes (had BGP been around then, I'm sure I'd have read the same posts about it watering down football as I'm currently reading about going to 6 classes). I realize many fans don't like 6 classes; I wish those fans would realize that I don't care what they think, I doubt the KHSAA does either and 6 classes are here to stay for a while.

 

As for your comments on your son's thoughts on chicken nuggets, well that's just childish.

[littleluck55]

Arkansas has atleast 7 classes

 

Arkansas has 300+ schools and 1a is non football schools and class 6a/7a have combined because they only have 16 schools in each class. Their system for large schools is very confusing to me though.

 

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1110599

[westsider]

So...it's OK to be successful, and actually it's a good thing....as long as you aren't named Trinity or X. Gotcha.

Interesting interpretation of my comments ...

[westsider]

I know that 1,000 more kids are playing football since we went to 6 classes, although I doubt that any one can say with certainly that such is solely or primarily because we went to 6 classes, which is why I said I believe it had a hand in the higher participation.

If so, that's still an average of just 4-5 kids per school ... which hardly seems attributable to the decision to go to six classes.

 

westsider, I have not heard back from the KHSAA in re which schools have started football teams since 06 (we started 6 classes in 07). The total number of teams did decrease due to consolidations, but I thought there were some schools that started football since 06.

The schools that have recently added football that I can remember are Clinton County, Walton-Verona, Bishop Brossart and Jackson County, but the best that I can tell, the decision to add the sport came before the advent of six classes.

[CentreRocks]

Can someone provide a key to the abbreviations listed on the KHSAA.org enrollment reports? It looks like Scott County, Eastern and Henry Clay all have over 1,100 boys but I wanted to make sure I'm reading the chart correctly.

 

http://www.khsaa.org/reports/enrollments/2009and2010averanegschoolenrollmentbyenroll.pdf

[Trinity alum]

Kentucky has a problem with the largest schools and the smallest schools in that there is a large size difference between a couple of schools and the next largest (and smallest, even though no one worries much about the small schools that have trouble competing). Six classes was an attempt to decrease the differences. There is no practical way to eliminate the difference. I would point out though that while X has enjoyed this big size difference for many years, Trinity has only had a big size advantage over the biggest public schools in the last six or seven years. Despite this, X never dominated big school football the way Trinity has for the past ten years. In fact, for most of the last forty years X was the second or third best big school program, even with a big size advantage over every other school. What that says to me is that while size is important, it is not the only factor controlling competition. The current Trinity run can be attributed to a number of factors including resources (from the school and community), size, coaching and a little luck. This run is great fun but we can't expect it to go on forever.

[woodsrider]

I guess you were probably complaining when Single A Pikeville was on their streak in the 80's and then Beechwood in the 90's or when Danville repeated. Or in 2a when Fort Campbell won 3 in a row recently or Belfry or Breathitt County. Or in 3A when Cov Cath ruled it, then Highlands, and then Boyle County. You can go on and on. Trinity had the record for most consecutive wins in the late 80's winning 3 state titles in a row. I am sure everyone complained then they couldn't compete with T and how unfair it was. Guess what, they won 1 title in the next 10 years. Did their recruiting budget go down? Teams are going to go through their ups and downs. Very good programs try to keep their winning times going and limit their down times. Trinity very well may win 2 or 3 or 5 more in a row. Then again, maybe Ryle keeps improving and starts competing with them. Maybe Henderson County gets a dynamic coach and all the athletes they have come out for football and goes on a run.

 

And talk about getting tired, the "we can't compete with Trinity because they have more students, better athletes, better looking girfriends, and drive better cars than us" is getting old.

First, I wasn't complaining. If you can find where I was please post it here. Second, comparing a 2 or 3 year streak to what Trinity has done over the last 20 years is laughable.

 

Now name the 5 schools in 6A that have a legit shot at the title every year? I won't hold my breath waiting.

[footballfever]

Kentucky needs no more than three classes in football. Being the best of 30+ teams and being declared a "state champion" is a joke IMO.

There are only 32 teams in the NFL so winning the "SUPER BOWL" is a joke? So what there are 6 state champions, 24 region champs, and 48 district champs. It's high school football and the more success that is available the more kids will play..

[leatherneck]

And when the Jiffy Lube guy tells you that you need a new air filter, hopefully you look at the old filter, examine the car's maintenance records and then make what you think is the best decision. That's what the KHSAA did on the 6 class proposal: they analyzed the recommendation of the coaches advisory committee, looked at the disparity of size in the then 4 classes, considered whether having 6 classes would be good for participation and well as the sport of football long term and analyzed what happened to the sport since 75 when they went from 3 to 4 classes (had BGP been around then, I'm sure I'd have read the same posts about it watering down football as I'm currently reading about going to 6 classes). I realize many fans don't like 6 classes; I wish those fans would realize that I don't care what they think, I doubt the KHSAA does either and 6 classes are here to stay for a while.

 

As for your comments on your son's thoughts on chicken nuggets, well that's just childish.

 

Hot shot, westsider and others not in favor of the 6 classes, I want to apologize for the tone of the above post. It was unnecessary and driven by my exasperation with the repeated threads questioning the 6 classes. I get it: some folks don't like it. But it's done and over with. It isn't going to change at least not for the next 4 years and if it changes thereafter, such won't be because fans or posters don't like it. The KHSAA thinks there are valid reasons for the 6 classes; others don't. But I just wish people would accept that it's here to stay and move on.