Takes alot more money to provide for 50-60 kids then it does 10-15.

 

That's a very fair point. But do you really think that a couple of "extended" away district games a year is really going to break any school's finances? Aren't most of the districts currently comprised of 4 or 5 teams? If 5, that means a school is going to have 4 district games. Which probably and usually means 2 away games and 2 home games each year. Maybe I'm missing something but I just can't see the increased travel costs of playing district games in a 6 class system being a driving force for principals and superintendents demanding 4 or 5 classes.

Separate public and private schools. Everything would fix itself. 5 classes with 1 being private schools.

Separate public and private schools. Everything would fix itself. 5 classes with 1 being private schools.

 

I really don't understand the whole private school paranoia. Outside of Trinity and St. X, what private schools are dominating?

I really don't understand the whole private school paranoia. Outside of Trinity and St. X, what private schools are dominating?

 

Trinity has an excellent program , especially last year and this coming year. I don't know if they can sustain the dominance , but I could be wrong , still look for the overall quality in all fassets of the team to drop somewhat , just don't know for how long or how far.

 

The public vs. the privates don't mean squat to me. If you want to beat the privates , do something to close the gap , have a goal and work on beating the privates. Walk the halls of the school and find athletes that aren't playing football or any sport for that matter. I'd say every school has at least 2 or 3 students that would likely help the football team but aren't involved for one reason or another.Trinity has been beaten by public schools before , why can't they do it now ?

Paul dunbar has the biggest enrollment in Ky with 2200 students , if they are dominating in any sport I haven't heard about it. (I only come out from under my rock about 6 times a year , so I might have missed something).So , I don't buy the numbers excuse.

 

VOR HAS A VERY GOOD POINT , ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS FIGURE OUT HOW TO BEAT TWO TEAMS , X AND T. Good luck with that , but you can't beat them unless you schedule them.

Yes they are the only ones providing the revenue and thats why schools cannot afford to lose any money on these trips. Also hurts the gate on these road trips.

 

I don't buy that, boys Basketball and baseball have 30 games and travel at least half of them. That doesn't include playoffs either. Some teams travel farther at times to face better competition. So can you really say that football traveling for most of 7-8 games is worse than baseball or basketball going for 15.

Trinity has an excellent program , especially last year and this coming year. I don't know if they can sustain the dominance , but I could be wrong , still look for the overall quality in all fassets of the team to drop somewhat , just don't know for how long or how far.

 

The public vs. the privates don't mean squat to me. If you want to beat the privates , do something to close the gap , have a goal and work on beating the privates. Walk the halls of the school and find athletes that aren't playing football or any sport for that matter. I'd say every school has at least 2 or 3 students that would likely help the football team but aren't involved for one reason or another.Trinity has been beaten by public schools before , why can't they do it now ?

Paul dunbar has the biggest enrollment in Ky with 2200 students , if they are dominating in any sport I haven't heard about it. (I only come out from under my rock about 6 times a year , so I might have missed something).So , I don't buy the numbers excuse.

 

VOR HAS A VERY GOOD POINT , ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS FIGURE OUT HOW TO BEAT TWO TEAMS , X AND T. Good luck with that , but you can't beat them unless you schedule them.

 

Sure there are small schools that do well, and there are some big schools that do poorly, but I dont think there is much of a question that it is an advantage to have more boys to choose from. On average 6a schools would crush 1a schools. I would point right to the fact that the only way classifications are determined are by enrollment. I dont think think questions is whether there is an advantage or not, the question is what extent the advantage is.

I know several high schools who generate almost 1/2 of their entire athletic budget on 5 home football games each year. Yes, 5 home games generate more than the 20+ of boys and girls basketball.

 

A sport that many schools, especially those that are true rural/county schools lose money on is soccer.

Well if those teams who generate more money for 5 games at home as opposed to 20 basketball game, they shouldn't worry about 6 classes because they generate money and don't have to worry about teams who don't bring big crowds. Leave it at 6 classes, it will get better.

For most rural schools, sports that lose money are soccer, track, baseball, softball, volleyball.

Well if those teams who generate more money for 5 games at home as opposed to 20 basketball game, they shouldn't worry about 6 classes because they generate money and don't have to worry about teams who don't bring big crowds. Leave it at 6 classes, it will get better.

 

Agreed.

For those that support a separate class for the private schools that play football; here they are. My apologies if I omitted someone or incorrectly classified a school as private.

 

Bethlehem

Louisville Holy Cross

DeSales

Kentucky Country Day

Owensboro Catholic

Christian Academy-Louisville

Bishop Brossart

Covington Holy Cross

Newport Central Catholic

Lexington Christian Academy

Lexington Catholic

Covington Catholic

St. Xavier

Trinity

 

Do we really want a 14-school class; of which only two have a realistic chance of winning 19 years out of 20? Or are we really meaning St. Xavier and Trinity should have a one-game playoff for a private-school title?

Round one

Bethlehem vs. Trinity

KCD vs. St X

 

It's a toss up.

Trinity has an excellent program , especially last year and this coming year. I don't know if they can sustain the dominance , but I could be wrong , still look for the overall quality in all fassets of the team to drop somewhat , just don't know for how long or how far.

 

The public vs. the privates don't mean squat to me. If you want to beat the privates , do something to close the gap , have a goal and work on beating the privates. Walk the halls of the school and find athletes that aren't playing football or any sport for that matter. I'd say every school has at least 2 or 3 students that would likely help the football team but aren't involved for one reason or another.Trinity has been beaten by public schools before , why can't they do it now ?

Paul dunbar has the biggest enrollment in Ky with 2200 students , if they are dominating in any sport I haven't heard about it. (I only come out from under my rock about 6 times a year , so I might have missed something).So , I don't buy the numbers excuse.

 

VOR HAS A VERY GOOD POINT , ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS FIGURE OUT HOW TO BEAT TWO TEAMS , X AND T. Good luck with that , but you can't beat them unless you schedule them.

 

You made some very good points, however I'm going to say something about the bolded part that might raise a few brows and get critcized, but I truly believe that "recruiting the halls" is a very over-rated way of thinking for many of our schools across Kentucky, specifically, the true rural/county schools.

 

1) The place I feel that a coach can do the most significant damage in terms of recruiting is at the middle school(s). That's where you can really get kids thinking football and changing their minds. Those 16-17 year old kids who aren't playing other sports, let alone football, probably aren't going to help you much unless they are just an above average talent.

 

2) If a coach is going to work the halls (speaking about rural schools), I think that if you are going to really recruit, then find out where a kid lives. What do I mean, you might ask? Fact of the matter is, most of your rural programs (especially those that are 1A-4A, even some 5A) don't have maybe more than a handfull of kids playing that are more than a 10 minute drive from the school. Am I saying I wouldn't recruit kids that live past 10 minutes? Not at all. I definately would speak to them about playing, but if I'm going to be spending much time on them they better 1) be playing something else already and/or a good student (lets me know that there is a committed mentality there) and/or 2) better be a for sure above average talent.

 

As for the "county" schools in Jefferson, Fayette, NKY/Cincy, Bowling Green/Warren County, etc.? Totally different thought process. Why? Heavier populated areas, specifically the county seats---chances are more likely that the kids you're recruiting are from areas relatively close to the school.

 

Obviously, with this, there are exceptions to the rule, as with everything.

 

When you look at the numbers, many of our truly rural, "county" schools are 1A programs in terms of where they pull their kids from. I know a program ("county" school; meaning it has "county" in it's name) east of I-75, with a very reputable tradition (3A school) that on their 40+ man roster only had 1 kid that lived outside of the county seat, (population 2,500 which was where the school is located).

Of the 13 sports in high school only 3 are divided into classes ,the ones that are not by class are track, basketball , and football. This is according to the KHSAA web site but I don't know if it up to date. IMO, football should be devided into classes , maybe 4 , and totally forget about the so called super class , it won't work.

 

Ky football is between a rock (not meaning T) and a hard place. You have above average teams that are competitve every season , go deep in the playoffs but never seem to get to the state game for reasons I can't explain. Would a shake up in classes help these teams finally get there and win state ? How about getting different region or district games to maybe equalize the competition ? The sad thing is , is that the same teams, especially in district play have to go through the Highlands , Trinity and X's of the world. By no means am I putting a knock on any team , but the three teams I have mentioned are usually the road that leads to the state final game. As far as money goes , schedule teams of equal quality and the stands will be full every week with tons of money pouring in from the gate. Truthfully I think they would get more money having competitive games on the schedule. Does anybody know the gate from HHS vs. CCH , and the gate from HHS and Pendleton Co. in 2011 ?

How would that be much different than football coaches wanting more classes so more teams can advance farther in the playoffs?

 

 

I don't disagree with your contention that some coaches were probably in favor of 6 classes to make it easier to advance farther. I also think that some were in favor of it specifically to avoid T and X. The reason I heard presented to the Board of Control for the 6 classes was to narrow the disparity between the largest and smallest school in each class. I obviously can't know the real reason each Board member voted for the 6 classes. It was represented to the Board, if I recall properly, that both the Football Advisory Committee and the Ky Football Coaches Association were in favor of the increase in classes. The Board generally follows the recommendations of the coaches groups unless the Board thinks there is some compelling reason not to do so.

 

I still believe that the move to 6 classes in time will improve the quality of play of high school football in Ky just because more teams will advance farther and more teams will win championships. No one, please, please, respond with we should then have 10 or 15 or 50 classes of football. I'll admit that 6 is a stretch and for now is creating some easier roads to the championship. Hopefully in time, that will no longer be the case.

 

While at times I tire of this incessant complaining and whining about 6 classes, it's continuation at least means that there are a lot of high school football fans out there. That, as Martha likes to say, is a good thing.