cometscoach

Excellent point. In my experience however the basketball and football teams are placing demands on the players during the summer and many parents expect baseball to take a back seat because their season has just finished. Probably not a problem in a large school, but when you have limited athletes it can certainly be frustrating.

High school coaches may coach after school is out for the summer as long as they do not overlap the dead period. It actually only works for about 3 weeks but you can schedule 15-18 games during that time. I am considering making it a requirement for all of our returning players but want to check the ins and outs.

Providing KHSAA guidlines are complied with and the summer session is completed prior to the dead period can you require Juniors to play. Or just make it a strong suggestion.

The thread about spring break has several comments about players being required to play the full season. Does this and should this include summer ball?

I am jealous

This is a great post. I have enjoyed reading it for almost an hour. Unfortunately this same battle is being waged at our high school. Here is the scenario: We are a small school (135 male students). We have been very competitive however in all sports last year winning the district in baseball, football, and soccer. As you can imagine with only 135 male students it is tough to find 12 good baseball players to fill varsity positions. No enter the situation where 5 of 6 seniors want to travel to Florida for spring break. Obviously a very touchy situation.

The decline in baseball in my area can be directly linked to the rise of soccer. Many kids have put down the ball glove and bat for shin guards and a soccer ball. Parents like this because the spring soccer season ends earlier and they have more time for vacationing during the summer. With year round school (which is what we have in our county) the summer vacation is very compressed. Additionally, soccer is cheaper and requires less commitment. Yes there are soccer players that work very hard and excell in their sport; however on a youth level it is much easier to hide a marginal athlete on the soccer field than the baseball diamond.

I have provided medical coverage at football games and practices for over 15 years. Heat related illnesses are the scariest for coaches and medical practicioners. Realistically every practice we had prior to the 2005 and 2006 season was in heat that required restrictions. Based on the information I have read on this thread and through the press. It certainly looks like Henderson staff took reasonable precautions. I do think it is unfortunate that the do not have proof of measuring the heat index but if reports are true the index was well within acceptable limits. I have lectured on the effects of heat index on several occasions and one of the concepts that is being over looked here is the concept of acclimation. All animals including humans can become acclimated to increased heat. Acclimation is accomplished by gradually increasing the demand placed on an individual during hot weather. Based on what I have read this incident occured on July 19th only 4 days after football practice can legally start in Ky. My question is if enough time was used to acclimate these athletes to the weather.

I agree. If you can afford that for your children it is not a bad idea. Unfortunately with this type of situation the ailment would still probably have been missed. However your argument is valid that a full physical by the childs physician would have given more opportunity to pick up on such conditions.

I am much in favor of the shot clock. Good defensive teams are penalized if there is no shot clock.

I can not imagine that there are many regions much tougher than the 5th. E-town, Central Hardin, North Hardin, and Nelson Co. All 4 teams have been in the top 20 this season with the first three in the top 10. Certainly make that top bracket looking pretty strong.

I guess they do not have the advantage that Nelson Co. has of including a 90 minute strength and conditioning class in the middle of the school day.

Bethlehem losses too many to count. Many will say Billy Jackson will be the most missed, but I believe the heart and sole of the team was Kent Simpson. He controlled the defensive side of the field and was an excellent lead blocker for Jackson. He made the difference in the 2nd Bardstown game where Bethlehem won the district.

Never regained that speed after he got shot before his senior season. Definitely a great talent that never reached full potential because of off the field issues. Steven Railey and Maurice Maddox were also speedsters out of the Bardstown system.

Alot of good kids get missed

Fastest player I ever saw was Anthony Boggs from Nelson Co in 1996 the last time a 4A team from out in the state won championship

Excellent post. This is why you absolutely have to follow the KHSAA guidlines which are very clear. Monitoring the heat index is not difficult. I have used parents to monitor.

Should a child that can not afford this type of physical not be allowed to play. This is a serious issue. I would guess that less than 50% of the players that go through these "drive through" physicals will pay or could afford to pay the 150-200 physical that would be done in a physicians office. Additionally, please do not get a false sense of security from a physical in the physicians office as most defects would have not been picked up without an stress EKG or Echocardiogram which are not parts of a normal physical.

My son has been doing alot of lifting during the winter. What do you consider the best lifts for football? What is a good max? (bench, squat, deadlift)

I would guess less than 5.

Our two fastest players were timed running 4.7's this weekend in a camp. We are a small school and that is fast for us. What are you guys seeing.

Confirmed!!! Stan T. was named as head coach. Better things to come for Bethlehem. Yes they have lost the best senior class they have ever had but the momentum they created is contagious. At the first football meeting of the year they had 37 current students attend. Yes several of these will not come out or make it through two a days but they have the largest and best group of freshman to be coming in next year. They will get anywhere from 10-12 players form that class. Might not sound like alot but is a huge class for Bethlehem. More importantly it consist of some good size offensive lineman which will really compliment backs like Casey Robinson, Luke Wimpsett, and Cam Wilson after the departure of Blake Stanley. Look for next year to be somewhere around 6-4 but the following two years will see them back on top of the district.

Best player in the state that you never heard of is a freshman at Nelson Co. Her name is Samantha Drake. She is a 3 year starter for the Nelson Co Cards and averaging over 20/game against staunch competition. Here older brother was a freshman on the UK football team TC Drake. Did not play much early on but played a lot of tight end in the bowl game. She has already been contacted by both Tenn. and NC. She has been invited to play AAU in California this summer. Much more from her to come.

I coached at a Single A school last year that won our District. We were mixed in with much larger schools but did overcome the disadvantage of other teams having 7 times as many boys to pick from. I am not for a total classification system; however it is foolish to think that "size does not matter" Point in case. I have coached an AAU team that represents several counties for the last five years. We have never been beat by a team representing one community. I would like to think it is because I am a great coach, or because my players work harder, or because I have a great system, but more realistically it is because I draw from a much larger pool of player.

In a huge upset Nelson Co. upset highly ranked Scott 86-70. This just two weeks after Nelson opening the season with 30 pt loss to Central Hardin