Merge vs Survive

[dfisch80]

I wanted to start this Thread separately from the Elba/B-B Combining Thread because although it has to do with merging, its kind of a different topic that I'd like your opinions on.

Part of the problem, I think, with some of these schools numbers at the High School level is the Youth program that’s feeding the High School. I'm on the East Rochester Youth Football Board and we are trying to find ways to keep the kids at the youth level interested in playing up through Varsity. As small as ER is we actually have really good numbers at the youth level. C and B teams always have full teams and a waiting list every spring. But for whatever reason the numbers drop dramatically at the Youth A to JV age. I understand some of the kids get into different sports and lose interest in football. We don’t have a Modified team so unfortunately the small numbers on A is what’s feeding JV directly.

This year we decided as a Board to make the High School offence "mandatory" as part of our Youth program. Each team had to have a percentage of Varsity plays (C-30%, B-50%, A-70%) in their playbook. The idea was to keep the kids interested and want to move up to the High School level, and when they got there they would already know a lot of how the high school program is run. What we were hearing from high school players is coming up through our youth program and entering the high schools program was two different "ball games". So we had a lot of interaction between youth and varsity all year. Varsity players working with the youth, and the youth players going to Varsity’s practices and games. Learning "terminology”, plays, how practices are run...etc. We even did the high schools warm-up's. The kids loved it!! Hearing them say "Hey, we do that play!" or "Their running Cat now"! Anyway, it was a great success for the most part. We unfortunately lost a youth coach that we've had for many years because he thought it was a bad idea and wanted nothing to do with the high school program...and was not going to be "told" how to coach his players.

I just wanted to see if anyone’s had any similar experiences. Bottom line, in my opinion, is we are merged with Gananda because of our numbers coming up from youth. I'm not saying thats a bad thing, but deffinatly a concern. East Rochester is only 1 square mile and unfortunatly we dont have the rescorces or numbers other schools in the area do. Gananda has an amazing youth program right now that’s growing very quickly. I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few years Gananda no longer needed ER and had a High School program of their own. If that’s the case, ER may be right back where it was before we merged...in trouble. Dont rule out merging with another school...its a great tool to have. But what we really need to look at is how we can keep the youth in our towns interested in playing at the High School level!

[Breezy77]

declining numbers is a problem for alot of sports at many schools, even some large schools. there are many reasons for this. i believe one of the major reasons is that kids are specializing in one sport at younger and younger ages. the creation of travel teams out of season, (for example, aau basketball in the spring, winter soccer and winter lacross) fprce kids make a decision on whether to play a modified school sport or a travel league. more and more kids are choosing the travel league. why i don't know. i believe these kids are choosing to specialize at too young an age. if they get to be an elite athlete by their junior or senior year and they feel they can become a college athlete, that is the time to specialize. what are other opinions out there?

[superheroaj]

declining numbers is a problem for alot of sports at many schools, even some large schools. there are many reasons for this. i believe one of the major reasons is that kids are specializing in one sport at younger and younger ages. the creation of travel teams out of season, (for example, aau basketball in the spring, winter soccer and winter lacross) fprce kids make a decision on whether to play a modified school sport or a travel league. more and more kids are choosing the travel league. why i don't know. i believe these kids are choosing to specialize at too young an age. if they get to be an elite athlete by their junior or senior year and they feel they can become a college athlete, that is the time to specialize. what are other opinions out there?

I completely agree with the position that kids are specializing too young and it's effecting team numbers. It's ridiculous for a 12-14 old athlete to play only one sport in hopes of gaining a scholarship in college. The percentage of students actually getting scholarships is astronomically low. Not to mention, playing other sports improves performance in all sports. I use to love the idea of AAU and travel teams but now I'm not so sure. To me, they've become too intense, too much of a commitment at younger levels.

[Berask]

I completely agree with the position that kids are specializing too young and it's effecting team numbers. It's ridiculous for a 12-14 old athlete to play only one sport in hopes of gaining a scholarship in college. The percentage of students actually getting scholarships is astronomically low. Not to mention, playing other sports improves performance in all sports. I use to love the idea of AAU and travel teams but now I'm not so sure. To me, they've become too intense, too much of a commitment at younger levels.

Although I agree student athletes shouldn't specialize at such a young age, I disagree that AAU and travel teams are too much of a commitment. In order to build a program, coaches need to develop multiple off season leagues, camps, open gym type deals, etc. For example Buddy Brasky (my father) of Batavia tries to get kids to play all year round. He has multiple skill camps and gets in numerous spring, summer, and fall leagues in hopes to build a great team. Although his whole team doesn't take part in all of these off season activities, a few kids do. The kids that do take part (paritcularly the entire Hoy family and Brian Anderson) build a nice base for the team to build on during the regular season.

In short all I am saying is that coaches need to find a certain number of commited players to take part in their off season skill building activities. If players on a team play multiple sports however, they should be excused if they miss off season activities during their other sports' seasons.

Kids shouldn't stop playing sports that they have played for the majority of their childhood just to focus on one sport. The more sports you play, the more skills you learn. For example in football you learn toughness and that can transfer over to ANY sport and even into life.

Get back on the field and quit trying to be a star in a certain sport. You most likely are not going to get a D1 scholarship. Get over it.

[Footballfan65]

Bath does that same thing when it comes to playcalling at the youth level. They did that when my father coached youth football. He had a good relationship with the varsity coach and used a varsity offense or as close as possible to it. That way when they went up to modified, jv, then varsity they had already been working in the system. It seems to help.

[superheroaj]

Although I agree student athletes shouldn't specialize at such a young age, I disagree that AAU and travel teams are too much of a commitment. In order to build a program, coaches need to develop multiple off season leagues, camps, open gym type deals, etc. For example Buddy Brasky (my father) of Batavia tries to get kids to play all year round. He has multiple skill camps and gets in numerous spring, summer, and fall leagues in hopes to build a great team. Although his whole team doesn't take part in all of these off season activities, a few kids do. The kids that do take part (paritcularly the entire Hoy family and Brian Anderson) build a nice base for the team to build on during the regular season.

In short all I am saying is that coaches need to find a certain number of commited players to take part in their off season skill building activities. If players on a team play multiple sports however, they should be excused if they miss off season activities during their other sports' seasons.

Kids shouldn't stop playing sports that they have played for the majority of their childhood just to focus on one sport. The more sports you play, the more skills you learn. For example in football you learn toughness and that can transfer over to ANY sport and even into life.

Get back on the field and quit trying to be a star in a certain sport. You most likely are not going to get a D1 scholarship. Get over it.

Great post Berask and I think we're coming from the same perspective. Coaches now have to provide kids opportunities to play year round pretty much because everybody else does. If a program didn't offer kids the chance to play year round then they wouldn't be competitive. I wish that coaches didn't have set up Fall, Spring and Summer leagues, go to camps and have kids play AAU.

I certainly agree with your point about transferrable skills and kids expecting a DI scholarship.

I wish that coaches didn't have set up Fall, Spring and Summer leagues, go to camps and have kids play AAU. Kids used to get better by playing in their neighborhood pick up games which just don't happen anymore for whatever reason. It just seems like 365 days a year kids are involved in an adult-organized league rather than being allowed to just be kids.

[Breezy77]

i also think that is an excellent post by berask. coaches should be commended for providing year round opportunities for varsity level athletes. they can't compete if they don't. it's the middle school and youth level that kids need to play as many sports as they can. at the varsity level kids can still play multiple sports while they make one their main sport. coaches should never try to talk a kid into not playing another sport. they are only in high school once and they should play all the sports they enjoy. now, saying that, if they want to get to an elite level in a certain sport they must play that sport year round. even while they are playing another school sport. this takes a big committment on the part of the athlete. some coaches don't want to hear this. for instance, they don't want their football player going to open gym for basketball during the football season. i say why not? as long as it doesn't interfere with their football they should be able to go to open gym or play in a fall hockey league etc. it isn't easy to do but some athletes can do it.

[Breezy77]

i would like to add to my last post. coaches at the school have to work together so that kids can do multiple sports. they need to communicate with each other and schedule their off season events so kids don't have to make a choice. there are still kids out there that want to do multiple sports. the coaches need to find a way to let them!!!

[Rams15]

You have conflicting philosophies, sometimes, that really put kids in a tough situation. It is true, statistically and realistically, that most high school athletes will never compete at the Division I level in any sport in college. There are some coaches who delude young athletes into believing that if they dedicate their time, energy, & skill into a specific sport or concentration, that they will have a shot at achieving this goal. Many young athletes buy into this pipe dream and forego participating in another sport. I cannot tell you how many athletes have come back to me ( after high school ) and said, " oh man, coach, I wish that I would have played basketball or lacrosee, or run track. I missed out on a lot."

If a credible coach honestly believes that a young boy or girl has talent to succeed at the next level ( whatever that may mean ) then, yes, he should encourage them to focus on skill development to give that individual athlete a chance at competing for a college spot in a sport of their choice. However, there are some coaches who exert pressure on kids to partcipate in AAU programs, weight room time, and other off season activities if you " want to play for me." That, however, is where the dilemma arises. If you want to compete in this era of specialization, many of our athletes must put in the time necessary to get stronger, run faster, and play against elevated competition. Where is the balance struck ? That is a very fine line that can get blurred in so many situations. Good coaches advocate for their program and promote player development, as they should. What I have a problem with are those coaches who discourage players from participating in other sports by inuendoes, comments, and sometimes, even clear directives. Off season camps, clinics, & opportunities should not be termed " mandatory " or statements made such as " if you want to play for me, you had better invest the time." Yes, it is true...Time and commitment do equal success. That's a given. However, pressures should never be exerted by coaches to young people to make choices. That is an individual, player decision ( in my opinion ) that the athlete and his family should be making. It has been my experience to view this as becoming the norm and I don't like it.