Football Crisis in Rural PA?

[ICCFan]

Folks, there is officially a football crisis in rural Pennsylvania.  
3 of the 5 local conferences have forfeits blemishing their 2019 seasons.  Ligonier is leaving the Heritage Conference leaving them with just 9 football playing members.
Of the two conferences not dealing with this problem currently, certainly one, the ICC is not far away from someone not being able to fulfill their schedule in the not to distant future.  The other, the LHAC, appears on more solid ground with larger enrollment schools although it happened to a conference (Mountain) with similar enrollments and who can forget that putting a competitive squad on the field is a prime reason that Bishop Carroll is no longer in that conference.
co-operative sponsorships are on the rise in rural districts 4 and 9, can districts 5 and 6 be far behind?
co-ops, 8-man football, or leadership getting creative with some scheduling options are imperative if football is to survive this crisis.
What is the solution?

[abpk2903]

Bury head in sand, not admit there is a problem, continue to fund school districts with less than 500 kids of total district enrollment, complain when a administrators even think of consolidation, refuse to co-op or 8 man because of “community pride,” keep putting 105 lb. 9th graders into varsity games. 

[konjo78]

This is not just a football problem, schools are getting smaller and smaller, people are leaving rural PA because its tough to build families there.


Schools need to start looking to merge to create schools that supports students. When you have so little class sizes you limit options students have for schools and activities. The state needs to step up and try nudging these schools together.

[knowitall]

Many schools in rural PA have been functioning fine for decades without football.

[footballguy99]

1 Big Football Conference goverened by the AD's/Coaches of all the schools instead of 3 conferences is a potential solution.  People would be hung up on the name.  Just for argument's sake, let's go with Southern Alleghenies Football Conference.  Route 22 is basically your dividing line.

Southern Division
SouthWest:  Windber, Shade, Berlin, North Star, Meyersdale, Conemaugh Twp, Conemaugh Valley, Ferndale
SouthEast: Claysburg, Portage, Tussey Mountain, Northern Bedford, Southern Huntingdon, Juniata Valley, Everett, Williamsburg

Northern Division
NorthEast: Glendale, West Branch, Bellwood, Moshannon Valley, Blacklick Valley, Mount Union, Curwensville, Northern Cambria
NorthWest: Blairsville, West Shamokin, Homer-Center, Saltsburg, Marion Center, Purchase Line, Penns Manor, United

Even if you have teams drop out before a season starts, you can still manage schedules by working together within the conference.  The Southern Division pretty much plays only the Southern Division and the Northern Division plays pretty much only Northern Division schools.  You play the teams in your geographic region and then you play crossover games with the other section.


What would get in the way of this?  Pride. Tradition. People not looking to the future.

4 sections of 8.  It sure would seem to work to fix some potential issues.  Two conferences of 16 could withstand preseason decisions to forfeit because teams don't have 20+ players to start the year.

[davesandstorm]

1 Big Football Conference goverened by the AD's/Coaches of all the schools instead of 3 conferences is a potential solution.  People would be hung up on the name.  Just for argument's sake, let's go with Southern Alleghenies Football Conference.  Route 22 is basically your dividing line.

Southern Division
SouthWest:  Windber, Shade, Berlin, North Star, Meyersdale, Conemaugh Twp, Conemaugh Valley, Ferndale
SouthEast: Claysburg, Portage, Tussey Mountain, Northern Bedford, Southern Huntingdon, Juniata Valley, Everett, Williamsburg

Northern Division
NorthEast: Glendale, West Branch, Bellwood, Moshannon Valley, Blacklick Valley, Mount Union, Curwensville, Northern Cambria
NorthWest: Blairsville, West Shamokin, Homer-Center, Saltsburg, Marion Center, Purchase Line, Penns Manor, United

Even if you have teams drop out before a season starts, you can still manage schedules by working together within the conference.  The Southern Division pretty much plays only the Southern Division and the Northern Division plays pretty much only Northern Division schools.  You play the teams in your geographic region and then you play crossover games with the other section.


What would get in the way of this?  Pride. Tradition. People not looking to the future.

4 sections of 8.  It sure would seem to work to fix some potential issues.  Two conferences of 16 could withstand preseason decisions to forfeit because teams don't have 20+ players to start the year.

I'd swap Juniata Valley and Mount Union though, as JV is on the northern side of 22 and Mount Union is on the southern side. That'll cut about 20-25 minutes of travel time for the Blacklick Valley/Northern Cambria to/from Mount Union versus Alexandria.

[BigSkyCountry]

As we have begun to see, Co-ops will occur well before true mergers occur. Mergers can get to be complex when dealing with contracts of teachers. Two different scales, two different tax basis. Not impossible because they have been done. One thing that some forget about in rural Pennsylvania is that just because two schools are 20 minutes apart as a crow flies does not mean that they are 20 minutes apart on the macadam. Could Meyersdale take in Turkeyfoot and Salisbury tomorrow? Absolutely. Have you ever driven to Turkeyfoot? Interesting drive - could be a nightmare in the winter. I had always wondered what a 3 school system in Somerset County could look like - Northern, Central and Southern. I am not convinced that mergers would make things more economical but I know that schools would be able to sustain their extras that they afford kids and even afford more opportunities due to a higher population. We are in a crisis for sure and football just may be the head of the monster. Maybe this is the way to go - ESports football - Madden 19! I laugh, but since colleges are now getting teams..... its not far from occurring.

[CharlieConway]

I like the idea of the super conference, 4 of 8 and you put a lot of work into it.  I will give a tip of the cap there, but I'd say some of the issue has been caused by conferences.  Travel has hurt the game, but the underlying issue, imo, again imo, is the age we are separating the chaff from the wheat.

Youth football has been a disaster.  In the early inception, numbers and participation grew like wildfire, but when getting into pads went from 5th and 6th, down to 3rd and 4th I would say there has been a steady decline.

When you separate the chaff from the wheat too early, and I am talking "locking into positions" or promoting "physicality."  I believe you are discouraging kids and their crazy*** parents before biology has even had a chance.  

For instance, with biology, how many times have we witness kids that weren't that great in junior high programs, rise to the top and over take the "junior high stud?"  Granted, not that often, but it has happened.  My theory is that we separate that chaff at 3rd and 4th grade, we got some major issues, because most have become frustrated and quit before even stepping foot on a junior high field.
Other sports in the fall have become more appealing and sell the safety standard. 
 
So if my son, or daughter, isn't having fun playing football because they have been knocked around, the research out there to support avoiding the sport all together, yeah I would look over the fence. 

But imagine if my son or daughter was having a blast at football, learning fundamentals, learning teamwork and just having FUN?????  It would be hard to keep them away.

Add into, how many of these youth league "dad coaches" are trained??  PIAA has coaching courses that must be completed in order to coach at the junior - varsity levels, plus equipment fitting and all sorts of standards on safety.  What safety courses has "dad coach" attended?  How many fitting clinics have they been to?

My endless point, participation is down because YOUTH football is not fun for all, let me again stress ALL kids, under its current structure.  It is only fun for those who are currently on the right side of biology at the ages from 8-12.  

The youth model should teach fundamentals, teach some ideas of competition, and the #1 goal of youth sports, (FEEDER PROGRAM), is to feed the high levels.  IMO the only way to successfully FEED a program is to make sure kids are having fun, organized, and finding success (ages 8-12).

From ages 14-18, lets find out who the men (or women) are.  Lets see where biology falls once the "facts of life" have hit everyone.  Let the TRAINED varsity coaches separate the chaff from the wheat on a Friday night, not the guy who once scored 4 touchdowns at Polk High.

[BigSkyCountry]

Amen Charlie Conway!!!!!!

[Colonel Mustard]

You guys make dads sound awful. When is the last time you saw a bunch of kids playing a pick-up game of anything? Without these horrible dads coaching, fund raising, working on fields, organizing leagues, all for no pay, there would be no youth sports. I'm no fan of youth football, but without youth football do you really think that you would end up with more kids participating in Jr. High and High School? Not likely. Kids would be playing soccer, or baseball, or hockey or something else that starts way to soon.

There are less kids and more options. That's why participation numbers are dwindling.