Recruiting (inside and out)

[CCDevil2012]

A lot of talk on here the past couple of days on declining numbers and determining if a team's success can be attributed to poor coaching or poor talent or poor numbers or all three. So the question is, how do you convince kids to go out for a sport that is physically demanding and time consuming when the possibility of defeat is real? It seems like a catch 22 in that Wins and winning get kids out, but you can't win unless you have as much talent as possible (plus good coaching). BG for instance doesn't have to recruit in the typical sense in that their past seasons success speaks for itself. Kids want to play there because they want to be a part of a winning team. But how do you recruit within the walls of the school when you're team is doing poorly? Seems like a tricky dilemma that ends up being blamed on the coach when it really could be a culture problem. Just want to hear people's thoughts.

[woninthetrenches]

Winning cures all ills. When you are winning, have a great team it is easier to get kids to want to play for that team. For teams with low numbers winning is possible with some great athletes. You hit on something though with the culture and that rings true in many areas. Lets use FH as an example. They have a long history of being great, winning, having a hall of fame coach. But what has changes in the last 10 years there, the coach is still there, the staff for the most part is still there, the school cares about football, they haven't lost much size kids wise who attend the school. There are a lot more sports to play in the sping compared to years ago, that's one part, kids dont want to put the work in to play, they have other intrests now, parents what their kids to be a star and go to the next level which in turn is having kids specialize in just one sport and not play others, head injuries have some kids not playing, old school coaches are falling off because kids have to be handled diffrently now. With all that and declining enrollment in our area is having an impact on kids. To get kids out schools need to have fewer sports in the same time, parents need to have a larger view and allow their kids to play all the sports they want, kids need to put in the work, coaches have to bend to have kids want to play, coaches have to convience more to come out and schools need to put more pride in the sport.

[223113]

CCDevil2012, I think you summarized it well.
A true, "What came first, the chicken, or the egg?" situation.
Various aspects come into play, Coaches, number of players, athleticism of those players, size of those players, commitment/work ethic, tradition, and I'm sure others.
No 1 person controls, or can change, All of it.

So, you hit the nail on the head. It's a culture issue. Everyone needs to "want it", or find it to be something to pursue/obtain.

If you have Some of the ingredients, you'll have a team.....You just aren't going to have a Great team. Like about 500 other PA schools.
Presently, BG for example, has "the culture", top to bottom. As do some other schools. And, the results inevitably follow.
If you're missing an Ingredient, or 2, ...or 3,...be realistic with your expectations.

[stang4life]

Participation breeds success..Success breeds participation!!

[TAHS92Alum]

All high school programs cycle. I'm pretty sure that if you look at the rosters you see kids with familiar names from years past. A lot of participation comes from father to son and wanting to pass the values they learned playing to their kids. I would have to go back and look but I believe the Tyrone 2014 district winner had 16, father,brother,son combinations to past title teams. In the early 90's they couldn't buy a win similar to what Philipsburg is going through now.

Are their kids that could help your program walking around the school? Probably but if they don't want to be their, do you really want them on the team. I often find that a kid who hasn't played football since jr high, or never at all is far behind when they try to relive their glory their senior year. It's just a lot easier to go home and play xbox, never learn discipline or commitment, graduate, reproduce and live in low income housing.

That might be a little much but sports participation does prepare you for life

[stang4life]

TAHS92Alum:All high school programs cycle. I'm pretty sure that if you look at the rosters you see kids with familiar names from years past. A lot of participation comes from father to son and wanting to pass the values they learned playing to their kids. I would have to go back and look but I believe the Tyrone 2014 district winner had 16, father,brother,son combinations to past title teams. In the early 90's they couldn't buy a win similar to what Philipsburg is going through now.

Are their kids that could help your program walking around the school? Probably but if they don't want to be their, do you really want them on the team. I often find that a kid who hasn't played football since jr high, or never at all is far behind when they try to relive their glory their senior year. It's just a lot easier to go home and play xbox, never learn discipline or commitment, graduate, reproduce and live in low income housing.

That might be a little much but sports participation does prepare you for life
"My quote meant to say, I think most every school district in the are feeling the effects of declining numbers on the football field." With participation comes success, (No matter the the score on the field or court)...With success comes participation..
I humbly agree with all that has been said in this discussion