New Head Coach At Bedford

[boxer156]

i haven't seen any youth wrestling practices or tournaments for a while, but i do know that (at least in bedford) the practices have always been some kind of "day care" but if people could just wait to send there kids in Jr. High wrestling coach Ripple can whip most of those kids into shape and teaches wrestling with technique,attitude, and aggression like it should be. So to say that the entire program will be in the crapper in the next few years is way off. Once some of those kids get through elementary wrestling they wont step foot on the mat again, but the ones who truely enjoy the sport will come out, learn and become very good wrestlers[/quote]

I have no issue with JH program, BUT to think that a kid can learn some bad habits and/or limited instruction in grade school, then suddenly 'pick it up' in JH is probably going to be sadly mistaken. Without getting into a long-winded discussion on wrestling (since this is a football thread), the sport is changing and kids are learning more-and-more at a younger age. Going into a JH program with limited/no experience will turn kids away from the sport after they get tech-falled a couple times by a better-schooled wrestler.

The wrestlers your seeing now in HS were products of a better youth program------like I said, you will see the difference in another couple years. Like I said before, I have a child in wrestling (club), so I have seen this first hand.[/quote]

[boxer156]

Boxer-----Okay, I took your advice and took a good look at Bedford's jr. high and elem programs. Not all are suffering. Boys jr. high basketball is undefeated. I think they just beat a good Ft. Hill Md. team last week. Speaking of boys bball.. they now have an elementary program that starts in Kindergarten and goes thru 2nd grade. Their 3,4.and 5 grade program is excellent. if you dont believe me, stop by the middle school gym on a saturday morning and see for yourself.

As for wrestling, I have friends whose kids are in the elem program and simply love it. They seem to be learning alot. The elem wrestling program at Bedford has been around forever. Their jr. high program is doing okay too from what I hear. So maybe they have a down year or two but that doesnt mean 'all' the programs are slipping.

Girls elem basketball is going thru an overhaul with (I think --JT Black). Everyone has said this is a great program for being in its 1 st year. So wait and see in a couple years. The current Bison teams didnt have much of an elem. background in bball. So wait and see what happens in the future with Bedford bball.

I hope I checked it out enough for you to be happy. I think these elem programs are heading in the right direction.

Since I have kids in both elem and JH, I can correct a couple of your responses........first of all, the youth basketball program is a rec program for a couple of hours on like 4-5 consecutive Saturdays. This does not constitute a 'program' by any means.

Girls JH basketball is a mess, with practices changed continually due to the boys JH program.......also the 7th grade has no seperate team, so most sit the bench in favor of the 8th graders, and 9th graders than can't make the jump to JV. Not a whole lot learned there. There is NO elem girls program. I know JT Black, and yes he can bring it around, so I hope he does so---------but again, you cannot wait until 9th grade to teach fundamentals and expect to be successful.

As for wrestling, not disputing that your friends kids are having fun, but to say they are learning alot is dependent of what someone thinks 'alot' is. I was just at a tournament with some Bedford kids, and they were probably the most 'basic' skilled wrestlers out of all the schools. And to top that, I did not see even ONE 11-12 there, let alone place. Just take a look at the County elem results from last year to answer your question. We have about 3-4 kids out of ALL the grades that travel to tournaments, and do well--------and guess what, not ONE of those kids is a product of the youth program, they are all club wrestlers.

I'm not writing any of this to down Bedford----I am a resident with 3 kids coming up, so I want our programs to excel. I just don't see it right now, as too many people in Bedford have the 'it's been this way for X amount of years, and we're not changing'..........parents don't seem to be involved, and the school seems to take no action in elem level athletics.

[KLP]

Boxer---this has nothing to do with 'new head coach at Bedford' thread, but you need to be corrected. Then I am off my soap box. My sons play bball at Bedford. The Elem.bball at Bedford is governed by the parks and rec (only for insurance reasons) but run and directed by the bball staff. Parks and rec have NOTHING to do with it, besides using it name to get the use of the gyms. I asked Norm Williams the director. ALL the programs start in Nov. and runs till February (grades 3,4,5). They practice on Tuesday evenings and have games on Saturday mornings at BMS. That is a fact! My son plays. Grades 6 & 7 start in November and run till February. They practice 2 days a week and play against some county teams. This seems to be the weak area in the program. My neighbors child is on the 6tha nd 7th team. They dont play many games. They DO NOT run it for 4-5 weeks on Saturdays like you said.
PreK and K, 1 and 2 are run for 6 weeks, Saturdays only. The reason for this is not to burn the kids out. Just give them the basic fundamentals of the game. I dont know of any county school who starts them at Pre K. Do you?? So how can you justify saying Bedford has a weak elem bball program. I'll bet the 3rd, 4th and 5th is one of the better programs in the area (besides Roaring Spring, Altoona and Jtown youth leagues). I am sure you would change your thinking IF you attend a practice or games on Saturdays.

As for the girls elem. It was in dissarray last year but is now being reorganized because of a new head varsity coach. Here again 6th and 7th seem to be a week area in the system but from what I am told they are trying to get it straightened out.

Since you have kids and seem to have alot of ideas/opinions I am sure your coaching prowess will be welcomed when your children come thru Bedfords systems.

Maybe we should start a new thread and call it "Who can solves Bedford's athletic woes during their down years".

[boxer156]

LOL.......yes, my coaching 'prowess' has already been on display in a couple sports, and will continue once my son starts playing football. Sad fact is all my kids had fun on my teams, and still learned more than their counterparts. I am also smart enough (UNLIKE other parents around here) to stay OUT of sports I know little-to-nothing about (ie: basketball).

As for your comment on the elem youth program, my son is on the lower-end of the elem grades, so I ONLY know about the Saturday program. And big deal if it is 6 Saturdays in a row rather than the 4-5 that I said it was. So I was ONE WHOLE Saturday off.

And yes, Altoona, Hollidaysburg, Spring Cove, etc DO start their kids earlier, and have better youth programs. But again, we're only trying to be the best here within our little cocoon of Bedford County, so why change our system to try to compete with bigger schools? :roll:

[TheAnalyst]

Quick question boxer. Did you go to school in Bedford? Just wondering.

[boxer156]

Quick question boxer. Did you go to school in Bedford? Just wondering.

what difference does this make??????? I live in Bedford, have kids in the school, and pay taxes (too much) in Bedford, so that's all you need to know. I've been part of, and witnessed good athletic programs over the years, and we are not going in the right direction.

I didn't know I needed to be a Bedford alumi to play armchair coach, lol. People that know me would verify that of the sports that have been in, I do know what I'm talking about.

[TheAnalyst]

Relax man. I was only asking so I knew what your perspective was, ie as someone who went through the system and is aware of how things have traditionally been done, or someone from the outside who may have seen things done better elsewhere. I will say as far as football goes, Bedford has been strong in those areas over the years. I know your objective seems to be that they should be competitive at the state level, but realistically I don't know if that is going to happen.

Also, we have gone way off track on this thread. Can we limit ourselves to football here? No one is going to change the way all sports are handled at Bedford.

[CRWizard]

I support having youth football kids in pads as young as third grade. But it takes a lot of fundraising to get all of that equipment. to get a lot of kids envolved, you have to make it affordable to their parents. I have no idea what the cost is for a Ridge kid but i hope its low.

the arguement that always got me is the weight limit thing especially prior to 5th grade. I think bigger kids should get a chance run the ball or play receiver. and the smaller boy learn how block somebody at the line. Isn't the purpose of Youth football to develop Skills anyway. the problem is that it would require a lot of structure to make sure coaches aren't just giving the 160 lbs 4th grader the ball every play and nobody could tackle him. I got a response one time to this. a parent said, "can you imagine all of the time it would take to show all the kids to throw the ball and run routes and then to block. " My respone was are you trying to win? or teach the kids how to enjoy and learn the game.

To me, who really cares what the score is in a 4th grade game? i don't think its the kids, but the parents who are mostly concerned.

I realize most people on here are football people and soccer is our Achilles heal. but at least in the AYSO league, there is a good chance that all the kids get to kick the ball and potential score. What else would a third/fourth grader want? thats why we are losing a bunch of kids to that sport.