SCHSL Executive Meeting

[HoodRoad]

Schools are now targeting the middle schoolers that can play because A. No one really knows these kids yet. B. If you get them to transfer in during middle school they have not established eligibility yet so when they get to high school it is a smooth process. Dent middle School has lost a few players to Gray. Not just football players. They have lost basketball players as well as well.

BINGO...it's not necessarily schools as much as it is these handler type folks. "Trainers, consultants, parents, rec coaches..." all play a part. The kids do as well, kids see others win and they want to win. That's fine but it has to be done the right way, according to the rules.

[HoodRoad]

...All these sports are for kids to have fun, build friendships, grow and learn- people seem to forget that.

All these sports U S E D to be for kids to have fun, build friendships, grow and learn-people seem to forget that.
Fixed it for you HA!

Money, greed and the desire to be known have taken place of the above mentioned. Parents see these kids as meal tickets. A chance at some clout and maybe learn a little along the way. Nothing kills me more than to her a kid mention "taking care of their family". They're kids. Many of them aren't equipped emotionally, mentally or socially to take on that burden. These kids are killing their bodies and their minds for 15 mins of fame to just end up back in their hometown with a bag full of stories. God bless them all.

[FootballFan59]

Again....regardless...just a kid's game. SH is a magnet...forgot about that. Was gone for a long time, far away and it sprang up while I was away. Sorry to get Fan59 all bent outta shape. Not defending anyone...sharing observations.

When TK leaves DF...oh well, life goes on. DF will be fine. Life has never been in the past, is not currently, or ever will be in the future, "fair". Good life lesson to be honest for these kids. Charter School, Magnet School, Private School, Public School, Faith-Based School...they are there to "teach" supposedly. Honestly, the best education I got up through college and beyond was at home...with my family. Life lessons as well as scholarly ones.

All these sports are for kids to have fun, build friendships, grow and learn- people seem to forget that.

SCHSL will settle on where these schools belong in the greater pecking order- probably 4A I suspect, and all will be fine. But he is correct- resources matter...the charters have to hope the $$ pipeline keeps coming; the footing is less firm in their scenarios.

Let them play ball!

Fear The Fox...

I am not bent out of shape, just giving some more information. I also never said anything about "fair". I said "But the charter schools do not operate on the same playing field of traditional high schools." Which I meant they are not operating on a level playing field with regards to traditional schools. Nobody said they can not play, they just should not compete for the same titles. Nothing in life is "fair" but we should all be held to the same standard and rules. This is why you do not have 1A schools competing with 5A schools for the same titles, they are not on the same level of play. Otherwise just do away with the classifications and just have everyone competing for one title throughout the entire state.

[bringthewood]

Schools are now targeting the middle schoolers that can play because A. No one really knows these kids yet. B. If you get them to transfer in during middle school they have not established eligibility yet so when they get to high school it is a smooth process. Dent middle School has lost a few players to Gray. Not just football players. They have lost basketball players as well.

Elibiligty is established at 7th and then re-established at 9th grade.

[Atown97]

You guys need to lighten up.... just a game. It has its place...but still just a game.
Giving MVP a lot more credit than they deserve...they have not played a team with a pulse, save Woodruff and they aren't nearly as good as some folks think. 3A is down with the new shuffle for classifications. In SCISA they would run the table and not break a sweat, save maybe Hammond - would be like turning Abbeville loose in 1A...sadly, as has happened. 5A would not be fair to them (if we are talking fairness or are we talking seeing them getting stomped regularly to make some feel better about it), maybe 4A... teams like Daniel, Westside, South Pointe...they would handle those teams. There is never going to be enough of these type programs in SC to warrant their own classification as in larger states like Florida or California. Just not worth getting this worked up over...again, remember just a game that's fun to watch.

Fear The Fox...

The only difference in abbeville in 1A is we don't recruit, not the largest 1A, and definitely Don't sweep multiple sports. In 2A and 1A for the last 5 or 6 years. Charter/Private have emerged to win majority of the championships. Now it was a problem that smaller schools have spoken on to death ears for years. It became a running joke when a None Charter/Private school won a championship. Abbeville won't win majority of championships

[bigdog2003]

Schools are now targeting the middle schoolers that can play because A. No one really knows these kids yet. B. If you get them to transfer in during middle school they have not established eligibility yet so when they get to high school it is a smooth process. Dent middle School has lost a few players to Gray. Not just football players. They have lost basketball players as well.

Elibiligty is established at 7th and then re-established at 9th grade.

We had a travel football program pop up here out of nowhere a few season back. The person running it was going around trying to recruit parents to bring their kids, making all kind of promises. They tried to recruit the rec coaches to join up, promising opportunities to move into varsity coaching positions.

We have a really strong rec program, like 5 full teams per age group, so people know the rec coaches since a lot of them have been doing it for a long time. When the rec coaches let it be known they would have NOTHING to do with this program, they didn’t get nearly as many kids as they thought they would. They did get some kids whose parents were crazy enough to believe they would have 10U players getting looked at by college recruiters. After they lost every game by 40+, parents were begging for their kids to go back to rec ball.

Now I’m not saying it was funded fully by Gray, but I know Gray was involved and the teams equipment came from Gray. Trust me, they have their hands in a lot of stuff at the rec age level to try and steer kids they see promise in. The person running the program was telling parents they should take their kids to Gray.

[Atown97]

Schools are now targeting the middle schoolers that can play because A. No one really knows these kids yet. B. If you get them to transfer in during middle school they have not established eligibility yet so when they get to high school it is a smooth process. Dent middle School has lost a few players to Gray. Not just football players. They have lost basketball players as well.

Elibiligty is established at 7th and then re-established at 9th grade.

We had a travel football program pop up here out of nowhere a few season back. The person running it was going around trying to recruit parents to bring their kids, making all kind of promises. They tried to recruit the rec coaches to join up, promising opportunities to move into varsity coaching positions.

We have a really strong rec program, like 5 full teams per age group, so people know the rec coaches since a lot of them have been doing it for a long time. When the rec coaches let it be known they would have NOTHING to do with this program, they didn’t get nearly as many kids as they thought they would. They did get some kids whose parents were crazy enough to believe they would have 10U players getting looked at by college recruiters. After they lost every game by 40+, parents were begging for their kids to go back to rec ball.

Now I’m not saying it was funded fully by Gray, but I know Gray was involved and the teams equipment came from Gray. Trust me, they have their hands in a lot of stuff at the rec age level to try and steer kids they see promise in. The person running the program was telling parents they should take their kids to Gray.

We had some trying to start that crap up in abbeville we have only 2 teams per age group some ages just 1...Rec coaches also help middle school team. They wasn't going for it. Had a meeting to talk about and shoe them what happens. Just for an example we looked at 96...had a guy take his family and a bunch of kids to GWD rec teams. 96 fell way off truth be told that's what they are fighting from currently. Guys asked them do you want abbeville to be 96. Stop it dead in the tracks

[Football Maniac]

I believe I understand the issue with MC....something to do with ineligible players from NC.

I think there are two parts to the Gray issue- but not following the "player" issue. Don't see the problem aside from they need their own classification, however I don't think SC has the population and interest to support their own class. This is a free nation, and charter schools have their place and if the charter school wants to have an athletic program good on them. The closest one to Dutch Fork is Spring Hill, I believe- but they don't have an athletic program currently and those kids play sports at DF, Chapin and Irmo primarily.

I think having schools like MVP, Gray and Oceanside "play up" a classification or two from their actual enrollment is a good way to address their perceived advantages, but there are disadvantages as well, especially when it comes to reliable and consistent funding streams. Have no issue with what Gray and Oceanside have been doing. From what I saw regarding Oceanside, they run a nice operation there- no real optics on Gray or MVP, but they are "doing their thing".

End of the day, it's a kid's game, that doesn't really mean that much in the "grand scheme of things", and we all enjoy watching it... let them play ball!

Fear The Fox...

Spring hill is not a charter school at all. Spring hill is a magnet school within Lex/Rich District 5 that does not have athletic programs, so the students play sports at their home school within the district. This is not even close to being the same thing as a charter school that is built for athletic purposes first. The funny thing is these charter schools sell the same thing that public high schools offer as far as available programs (dual enrollment, AP courses) but people are ignorant to the facts. But the charter schools do not operate on the same playing field of traditional high schools. They can cap their enrollment, they can select their students, and they are also able to make up their own daily schedule, like ending the school day at noon and not having classes but 4 days a week and having a "virtual day" every Friday. There are many other things that go on as well.


Also kind of funny that you are defending the charter schools. You are blinded by the fact that you have Tom Knotts at DF and he draws people for athletic purposes to that school. Wait until he retires in a couple years and that draw is no longer there. I bet you will be singing a different tune when players are leaving DF to go to Gray or ALA which is open in Lexington now. People never seem to care much about a problem that they do not have to deal with.

Remember a couple years ago the younger Hyatt WR left to go to IMG, did not hurt DF because they could fill that one loss. Wait until it is 4-5 guys on each side of the ball. You are correct it is just a game, but it is a game that should be decided on a level playing field not one that is skewed to one side because they do not have to follow the same rules and the rest are just told to deal with it.

I don’t think kids will be leaving DF to go to ALA. I know that Irmo lost a OL to them, but I can’t figure why the kid made that move.

[DFOLDMAN]

I believe I understand the issue with MC....something to do with ineligible players from NC.

I think there are two parts to the Gray issue- but not following the "player" issue. Don't see the problem aside from they need their own classification, however I don't think SC has the population and interest to support their own class. This is a free nation, and charter schools have their place and if the charter school wants to have an athletic program good on them. The closest one to Dutch Fork is Spring Hill, I believe- but they don't have an athletic program currently and those kids play sports at DF, Chapin and Irmo primarily.

I think having schools like MVP, Gray and Oceanside "play up" a classification or two from their actual enrollment is a good way to address their perceived advantages, but there are disadvantages as well, especially when it comes to reliable and consistent funding streams. Have no issue with what Gray and Oceanside have been doing. From what I saw regarding Oceanside, they run a nice operation there- no real optics on Gray or MVP, but they are "doing their thing".

End of the day, it's a kid's game, that doesn't really mean that much in the "grand scheme of things", and we all enjoy watching it... let them play ball!

Fear The Fox...

Spring hill is not a charter school at all. Spring hill is a magnet school within Lex/Rich District 5 that does not have athletic programs, so the students play sports at their home school within the district. This is not even close to being the same thing as a charter school that is built for athletic purposes first. The funny thing is these charter schools sell the same thing that public high schools offer as far as available programs (dual enrollment, AP courses) but people are ignorant to the facts. But the charter schools do not operate on the same playing field of traditional high schools. They can cap their enrollment, they can select their students, and they are also able to make up their own daily schedule, like ending the school day at noon and not having classes but 4 days a week and having a "virtual day" every Friday. There are many other things that go on as well.


Also kind of funny that you are defending the charter schools. You are blinded by the fact that you have Tom Knotts at DF and he draws people for athletic purposes to that school. Wait until he retires in a couple years and that draw is no longer there. I bet you will be singing a different tune when players are leaving DF to go to Gray or ALA which is open in Lexington now. People never seem to care much about a problem that they do not have to deal with.

Remember a couple years ago the younger Hyatt WR left to go to IMG, did not hurt DF because they could fill that one loss. Wait until it is 4-5 guys on each side of the ball. You are correct it is just a game, but it is a game that should be decided on a level playing field not one that is skewed to one side because they do not have to follow the same rules and the rest are just told to deal with it.

I don’t think kids will be leaving DF to go to ALA. I know that Irmo lost a OL to them, but I can’t figure why the kid made that move.

...actually, had a WR from IMG transfer to DF a year or two after Hyatt left for IMG... all evened out in the long run.

Fear The Fox...

[midstateguy]

I believe I understand the issue with MC....something to do with ineligible players from NC.

I think there are two parts to the Gray issue- but not following the "player" issue. Don't see the problem aside from they need their own classification, however I don't think SC has the population and interest to support their own class. This is a free nation, and charter schools have their place and if the charter school wants to have an athletic program good on them. The closest one to Dutch Fork is Spring Hill, I believe- but they don't have an athletic program currently and those kids play sports at DF, Chapin and Irmo primarily.

I think having schools like MVP, Gray and Oceanside "play up" a classification or two from their actual enrollment is a good way to address their perceived advantages, but there are disadvantages as well, especially when it comes to reliable and consistent funding streams. Have no issue with what Gray and Oceanside have been doing. From what I saw regarding Oceanside, they run a nice operation there- no real optics on Gray or MVP, but they are "doing their thing".

End of the day, it's a kid's game, that doesn't really mean that much in the "grand scheme of things", and we all enjoy watching it... let them play ball!

Fear The Fox...

Spring hill is not a charter school at all. Spring hill is a magnet school within Lex/Rich District 5 that does not have athletic programs, so the students play sports at their home school within the district. This is not even close to being the same thing as a charter school that is built for athletic purposes first. The funny thing is these charter schools sell the same thing that public high schools offer as far as available programs (dual enrollment, AP courses) but people are ignorant to the facts. But the charter schools do not operate on the same playing field of traditional high schools. They can cap their enrollment, they can select their students, and they are also able to make up their own daily schedule, like ending the school day at noon and not having classes but 4 days a week and having a "virtual day" every Friday. There are many other things that go on as well.


Also kind of funny that you are defending the charter schools. You are blinded by the fact that you have Tom Knotts at DF and he draws people for athletic purposes to that school. Wait until he retires in a couple years and that draw is no longer there. I bet you will be singing a different tune when players are leaving DF to go to Gray or ALA which is open in Lexington now. People never seem to care much about a problem that they do not have to deal with.

Remember a couple years ago the younger Hyatt WR left to go to IMG, did not hurt DF because they could fill that one loss. Wait until it is 4-5 guys on each side of the ball. You are correct it is just a game, but it is a game that should be decided on a level playing field not one that is skewed to one side because they do not have to follow the same rules and the rest are just told to deal with it.

I don’t think kids will be leaving DF to go to ALA. I know that Irmo lost a OL to them, but I can’t figure why the kid made that move.

He is back at Irmo.