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Post by mahonz on Feb 5, 2017 22:34:05 GMT -6
Do away with football below the Freshman HS level and you just killed off the Sport. If you think for one minute that a kid that has never played football pre HS but has played all the others Sports is just going to show up out of the blue his 9th grade year...you are a fool. Youth Sports, all of them are fast becoming a specialization thing. Like it or not....agree to disagree all you want....I live it every year. Its a real thing. May as well do everything possible to keep football in the conversation regardless of what you may think otherwise. I disagree. Kids who don't play organized youth football still play football. It just won't be organized, padded football. They'll play 2 on 2, 4 on 4, or whatever in their yard or whatever patch of grass that they can find. None of my HS teammates played youth football because there was no youth football. One thing that we all had in common was that we couldn't wait to get to HS so that we could play on a real football team. P.S.: Very few of our OL played youth football. Couldn't make weight. Your situation is the exception, not the rule. PW with their silly weight matrix is beginning to crack and the League is suffering nationwide. BIG TIME. It has virtually disappeared everywhere sans CA, AZ and the east coast because they are still close to Orlando. Assemblyman Michael Benedetto's District is the Bronx NY. You would think with 10m people that youth football would flourish in NYC regardless. You would think that all youth sports would flourish. The opposite is true. Its a struggle to survive if your sport requires some space. Why? There is no where to practice. Literally. Requires some real innovation just to keep the HS Programs going. Once your old friend Bob Goodman finds this Thread he can explain further. www.maxpreps.com/news/vavycq0qh0-5BTvvkyB7hw/photos--union-city-high-school-football-stadium-sits-on-schools-roof.htm
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Post by mahonz on Feb 5, 2017 16:05:23 GMT -6
Do away with football below the Freshman HS level and you just killed off the Sport.
Odd none of you can see this. Your participation numbers would dwindle to the point you'd eventually have to close up shop. And yes I've heard the argument ad nauseum that this move would have no adverse effect on your own Program. Maybe but eventually you will have no one left to play against.
If you think for one minute that a kid that has never played football pre HS but has played all the others Sports is just going to show up out of the blue his 9th grade year...you are a fool.
Youth Sports, all of them are fast becoming a specialization thing. Like it or not....agree to disagree all you want....I live it every year. Its a real thing. May as well do everything possible to keep football in the conversation regardless of what you may think otherwise.
Or...bone up on your baseball skills so you can coach Fall Baseball or even LAX when it takes the place of football. That is already happening in spades.
Im a really good youth coach only because I have already made all the mistakes and now know what not to do anymore. Currently I have conversations with maybe half my team every off season about returning to play another season. Why? Has nothing to do with safety and I mean absolutely ZERO. Has to do with the fact that football is a grind too them. Three practice sessions a week and then play one game. Each Regular Season is only 8 games. This compared to baseball or LAX where they practice once or twice per week and then play 3 or 4 games a week with a 25+ Regualr Season Schedule. They experience this in the Spring for the first time and are hooked. Then find out they can do it all over again in the Fall.
Football has simply become....too much work for some and specialization is very real.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 25, 2016 22:31:10 GMT -6
Two days before the game they asked to be fed by us because they were coming from a long ways away. All of the moms cooked them a bunch of food and after the game they got on their bus and left without saying a word and without eating. It was extremely classless and blatant what they did. Our board president, AD, and superintendent are extremely offended by the action. I didn't know this before being the new guy at the school but evidently there is bad blood between the schools. I guess we found a rival. Anyone else ever had a night like this? Should I think anything of it? I'm still pretty hot about how the entire night unfolded. It seemed like I had a target on my back before we even got to kick off and the other team was blatantly playing dirty. I would have boxed up all that food...waited a week....then send it too them 4 day ground so it shows up in full on rot mode. Of course I would include a nice thank you note as well.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 8, 2016 12:04:46 GMT -6
The weight limit in our league used to be 131lbs. But again...it was all on the honor system and, of course, because we had people who were less than honorable, kids who were significantly heavier than that got to run the ball. When we met this spring, my contention was to get rid of the weight limit because it wasn't being enforced and people were taking advantage of that and playing big kids in the backfield. We had a long discussion and the end result was to lower the limit to 126lbs but add a rule that we would all exchange rosters 2 weeks before the first game and then reserve the right to challenge any kid's listed weight. For our league, it's a good rule. We don't have any centralized league office. Each team operates independently. The ability to challenge any player's listed weight is essential to ensuring that all the teams are operating within the rules. The ultimate irony is that when we implemented this rule back in the spring, every team voted in favor of it. Then, of course, this team got Spike from "Little Giants" to play and they decided that rule wasn't worth following. Weight restrictions in unlimited weight is good for business. You get parents believing its better for all because little dudes can participate. Right or wrong it does promote numbers. Here is a suggestion for the future. You dont need a centralized League Office. You have say 8 Independent teams in your League. Everyone weighs in in August. Team A weighs in on August 7th while a Rep from Team B monitors the weigh ins and signs off on an official Roster that is carried with that HC just in case someone complains about a particular Player. If someone complains now that HC has proof that the player in question did indeed weigh in at x pounds at the Official weigh ins. Now all players are allowed to grow and enjoy the season without any bs. Then on say August 8th Team B weighs and a Rep from Team C monitors the process...signs off on an Official Roster....and so on until all Teams have weighed in. The honor system is a nice idea...until you run into what you just ran into. Then chit hits the fan for all. So...avoid all that in season mess and do it during preseason....ONCE. This works VERY well. Food for thought
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Post by mahonz on Sept 7, 2016 15:15:55 GMT -6
Come on man you're just trying to get a rise out of people right? Not every heavier kid is going to be a safety concern, I agree, but an athletic agressive heavy kid is much more likely to hurt someone than a light athletic agressive kid. Two equally talented players, same speed and quickness, but one's 30 pounds heavier.....that is definitely a safety concern. No one is saying a 90 pound kid couldn't hurt someone. Injuries are gonna happen, but to say there is ZERO difference is ignorance to me. This is the kind of thinking we need to get out of the game - people just making stuff up and then labeling it "safety" so nobody can argue it. Where does 126 lbs even come from? The cynical side of me wonders whose kid was 125 when they made up that rule. In my League...1st-8th single grade unlimited weight....the backfield limitations are set off some matrix off average weights for children. Then they add x number of pounds to account for the fact that this is a big mans Sport. Seems to work. I have 25 players and 8 are "stripe'rs". 7th graders. So 8 over 145 and 17 under 145. There are no limitations for 8th grade. We weigh in once in August.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 7, 2016 13:38:46 GMT -6
Why not just weigh in in August and be done with it?
If the kid is .8 pounds under on weigh in day....he is not over the limit for the rest of the season even though he might gain 5 pounds during the season.
This would be a tough thing to deal with if you have players right at the limit. What do you do with them the rest of the year if they play positions other than OL/ DL? Pray?
One weigh in run by the League so here is no cheating going on and move on.
You are only policing the police every week by calling out a player. Why bother?
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Post by mahonz on Aug 18, 2016 15:19:50 GMT -6
really? the chance of a rookie developing at a lower level for less pay would be more expensive then a rookie sitting the bench for multiple seasons at league minimum or more? Is college football really THAT bad at player development? Some NFL O-line coaches have complained. Probably a few QB coaches too.
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Post by mahonz on Aug 16, 2016 14:59:57 GMT -6
I coached semi pro ball where lots of HS players that screwed up their grades go to play. The ONLY position I think that can do this is kickers.
Had a kid that graduated HS only on the team that owned all State HS records for punting and place kicking. 60 Yard FG's and punts that exceeded the light halos were not uncommon the 2 seasons he played for us.
He got a few looks from a few NFL teams. He scored in the 97 percentile each time and was told to go to a Juco and get into a big time college program.
Why? If he had a resume that proved he could make these kicks in front of 50K fans on the road...he'd probably have a job in the NFL.
He never followed through. Very talented kicker.
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Post by mahonz on Jul 29, 2016 14:41:23 GMT -6
One other point. We had so many 7th graders sign up that we had to create a new 7th grade team. We now have 6 teams at 22-25 players each in my Org alone. There are 19 Orgs in my League.
Unheard of at the MS levels even before these attacks on football happened.
So...kids want to play. They are out there. Just need to educate their parents.
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Post by mahonz on Jul 29, 2016 13:35:07 GMT -6
I'm the HS HC and one of my coaches, new this season, came from the local Pop Warner team/association. We are in a smaller, rural area in the central CA foothills between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. This year his son is playing at the varsity level. The program started their conditioning/practices on Monday. Comes to me today and says that the varsity team has 11 players, but may bring up 2 players from the JV level. That there are 40 kids total in the program right now. Also, the numbers are down all over, 9 varsity in 1 town in the league, 13 at another, so this isn't just a local thing. This bodes ill for me in the coming years. There is no clear reason right now, concussion fear, parents not wanting to put in the time, kids wanting to play other sports/not wanting to play football. It may be that a local management change is needed. I will be going to the parents meeting this Saturday morning and may be able to get some more ideas on whats happening. I have no authority in the organization, they are just my feeder program. What are you guys seeing? I would expect the larger areas to be ok, but how are the smaller areas fairing? Is there a correlation between HS winning and Pop Warner participation? I've never looked at things that way but is it possible that the parents/families are tired of losing at the HS level and so they don't want to join at the youth level? I'm really perplexed by this right now, I don't know if there is anything I can do - per our section rules I can't 'recruit' the younger kids even if it is to get them to play Pop Warner. Anyone have any ideas? My Org went from about 900 players to 650 over a 3 year span. Reasons were per the sky is falling syndrome that the irresponsible national media likes to promote just to get more clicks. This year 794 registered. Why? Town Hall meetings with snacks and drinks heavily marketed via social media. Our Org never had a social media Director until this year. It worked. Now the Org is able to actually educate Parents and put their fears to rest. Most every young man out there wants to try tackle football...but its up to their parents to give the green light. Figure out how to get to the Parents and your problems are solved. They want real answers and are tired of telling their precious little snowflakes...no. BTW my Org feeds 5 HS Programs. Two are very good and 3 are terrible. Im not convinced how well the HS does or does not do has any bearing on a 4th grader playing tackle football.
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Post by mahonz on Jun 28, 2016 16:30:13 GMT -6
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Post by mahonz on Jun 26, 2016 8:39:28 GMT -6
this is a venting post mostly... but looking for suggestions. we are losing kids left and right to year round baseball here - to the point where im not sure we are going to have a team (only 8 kids so far). is this happening to anyone else in small communities? how do you combat the year round baseball cancer? One thing to consider is that sports like baseball and LAX have a different practice to games ratio than football. These other sports become more fun because you practice a couple of times a week and then play multi game tournaments most every weekend. That is what is killing football at the youth levels regardless of what size area you live in. Football is 8-10-12 games in a season while baseball is 20-30-40 games in a season with much less practice sessions. My take.
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Post by mahonz on Feb 1, 2016 19:03:29 GMT -6
so most of you know how i feel on the topic of vertical integration, but i have to share a story. if you are going to approach a non-affiliated MS team and ask them to run your stuff, this is how NOT to do it.... our January staff meeting was last weekend, ive got a few coaches who have never seriously coached before so im intending to go over the basics of our approach to offense (not even going to get into the actual system, just the approach, to warm these guys up). the local HS coach comes in Uninvited, stops the whole meeting to tell us why: 1) we HAVE to run his system 2) why the Wing T is not going to be effective for his program now, normally id go off the rails on the guy, but every interaction ive had up until now has been positive, so i challenged him just alittle bit to see what he was going to say - "coach im not a huge fan of running XYZ at the youth level." and this is the response i get "well frankly i don't care what you are or arn't a fan of, this is what is going to happen." ....pretty much killed the meeting... so my word of advice, if you plan on asking, ask instead of attack. Wow. That is incredible. We dont have any MS Programs. The Org I coach in feeds 5 HS Programs. Glad I dont have to deal with this. It would be quite a mess to integrate 5 systems at once.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 30, 2015 16:25:30 GMT -6
nah... read what I said again... the woman will always be the loud one. ...the squeaky wheel...
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Post by mahonz on Sept 30, 2015 14:24:18 GMT -6
again... our sport is safe. you have a culture of whiny moms who are making a ton of noise, and liberal sissy men backing them up. the truth is a long screaming whining diatribe is going to make more noise than a bunch of red blooded american men saying "shut up". trust me fellas... when push comes to shove, this sport will be safe. You must not be married.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 30, 2015 13:18:29 GMT -6
Agreed. That divide is surprising too me. Mike
You don't get out much
I see it everywhere I go- very common problem
Most of the consistently successful HS coaches "get it"
Dave You are probably right.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 30, 2015 11:13:31 GMT -6
Among the spectacles of our sports-entertainment complex, there are only two in which people are regularly killed — not accidentally, but directly as a result of that sport’s essential identity and, more ghoulishly, that sport’s essential public appeal. One of them is auto racing. The other is American football. Of the two, there is only one in which children are now regularly killed. That sport is not auto racing. That sport is American football. This weekend, the sport killed another child.
Regularly? Wow....just wow. I didn't even read beyond that paragraph.
Who does this Writer work for? What channel is Friday Night Tykes on?
Too bad the masses will never connect those dots.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 28, 2015 20:48:53 GMT -6
Dan Hawkins lost his job at the University of Colorado for playing Daddy Ball.
His son wasn't a bad QB...but it certainly kept better ones from signing up.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 28, 2015 13:33:12 GMT -6
My Youth FB Coach has a Park named after him. My HS FB Coach does not.
My Youth FB Coach had no impact on me that I can remember....my HS FB Coach certainly did.
One thing is for sure....without one....I'd have never met the other.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 27, 2015 17:01:42 GMT -6
...or the delete button. The OP hasn't even logged on since his last post so he got his answer and has moved on. True--this thread has veered from the OPs original question, but I really think it shows just how big the divide can be between youth and Varsity coaches..even really good ones like 19delta and coachcb who both (even if they are crappy coaches) frequently make insightful and intelligent posts on this board. Agreed. That divide is surprising too me.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 27, 2015 15:50:29 GMT -6
Where's a lock when you need one? ...or the delete button. The OP hasn't even logged on since his last post so he got his answer and has moved on.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 25, 2015 15:37:57 GMT -6
Heck...most of our drills are a competition with a winner and a loser.
I don't fault Coachcb for taking this stance. He had a poor experience coaching youth ball.
Although one thing is true....you reap what you sow...and that is always the coaches fault.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 24, 2015 9:29:15 GMT -6
You couldn't be more wrong. Teaching is an honorable Profession. I have said that numerous times and that I am rooting for each and every one of you because you all make a living with in a system that is in quite a bit of trouble right now financially. Find one of my older posts to the contrary. You must have me confused with someone else. I'll be waiting for your apology. My Brother is a Teacher....my own Daughter......my Aunt is a retired Teacher....I Teach an Urban Planning Course every Winter at a local CC. My Contract pays me $1 as a means to keep Tuition costs down. Now I do ask some curious questions in these types of Threads....only because I do care about your Profession....and the future of your Profession. Plus I find it fascinating what some of you have to go through just to be a Teacher now a day. IMG may or may not have it right....but at least its another model to look at for the future. The current model seems broken. My problem is that most times that teaching as a profession or model comes up you turn it into a partisan union bashing opportunity or talk about how the education model is broken which generally isn't topical to this board, whether you support education as it stands or not. We try to avoid getting political here for a reason, it is controversial and people get pissed off no matter what side you land on. I don't even always disagree with your points, I just don't think this is the place for it. My apologies then. You are correct. These discussion are not what this great Forum is all about.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 24, 2015 9:26:30 GMT -6
Wrong. There are 14 Billion reasons. Its called the Teachers Pension Debt and its bankrupting the system. Although I do agree with you on one point....its getting ugly for the public. Without turning this into a political debate or a discussion on class warfare..keep in mind the salaries some of the hedgefund managers and CEOs that caused the most recent economic melt down, which is greatly responsible for the devaluing of pensions worldwide. Also keep in mind that public school teachers either get ZERO or REDUCED Social Security benefits. Lastly, without crying a river, you need to recognize that the social contract between the public and teachers regarding benefits and retirement was set a long time ago, as it was realized that teaching, especially elementary school teaching requires a tremendous amount of energy not often found in older individuals. mahonz I know you aren't a teacher..so just some perspective. Several times you have posted comments complaining about all the benefits us "rich teachers" seem to get, and how the system is all screwed up, but your posts all seem to simply be stating some uniformed dogmatic "party line" so to speak by those who are trying to privatize education. In that way, your posts often parallel the posts of high school coaches who state uniformed, dogmatic claims that "youth football coaches need to answer to us" or blanket negative remarks regarding youth football and youth football coaches. Teachers deserve every penny of their Pensions. But the system is upside down right now and its crippling the State. You can lump in all Civil Servants in there. There has to be a solution but Im afraid that requires a total re-boot. My perspective in these Threads is meant to spark some friendly debate. I don't work for the Government. I don't like Big Government either and that is what Education is too me. It seems to me that if Education fell under the free enterprise umbrella things would improve for everyone. I could be way off base. I realize nothing is that simple. My Brother is a Professor at CSU....an institution the has been State run for over 100 years. They are working diligently to get off the State's Dole. They see the writing on the wall. Its going to take another 10 years.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 24, 2015 9:13:09 GMT -6
Without turning this into a political debate or a discussion on class warfare..keep in mind the salaries some of the hedgefund managers and CEOs that caused the most recent economic melt down, which is greatly responsible for the devaluing of pensions worldwide. Also keep in mind that public school teachers either get ZERO or REDUCED Social Security benefits. mahonz I know you aren't a teacher..so just some perspective. Several times you have posted comments complaining about all the benefits us "rich teachers" seem to get, and how the system is all screwed up, but your posts all seem to simply be stating some uniformed dogmatic "party line" so to speak by those who are trying to privatize education. In that way, your posts often parallel the posts of high school coaches who state uniformed, dogmatic claims that "youth football coaches need to answer to us" or blanket negative remarks regarding youth football and youth football coaches. Don't waste your time arguing our education system with this guy. If you look at some of his older posts you'll see he clearly despises teachers and looks down on our entire profession. You couldn't be more wrong. Teaching is an honorable Profession. I have said that numerous times and that I am rooting for each and every one of you because you all make a living with in a system that is in quite a bit of trouble right now financially. Find one of my older posts to the contrary. You must have me confused with someone else. I'll be waiting for your apology. My Brother is a Teacher....my own Daughter......my Aunt is a retired Teacher....I Teach an Urban Planning Course every Winter at a local CC. My Contract pays me $1 as a means to keep Tuition costs down. Now I do ask some curious questions in these types of Threads....only because I do care about your Profession....and the future of your Profession. Plus I find it fascinating what some of you have to go through just to be a Teacher now a day. IMG may or may not have it right....but at least its another model to look at for the future. The current model seems broken.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 23, 2015 21:40:08 GMT -6
Im not looking at this as a Coach. I am a youth Coach. I am looking at this as a taxpayer that for the life of me cannot understand why my local Board of Educators cant make 2+2=4.....for the last 30 years. So...they have had plenty of opportunities. I live in the largest School District in the State. They have hacked away all MS Sports and are now beginning to drill into the HS Programs. Something has got to give. One reason...is because your local school board has to educate the public... the good, the BAD and THE UGLY. Wrong. There are 14 Billion reasons. Its called the Teachers Pension Debt and its bankrupting the system. Although I do agree with you on one point....its getting ugly for the public.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 23, 2015 21:32:34 GMT -6
Disagree. At $70K per year....parents are not idiots. They are purchasing both an education and a specific "trade" for their kids. If that is not the situation....they will fail because the kids generally will not get into College without the grades. Its only ludicrous because its a different way of doing things....finally. parents are not idiots.... yes. yes they are, and there are lots of them If a parent spends 3/4 of a million on their child's pre College education...some might consider that idiotic. I consider it...reminding the Educator who really signs their paychecks.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 23, 2015 11:57:39 GMT -6
Disagree. At $70K per year....parents are not idiots. They are purchasing both an education and a specific "trade" for their kids. If that is not the situation....they will fail because the kids generally will not get into College without the grades. Its only ludicrous because its a different way of doing things....finally. mahonz Correct me if I am wrong, you primarily work with youth ball correct? I think you are drastically underestimating the idiocy of parents when it comes to things like this. Regarding being ludicrous--I don't think your reply made any sense. My point was if IMG is a school attended by students who were SPECIFICALLY brought to the school because of their athletic prowess, it seems rather silly for them to play schools attended by a cross section of the population. Then I misunderstood the gist of what you were saying. I agree that this school presents an unfair advantage for any of their opponents. At the same time I believe change is in order and it has to start somewhere. Im not looking at this as a Coach. I am a youth Coach. I am looking at this as a taxpayer that for the life of me cannot understand why my local Board of Educators cant make 2+2=4.....for the last 30 years. So...they have had plenty of opportunities. I live in the largest School District in the State. They have hacked away all MS Sports and are now beginning to drill into the HS Programs. Something has got to give.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 22, 2015 9:54:52 GMT -6
They are K-12.....its better. It has to be or they fail. That is not true. You are making your statement on the assumption that the parents are making thoughtful rational choices based on their child's best developmental and academic needs. That is not necessarily the case. Bottom line, it is fairly ludicrous to even think that a school that is SPECIFICALLY CHARTERED to support kids for athletic excellence should ever compete against schools that are tasked with chore of educating the general public. Disagree. At $70K per year....parents are not idiots. They are purchasing both an education and a specific "trade" for their kids. If that is not the situation....they will fail because the kids generally will not get into College without the grades. Its only ludicrous because its a different way of doing things....finally.
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Post by mahonz on Sept 21, 2015 17:45:34 GMT -6
I say its about time. Good for them for finally thinking outside the system for a change. so we should all be recruiting 8th graders to live on campus and only focus on football? doubt their education is worth anything. They are K-12.....its better. It has to be or they fail.
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