[Old Jumper]

In 2012 Somerset had a population of 11,320. That is in the city limits where only the kids of age can attend Somerset for free. While the county may have a larger population kids have to pay tuition of a dollar or two a day to attend Somerset after being on the waiting list. What the author was meaning is that Somerset can ONLY draw from kids that live in the city limits or a very few who pay to come from the county. If you wanna go to somerset and can't make the list you would have to move into the city limits. (I don't know what the maximum number of county residents that can attend Somerset). Geographically, Somerset can ONLY draw out of the City limits. The only thing the author was getting at there is the fact that you are a private school and with a population of 40,713 in the city, not only can you draw from this number but from any county or area around you. Therefor NCC is not "geographically" limited do to their private school status.

A little geography lesson for you as well.

To attend Somerset schools, each out-of-district student pays $555 per year (or $3 per day), and a strict cap of 250 county-resident students is maintained (grades K-12) per year (hence, the waiting list).

FWIW, other than the "big two" parochials in Jefferson County (T and X), and maybe LexCath, I really think the smaller privates like NewCath, DeSales, OCath, Brossart, the Holy Crosses, etc.) face just as many challenges to maintaining successful football programs as small-town independents like Somerset, Corbin, Glasgow, Hazard Danville and Middlesboro do. The types of challenges might differ some, but their degrees of difficulty seem pretty equivalent.

I've watched and admired the NewCath teams for 30 years now and have nothing but respect for them. They play football the way it's supposed to be played, and their multiple state titles absolutely confirm the program's "excellence," not "advantage." As a Somerset fan I wouldn't want it any other way.

Great challenges are great opportunities. Go Jumpers!