[i82much]

I hope Raceland enjoys the 3 players they plucked from Lewis County. I just learned of the 3rd so there may be more at this point, idk. Something fishy is going on over there and if you don’t think anybody from the coaching staff or school talked to these kids and their parents before they enrolled at Raceland then I have some beach front property in Vanceburg to sell you. Win and lose with your own kids. Could have been a special year for Lewis Co football according to our standards and our two best skill players and best OL decide to drive 45 minutes east for school and practice every day. Dirty. When the hammer comes down on Raceland it’s gonna make Fairview of the early 2010’s look like nothing was happening.

I’m an alumni and a lifelong Ram fan but I have to say that I am inclined to agree with you.  If these kids lived nearby or had ties with the community then that would be different but in this case I don’t agree with it.  Raceland used to be a special place where you knew everyone you played with from the time you grew up until you graduated.  Not so much now with kids coming from all over the place and half of the team never living within the school district.  

Also what message does this send to the kids that actually grew up in the district and lose their spot that they worked hard for because the school allowed someone who lives an hour away to come in and take their spot?  This may not be a popular opinion amongst my fellow Rams but we have to do a better job at developing our own kids and not taking talent from other places to make up for our own lack of player development.

I use to think a lot of these same things. Times have changed and I believe this mentality has alot to do with Raceland kids never staying in college on a sports scholarship. They’ve been pampered and sheltered their whole life

Definitely some truth here. Our kids not remaining in school is common everywhere. Most of our "scholarships" are to NAIA/Division III  schools. They don't actually have athletic scholarships, they have financial packages (financial aid and merit scholarships). I think the national average is around $7,000 which covers on average 10-20% of the total cost. Many of these schools have tuition rates much higher than our larger public universities so the scholarships usually don't even cover the added costs. They simply can't afford to stay.