Split of Letcher Middle School Football.

**cougarpride08** · 09-22-2011, 05:03 PM

I really want you guys opinion about the split. Will it hurt the feeder program or will it make it better. Right now is the most critical time in our football program to get these kids prepared to go on the hill.

**geauxtigers75** · 09-22-2011, 10:19 PM

Might encourage more kids to come out, but the quality of their teams is suffering. I know Perry beat East Letcher 44-0 the other night. If it gets them more kids out, that on one hand is a good thing, but getting them all together and playing together sooner also has its advantages down the road. I'm undecided on whether it was a good move for them or not.

Lambert #1 · 09-22-2011, 11:21 PM

I guess it all depends on what you want. If it's numbers you want out at the high school splitting is the answer. If it's developing a winning mentality and playing against the upper level of competition in the mountains staying one consolidated team is the answer. I personally think that splitting up is saying you want Quantity over Quality and I'd rather have a strong 45 instead of a weak 75 at the high school level any day. I also think that it sends a message that we want helmet fillers to stand on the side lines and look like we have more true athletes than we really have. I guess time will tell, maybe we did have some good athletes out there that were not playing and if this gets good quality athletes out it will be the right answer in the long run.

**UKisN1** · 09-23-2011, 07:43 AM

Not for it. Taking a step backwards.

**cougarpride08** · 09-23-2011, 03:30 PM

Not for it either.

**geauxtigers75** · 09-23-2011, 11:32 PM

I heard they were going back down to 2 teams after this season, any truth to that?

**cougarpride08** · 09-24-2011, 01:50 PM

The powers that be don't have a clue.

hootie · 09-28-2011, 12:15 PM

Why can't they have a team at every grade level, 3rd-8th. That way your 7th grade teams could play 8th grade teams. Your 5th grade could play 6th grade teams and your 3rd graders could play up also. This only makes you better.

Johnny_Ringo · 09-28-2011, 03:37 PM

Perry's team is 6th graders only.

**cougarpride08** · 09-29-2011, 07:55 PM

Tell them that.

cheese4me · 10-03-2011, 06:07 PM

I am not for sure if I am correct or not, but I think I am pretty close. Letcher County middleschools have close to 900 kids across the county at all schools. Currently at the HS level they are dressing around 40 kids. The first four years of LCCHS was a product of split gradeschools, the last two were not. Those numbers at the HS level have dropped significantly. I think there are less than 10 kids from all other schools combined besides WMS. That is counting FN, ABE BBE LES CES and MJP. I think that is a major problem. Looks like a no brainer to me. WIth the consolidating of the middleschools looming on the horizon I feel that having three solid middleschool programs would be very benificial to the HS. Maybe I am wrong, but a lot of parents have a very difficult time with logistics of one middleschool and this lack of participation not only hurts the football team, but takes away any lack of ownership from the neighboring communites outside of Whitesburg. I have heard many people complain about not knowing any kids playing at the HS because of this and they are unwilling to support it. I am not knocking anyone at Whitesburg and in theory it was a great experiment but when you look at a 5A school dressing 40 kids it is very sad. In 2001-2003 FN and WHS dressed more kids than that. Interesting debate though

**Stardust** · 10-03-2011, 06:10 PM

They have been talking about doing this with both Campbell Co. Middle and HS. Good luck with it.

**UKisN1** · 10-03-2011, 10:12 PM

The reason that Letcher County went to a consolidated team was the lack of numbers in the feeder programs. It happened out of necessity. Whitesburg was the only legitimate program at that time. Coach Howard was going to get several kids from surrounding schools to come to Whitesburg and thus a county wide program developed. There were several drawbacks including transportation. We should have pee wee and 5th and 6th grade programs at our schools. It is our best interest to keep a consolidated team in my opinion, but without a strong coach it will not happen. Look at the surrounding football counties and see what they are doing.

cheese4me · 10-04-2011, 06:45 AM

If we had one middleschool I would agree with you, but if we consolidate into three middleschools it would in my opinion be prudent to have three teams. The more kids that play the better it is! Simple. You have many late developers who may end up helping on the hs level when they are Juniors or Seniors. I feel like this lack of depth cost us at least two games this year where the kids are playing special teams, O and D. Anyway, I for one would love to see three teams, but it is nice to see everyones opinion on this.

**UKisN1** · 10-04-2011, 07:39 AM

I agree lack of depth has killed us. The kids coming from the middle school have decided not to play in high school for some reason.

cheese4me · 10-04-2011, 09:30 AM

I think Cowan is a big key to this. It is the largest gradeschool in the county and I don't know if they have a single kid playing in the HS. I know they didn't a couple of years ago. Traditionally MJP and Cowan have had some of the best athletes in the district. Hopefully when they consolidate the district will place an emphasis on putting good coaches at all three schools. I am a firm believer in the middleschool that you need a teacher to coach that sees the kids everyday and developes a love for the game at an early age. No one has more impact on a middleschool kid than their teachers. If this is done the right way in three years you will see a big pay off.

Doctor J · 10-04-2011, 11:38 AM

It won't be a quick or easy fix to solve the problem at the high school. You can't play 5A schedule with 40 kids. Very few 8th graders playing the last 3 years. You need a high school coach that will take ownership (if allowed) of the feeder programs. This must start with the pee wee programs. Whitesburg and Cowan are the only 2 pee wee programs that are competitive. I'm in favor of going to 3 middle school teams when the schools consolidate, but this will only work if they fix the pee wee programs. I know MJP hasn't played Whitesburg in the last 5 years. Whitesburg and Cowan start several weeks before the other programs and play significantly more games. If you are going to have a pee wee football program, you must commit to it. This will spill over into the 5th and 6th grade programs and ultimately into the 7th and 8th grade programs. Consolidating the programs wont work until all the schools are on the same page and the same level of commitment. It is going to take a few years to fix the problems at the high school; so patience is a must.

cheese4me · 10-04-2011, 07:15 PM

I don't mean to step on any toes, and the amount of time and work that has been put in with the Cowan and WWE programs is outstanding, but Peewee is meant to teach fundamentals more than anything else. I personally feel that peewee should not be a win at all costs, but a stepping stone to introduce children to the sport. Playing 15-20 games is a little bit of overkill for me. Elementary kids don't need to be out late several nights a week for sports, also they run the risk of recieving burnout. I would like to see a league set up where the HS coach oversees all football operations including coaching clinics for all coaches under him. This would also implement a no blitz format as well as weight classes for positions. Away from here this is very common in most rec leagues. 5-6 teams would be limited to a 10 game schedule. Middleschool would also play a ten game schedule not including a tournament of some kind. Quality instruction will beat quantity of games anytime. Good organization and emphasis in the right areas could really turn Letcher county football around. Just my opinion, and once again I am not knocking anyone at all.

Daddycat27 · 10-09-2011, 10:03 AM

In Harlan Co. We have 8 schools. The new Harlan patriots are comprised of 5 schools, Cumberland sustains itself due to logistics. Evarts has 2 schools (evarts and Black Mt.) also logistics. We have 7-8 football, and 5-6 football. We also have 6 pee-wee teams of3-4 graders. It has paid huge dividends. Larkey meets with the coaches regularly. They all run power FB!

SPORTS FAN 101 · 10-11-2011, 01:47 AM

In my honest opinion it hurts the program more than help... The 2011 7/8 grade teams were some of the weakest teams they have put on the field in a while for lcc. The 2 teams together would have competed better and would of had more of a chance to win. Winning isn't everything but it does keep the kids out and more motivated to improve and work hard.

**RunItUpTheGut** · 10-11-2011, 02:00 AM

Depends.
I think it could possibly make it better by getting more kids out since more kids would now have a chance to play in middle school. It would also make them competetive.
Personally though, i think overall its a bad idea.