I just want to see the boys compete! Losing isn't the end of the world if you can compete. I would rather loose a hard fought game by a field goal then get beat by 30 points in a track meet! I just want to see these boys put themselves in good positions, they may not have the horses for the home runs many of us have become accustomed (spoiled) to but lets fight.

I was always taught that even if we lost the opposition was gonna know they were in a game.... They were gonna feel us in the morning! Hard work now will pay off in the weeks to come,

Good luck Riders!!!!

sanitizer;1644511 wrote:I just want to see the boys compete! Losing isn't the end of the world if you can compete. I would rather loose a hard fought game by a field goal then get beat by 30 points in a track meet! I just want to see these boys put themselves in good positions, they may not have the horses for the home runs many of us have become accustomed (spoiled) to but lets fight.

I was always taught that even if we lost the opposition was gonna know they were in a game.... They were gonna feel us in the morning! Hard work now will pay off in the weeks to come,

Good luck Riders!!!!

Exactly! These boys will no doubt compete and I think if we stay healthy we may surprise people.

Our numbers increased by 1 yesterday. I was informed and (saw with my own eyes) a boy that moved in from Marion Harding who is supposed to be joining the team. He is a senior. By the look of his build/size I would guess a WR/RB/DB???

The Riders will be 2-8 and the Browns will be 5-11. Thank God LeBrons back!

Old Rider;1644534 wrote:Exactly! These boys will no doubt compete and I think if we stay healthy we may surprise people.

Our numbers increased by 1 yesterday. I was informed and (saw with my own eyes) a boy that moved in from Marion Harding who is supposed to be joining the team. He is a senior. By the look of his build/size I would guess a WR/RB/DB???

I hope Kent and Staff can verify his eligibility (they have had problems with this in the past)

Doesn't sound like this young man will be on the team. Wasn't at the scrimmage Saturday & don't think he's been practicing. Unless there's something holding him up, we'll stay at 33 kids.

8 seniors (7 returning lettermen)

6 juniors (3..maybe 4 returning lettermen)

8 Sophs (Domer & Ramsdell were the only ones that saw meaningful varsity time last year)

11 frosh (Auble & Barnhill seem promising but who knows as 9th graders what they can offer.)

RedRider1;1645672 wrote:Doesn't sound like this young man will be on the team. Wasn't at the scrimmage Saturday & don't think he's been practicing. Unless there's something holding him up, we'll stay at 33 kids.

8 seniors (7 returning lettermen)

6 juniors (3..maybe 4 returning lettermen)

8 Sophs (Domer & Ramsdell were the only ones that saw meaningful varsity time last year)

11 frosh (Auble & Barnhill seem promising but who knows as 9th graders what they can offer.)

The numbers are little better in the middle school this year and the pee-wee teams have pretty good numbers as well...its coming back around....slowly!

Old Rider;1645761 wrote:The numbers are little better in the middle school this year and the pee-wee teams have pretty good numbers as well...its coming back around....slowly!

Always fun to look at the Junior High level and try to predict the future. Sometimes it holds true, many times it doesnt.

The 2012 Marion Local team that won state had a Sr and Jr class that had a combined ONE win in Junior high. One.
but if you have great HS coaching you can do quite a bit.

Old Rider;1645761 wrote:The numbers are little better in the middle school this year and the pee-wee teams have pretty good numbers as well...its coming back around....slowly!

The numbers have been good for pee wee and it has not been transferring to Jr high. I would love to see it go...

I like that the "weeding out" is done before 7th grade. Needs less Boys Club involvement & more involvement by the varsity coaches.

And the Boys Club is different than it was when we grew up there. It's less about competition & more about after school babysitting.

I was never helped with homework at the club but that's all they do now. I went there to play ball & compete.

But will the coaches be around to see the kids in the 6/7/8 grades

rrfan;1645786 wrote:The numbers have been good for pee wee and it has not been transferring to Jr high. I would love to see it go...

Pee Wee plays against mostly county teams. Then these boys hit middle school and the OCC is waiting for them. Go from winning in pee wee to getting pounded....kids get tired of losing and then they find another sport? Maybe? I cant imagine letting my son quit a sport just because he lost a few games...

Pee Wee football isnt needed to be competitive in HS. I think it comes down to the coaching at the JH and HS levels that ultimately decides how the team goes. Sure, talent goes up and down over the years, but if you have a great coaching staff throughout the system a bad year is 6 or so wins.

RedRider1;1645821 wrote:I like that the "weeding out" is done before 7th grade. Needs less Boys Club involvement & more involvement by the varsity coaches.

And the Boys Club is different than it was when we grew up there. It's less about competition & more about after school babysitting.

I was never helped with homework at the club but that's all they do now. I went there to play ball & compete.

I hate that kids are weeded out before 7th grade. A ton of development happens in Jr High. I will take 40 kids in 7th grade and let the coaches coach them up. They also used to have B teams that played games and got more kids playing time. I never want to hear a pee wee coach or program weeding kids out...it is way to early!

Youth tackle football is not a must for your high school program to be good, but it can provide a huge boost to the program if it's done correctly. I do agree that the high school varsity coach should have a hand in the youth program. I've done some traveling down south. Many kids in Mississippi and Arkansas start tackle football in kindergarten. It all depends on who is running it, and how much the kids are learning. I heard Norwayne has almost 200 kids playing tackle football from grades k-6. I don't necessarily think it is good to weed them out before 7th grade. I think it's a tremendous positive that Orrville has such huge numbers in 7th grade this year. I heard 32 kids were out for football. Even if 25% quit by high school, a class like that would cure the numbers problem for a few years.

rrfan;1646032 wrote:I hate that kids are weeded out before 7th grade. A ton of development happens in Jr High. I will take 40 kids in 7th grade and let the coaches coach them up. They also used to have B teams that played games and got more kids playing time. I never want to hear a pee wee coach or program weeding kids out...it is way to early!

You hit the nail on the head - the B teams in junior high are pivotal. I recall Wooster's 7th grade about three years ago had 65 kids on the team. Now some of that's just socializing, but there are only about 18 of those boys still playing. You don't lose just 25% to attrition, you lose 50-75%. Reason being, so few ever see the field during the season. There's talk of some teams doing "split squads" rather than A and B and just making sure kids in Wayne County are playing football. Doesn't matter if it's "in conference" or even playing the same team twice to me, just give the kids a chance to play after putting in all that work. Of course, another squad costs money for coaching and travel and I doubt any of the schools will pony it up, unfortunately.

Read today that a team in the Cleveland area...maybe Bedford graduated 38 kids last year from their football team. That's more than our entire roster.

Good points 187
It's all about who is running it/coaching it.

In the 80's you had varsity players coaching & officiating. Now?? It's Parents who in some cases know nothing about football & in most cases just want to see their own kid get the ball & plan post game snack time.

You need a crew of dad's who are invested in EVERY KID...not just their own. Who teach fundamentals, proper technique and give EVERY KID a shot at a position.

You need to have a skills camp to make the teams balanced.

You need to play the final games of the season on the turf, under the lights. Make it a big deal.

The one thing I like about starting in JH with qualified coaches who care about the program and who get the ultimate direction from teh Varsity coach is that they are on the lookout for the best players at each position.
Too many times I think in pee wee football you have the coaches sons, rightfully or wrongfully, at the QB, RB spots because those are the 'fun' spots. Then come JH the 4-5 kids who played QB on those pee wee teams go out for the spot. Very well could have little joey who has a great arm, but dad didnt coach pee wee, nor a friend of the coaches family, etc, and doesnt even attempt QB in JH because the last few years he was put into a lineman or whatever roll.
I know my brother in law for 7th grade football at our school, a program that holds their own and doesnt have youth FB, asks who is going out for QB and even has alot of other players work on passing just to make sure they are getting the best possible person.

thavoice;1646322 wrote:The one thing I like about starting in JH with qualified coaches who care about the program and who get the ultimate direction from teh Varsity coach is that they are on the lookout for the best players at each position.
Too many times I think in pee wee football you have the coaches sons, rightfully or wrongfully, at the QB, RB spots because those are the 'fun' spots. Then come JH the 4-5 kids who played QB on those pee wee teams go out for the spot. Very well could have little joey who has a great arm, but dad didnt coach pee wee, nor a friend of the coaches family, etc, and doesnt even attempt QB in JH because the last few years he was put into a lineman or whatever roll.
I know my brother in law for 7th grade football at our school, a program that holds their own and doesnt have youth FB, asks who is going out for QB and even has alot of other players work on passing just to make sure they are getting the best possible person.

The more I know and think about pee wee I don't see any benefit in it at all.

rrfan;1646323 wrote:The more I know and think about pee wee I don't see any benefit in it at all.

I am not saying there isnt a benefit to it, but I dont believe it is a prerequisite to have a good HS FB program. As I stated earlier in this thread...the 3 county teams with Pee Wee football have 0 state titles, and rarely make the playoffs. The 3 towns without it have 17 since the early 90's so my opinion is the one I have been throwing out there....it isnt necessary.

youth baseball and basketball are OK because all the positions use pretty much the same skill set, so when they get older and grow into whom they ultimately become they can much easily move to any position. Not so much in football.

If your program has it and your HS program is good, so be it, but dont think it is a pre requisite for a good HS program.

Lost 2 sophomores this week...not sure of the details...but I don't believe either were projected starters.

We did add 2 kids...both seniors....neither played last year.

Our numbers stay at 33.

10 seniors
6 juniors
6 sophs
11 frosh

12 total in 10th & 11th grades...ouch.

Scuttlebutt is it's bad all across the OCC. Heard tonight that Clear Fork, Lexington, and West Holmes not only don't have boys for freshman squads, they don't even have enough boys for JV. That would probably include Orrville. Wooster doesn't have enough for freshman, either. The OCC plan is to blend JV and freshmen together if a school has enough into "reserve" squads, which will take the place of both freshman and JV football. They'll be playing Thursday nights this year instead of Saturdays. Just sickens me. The sport I love is dying around here.

I seen woosters roster and they had like 22 freshman

Across the whole state Jaco.

I blame air conditioning & video games. Kids are too comfortable these days. Never mind hard work....kids don't want to sweat.

RedRider1;1646572 wrote:Across the whole state Jaco.

I blame air conditioning & video games. Kids are too comfortable these days. Never mind hard work....kids don't want to sweat.

The fact it's hard and there are now "easy outs" for kids. Agree 100%. Don't want to play football? That's okay, just play lacrosse or soccer instead. People don't realize football finances it all. Football admissions literally pay for kids to quit and play other sports who don't charge admission. Crazy.

I just know the sport isn't sustainable if there are no JV/freshman squads. You'll have a lot of kids on the fringe of varsity who will probably just drop off. It's a catch 22. If you don't have enough kids, then you combine them. But if you combine classes into "reserves" then not everybody gets reps. What's coming is schools won't have the numbers to field varsity squads, either. When schools are having classes with single digit participation..not good. Sadly, I don't think we've seen the worst yet.

jaco;1646582 wrote:The fact it's hard and there are now "easy outs" for kids. Agree 100%. Don't want to play football? That's okay, just play lacrosse or soccer instead. People don't realize football finances it all. Football admissions literally pay for kids to quit and play other sports who don't charge admission. Crazy.

I just know the sport isn't sustainable if there are no JV/freshman squads. You'll have a lot of kids on the fringe of varsity who will probably just drop off. It's a catch 22. If you don't have enough kids, then you combine them. But if you combine classes into "reserves" then not everybody gets reps. What's coming is schools won't have the numbers to field varsity squads, either. When schools are having classes with single digit participation..not good. Sadly, I don't think we've seen the worst yet.

I bet you see that this year somewhere in Ohio. A small D-7 school with 20 kids on the roster....a few of them get hurt and they cancel the rest of the season.

I've heard talk in Orrville that we may be in that boat with the JV team this year. You're going to need "all hands on deck" for Friday night and then ask a lot of those same kids to come back for a 10am Saturday scrimmage??? That won't last long if we get kids banged up on Fridays.

How long has Orrville NOT had a freshman team? I bet we've had 1 in the last 7 or 8 years. Now it's looking like JV may be heading that same route. How long until it gobbles up varsity too?

We have 10th AND 11th grades with 6 kids each. That's not sustainable. We better hope all of these freshmen stick, or we're going to have a team in 2015 with less than 20 kids 10 through 12.