Some Connecticut high school athletic directors propose plan to allow coaches to instruct students during the offseason...

[huskymedic]

So does Darien and Greenwich, but rich towns like Fairfield, Easton, Weston, Redding, Trumbull, Simsbury, Southington, Glastonbury, Orange, Woodbridge, and Wilton don't say hello. Why? Just because a town is affluent and athletes in those towns have financial resources is no guarantee of a winning football program. There are other factors at work here. That's my point. Ansonia, Bloomfield, Shelton, and West Haven, underprivileged towns with a winning tradition also say hello, so tell me how they manage to win year after year?

Guessing you don’t realize that Southington ($90,796) and Shelton ($89,250) essentially have the same median household income.

 

[huskyrob1]

Fairfield has two high schools and bleed kids to preps. this is an odd conversation for even the boneyard

Fairfield was a dominant football town every year from about the mid 1950's to the early 1970's, thanks to Warde, Ludlowe, Fairfield Prep, and Notre Dame of Fairfield which also had some great teams back then. Early 70's Warde coach Fern Tetreau retired, and legendary Ludlowe coach Emil Taft (sent at least three players to the NFL that I know of) retired. Neither school has been any good since, NDF is just awful now. Prep manages to still field a good team now and then.

 

[whaler11]

Here are the last two top 10 final state football polls. Do you see Southington, like we use to every year?????

The FINAL 2018 GameTimeCT / Register Top 10 Football poll: GREENWICH is No. 1 for the first time

Each year, the Greenwich football team showed significant improvement under coach John Marinelli. Taking over a highly successful program in 2015 — one that produced eight state titles and 12 FCIAC…

www.google.com

The Final 2017 GameTimeCT / New Haven Register Top 10: DARIEN is No. 1 for third-straight season

The 2017 Football Championship Scoreboard Two weeks ago, Darien’s football program faced...

www.google.com

That's ok whaler, apology accepted.

lol ok they didnt finish in the top ten for two years.

get checked for mercury poisioning

 

[huskymedic]

Hey Jerk, I thought you were done???

Well, now that we’re off the academic kick, I figured economics was a new opportunity.

 

[huskyrob1]

Well, now that we’re off the academic kick, I figured economics was a new opportunity.

Lol. Maybe you haven't been around but Shelton has more empty factory buildings than Newark. Can't say the same for Southington.

 

[huskyrob1]

lol ok they didnt finish in the top ten for two years.

get checked for mercury poisioning

Yeah, and IIRC have not made the playoffs either. 2016 they made the playoffs and hung around in the state poll, even was #1 at one point thanks to the state sports writers, but got killed by Darien in the playoffs. Actually it was the worst defeat for a team that had owned the state poll up until the last game of the season that I can ever remember.

 

[Padutch5]

Boy has this thread gone way off the topic. The real fact is that CIAC is costing a lot of Ct. kids scholarships. Ever wonder why Florida players are so much in demand by colleges? I dont know all their rules, but essentially they play year around and that has little to do with the weather. They play a limited schedule in spring and play 7 on 7 flag the summer.
I actually think there are some other things at work. Due to injury concerns and the rise of soccer, there are fewer and fewer kids playing football ,in Ct., both in the feeder youth leagues and in high school. While soccer and parent concerns do exist in the south in general I don't==== think they are anywhere the factors they are in Ct.
Wealth is defiantly a factor. If you grow up in Pahokee Florida you definitely have a reason to look at football as a way out. I don’t think the same incentive is there for most kids in Simsbury. No, before someone jumps on me, I can’t explain why the same incentive doesn’t seem widespread in Hartford.

 

[huskyrob1]

Boy has this thread gone way off the topic. The real fact is that CIAC is costing a lot of Ct. kids scholarships. Ever wonder why Florida players are so much in demand by colleges? I dont know all their rules, but essentially they play year around and that has little to do with the weather. They play a limited schedule in spring and play 7 on 7 flag the summer.
I actually think there are some other things at work. Due to injury concerns and the rise of soccer, there are fewer and fewer kids playing football ,in Ct., both in the feeder youth leagues and in high school. While soccer and parent concerns do exist in the south in general I don't==== think they are anywhere the factors they are in Ct.
Wealth is defiantly a factor. If you grow up in Pahokee Florida you definitely have a reason to look at football as a way out. I don’t think the same incentive is there for most kids in Simsbury. No, before someone jumps on me, I can’t explain why the same incentive doesn’t seem widespread in Hartford.

Football is always going to be a high school sport for the bigger kids as opposed to soccer which needs agile, speedy, guys who can run all day. At that point, high school football and soccer go their separate ways. That being said, I liked your post, especially your reference to football not being so important to young kids as it was when I was a kid. Back my day, Pop Warner Football was just as big in Fairfield as Little League. Not anymore though, far from it.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

We always called them “captain’s practices”

 

[Bonehead]

We always called them “captain’s practices”

They still run those in my town for girls hoop but in my recent experience, no caches present.

The captains dad happened to be there...

 

[UConnSean]

Name me one or two of the poorer towns in CT, that have a high academic rank? You don't see the correlation of academic rank and affluent towns? What planet are you people from? Yet Weston, Wilton, and Simsbury have not had a decent football team like forever, while disadvantaged towns economically like Ansonia, Bloomfield and Shelton win every year.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/connecticut

Simsbury was in the state semi finals in both 2008 and 2009 (long time ago I know, but not forever HA)

 

[businesslawyer]

The purpose of the rule is to allow for the 3-sport athlete. Most Coaches want their players to play year round to improve. Will they penalize those who don’t participate in off-season workouts. There’s no such thing as “voluntary practice “.

Does the Town exist for high school sports or does the town control high school sports? It's that simple. If you allow coaches to hold practices all summer long, some will. And, despite what they will say, kids who don't show up "voluntarily" will lose playing time. So it's up to taxpayers/residents to decide. Is the most important think allowing for more practices and coaches control, driving up the quality of the sport? Or do we want high school sports that only last their normal season, allowing a family to take their children to Europe or Nantucket for the summer without their child being disadvantaged.

There is not a right answer. But this is a choice for voters and towns, not the friggin coaches.

 

[BlueMAB]

Well, now that we’re off the academic kick, I figured economics was a new opportunity.

He's nonsensical. God bless you for trying.

 

[huskyrob1]

Simsbury was in the state semi finals in both 2008 and 2009 (long time ago I know, but not forever HA)

Wilton had maybe the best team in the state with maybe the best player in the state (Dave Papenfuss) but that was 35 years ago. Ok not forever.