DMN: Gaming The System

[FirefightnRick]

"The high school transfer system has been abused for decades, and there’s no sign of that trend ending anytime soon"

http://interactives.dallasnews.com/2015/on-the-move/index.html

 

W

hen a high school team wins a state championship, it’s not only the players who celebrate. Teams are honored in parades, are congratulated on storefront billboards and are the subjects of city council proclamations. Their achievements are often displayed in the highest-profile space many towns can offer: the water tower.

It’s a victory for the entire community

But more and more, those state championship teams feature players who have not been part of the community for long. The rampant transferring in all sports, the result of a combination of factors that has led to what some coaches describe as a “free-agent mentality” among athletes, has changed the landscape of high school sports.

At last year’s UIL boys state basketball tournament, the state champions in the largest three classifications (6A, 5A and 4A) each included more than one notable transfer in the starting lineup. The most extreme example was 4A champion Bridgeport, whose four best players transferred to the school before the season. In Bridgeport’s state semifinal win over defending champion Madison, the four transfers scored all 68 of the team’s points.

Transferring for athletic purposes is currently the biggest issue in high school athletics, Garland Lakeview football coach Kendall Miller said.

“High school right now is the Wild West,” he said. “High school athletics were intended to represent communities, and that no longer happens.”

 

There is also a mention of Coach Fry concerning his playing days in Odessa back in the 40's.

 

 

Rick

[oldguystudent]

Most of the time I lament that I was denied the experience of interscholastic sports in high school.  When I read stuff like this, I'm kinda glad that was the case.  I absolutely do not understand such profound corruption for a bunch of 14-18 year old kids.  I just don't.  I particularly don't understand a bunch of men in their 50s investing so much in producing a winning team of 14-18 year olds.  To what end?  So they can bask in the glory of the athletic prowess of a bunch of collected teens?

Then again, I was absolutely flabbergasted at how serious they took 5-year-old tee ball when I put my daughter in it.  That nonsense lasted about a year before we gave up.

[FirefightnRick]

Most of the time I lament that I was denied the experience of interscholastic sports in high school.  When I read stuff like this, I'm kinda glad that was the case.  I absolutely do not understand such profound corruption for a bunch of 14-18 year old kids.  I just don't.  I particularly don't understand a bunch of men in their 50s investing so much in producing a winning team of 14-18 year olds.  To what end?  So they can bask in the glory of the athletic prowess of a bunch of collected teens?

Then again, I was absolutely flabbergasted at how serious they took 5-year-old tee ball when I put my daughter in it.  That nonsense lasted about a year before we gave up.

I wouldn't trade the experiences gained during my athletic years in school for anything.

 

As for the article, I applaud Denton ISD's stance for what seems to be one of a very few districts with the balls to do what is right and say no.

 

 

Rick

[FirefightnRick]

Duncanville QB Jaylin Nelson ruled ineligible by district executive committee -- http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/high-schools/headlines/20150803-duncanville-qb-jaylin-nelson-ruled-ineligible-by-district-executive-committee.ece

 

 

Rick

[Got5onIt]

Most of the time I lament that I was denied the experience of interscholastic sports in high school.  When I read stuff like this, I'm kinda glad that was the case.  I absolutely do not understand such profound corruption for a bunch of 14-18 year old kids.  I just don't.  I particularly don't understand a bunch of men in their 50s investing so much in producing a winning team of 14-18 year olds.  To what end?  So they can bask in the glory of the athletic prowess of a bunch of collected teens?

Then again, I was absolutely flabbergasted at how serious they took 5-year-old tee ball when I put my daughter in it.  That nonsense lasted about a year before we gave up.

Playing time to showcase your talent & a potential scholarship are motivating factors, without question. Some bigger schools have a logjam of talent at positions. Your child may not get to see the field much at his current 6A school. But he's good enough to crack the starting lineup  at a smaller school. 

I knew a guy who transferred due to wanting to play LBer his JR & SR years in high school (5A at the time). He was the starting weakside defensive end and his father thought his best chance for a D1 scholarship would be to move to LBer. There were several very good players that had those positions locked down so he transferred to a local 4A school and started @ LBer. Let's just say it worked out because he ended up getting a D1 scholarship to a Big Ten school and was later taken in the 4th round of the NFL draft.

 

Edited August 4, 2015 by Got5onIt

[Texas Stranger]

Another reason it's so prevalent in football is that there's no club teams.  Other sports have that to try and get scholarships, for football scholarship it's Friday Night or bust.

[TheWestie]

And then there is TAPPS, which literally is the Wild West. There are practically no rules, and schools openly recruit players. Football isn't as bad as basketball, yet. Look at how many high profile highly-recruited basketball kids bounce from school to school to school. 

[oldguystudent]

Let's just say it worked out because he ended up getting a D1 scholarship to a Big Ten school and was later taken in the 4th round of the NFL draft.

 

Good for that kid.  I still don't understand the priority that gets placed on sports.  For the vast, vast majority of kids, sports is a great way to stay active and gain some interpersonal skills.  

It isn't, and really, really shouldn't be a career goal.  It really shouldn't even be the means by which parents aspire to fund college.  Honestly, for the money I see parents spending on club and select travel teams, they could be setting that aside in 529 plans and have a 100% certainty of funding junior's college instead of gambling on fame and glory with a full ride to SMU and a private locker session with Craig James.

But let's set aside the overwhelming statistics that state the odds of your little Timmy becoming the next Johnny Football are about as great as my middle aged fat ass getting a road knob from Olivia Munn in rush hour traffic on the Mixmaster.

None of this explains the corruption in which the adults engage.  None of it explains why a 50-year-old man takes personal pride and assumes a large portion of his identity on the performance of a 16-year-old boy to whom he has no relation other than the fact that some school administrators convinced the kid to "move" within school boundaries, probably at some skeezy rental scheme where the kid gets to rent a house in Southlake for $500 a month.

As my kid begins mini camp for high school marching band right now, I wonder how our population would fare if our high schools put half the effort and emphasis on academics as they do football, band, and homecoming mums.  We could be a state of off the chart geniuses, but instead, we've got football and kickass tuba players with 6-foot flower ribbons hanging from their chests.

/rant

[Army of Dad]

@oldguystudent they have $1 beers at Drunken Donkey at the Unicorn Lake location all week until Sunday. They are 9 ounce beers, but they have 140 something on tap.

It sounds like you could use one (or two).

Not to take anything away from what you said, but $1 beer.

[oldguystudent]

@oldguystudent they have $1 beers at Drunken Donkey at the Unicorn Lake location all week until Sunday. They are 9 ounce beers, but they have 140 something on tap.

It sounds like you could use one (or two).

Not to take anything away from what you said, but $1 beer.

What I take from this is that the owners of the Pourhouse finally folded.  Good.

Also, I haven't had a beer since New Year's Eve.  This probably explains a lot.

Edited August 4, 2015 by oldguystudent

[FirefightnRick]

If your good the colleges will find you.  Doesn't matter who your playing for.  

I would guess it is an extreme low percentage of kids who NEVER see the field and never get the opportunity to get themself on tape because a better player playing in front of them, who then transfer for more PT and get an offer.  If this scenario is common we have more stupid high school coaches than I could ever imagine?

Thats why the move by the parents of the Desoto player transferring to Duncanville is so pitiful.  Their kid already had an offer to play DB at Tech, but thought he would attract more suitors for QB if he transferred and played QB at Duncanville.  There was nothing written in stone that he would never see the QB position ever again at Desoto.  Just that he may not start.  

 

Rick