The Slow Demise of High School Football in South Carolina

[Oldtimer]

*Quality of coaches. I attended a small high school in the 60's . Eight coaches from that school that decade became superintendents at some of the largest districts in S.C. How many superintendents now are former coaches?
* Specialization -- Got to get that scholarship.
* Year round practice, 7 on 7 etc. Football is as much mental as physical. You can only get up so many
times.
*Many more sports, leading to part timers with the little league approach.
*Urbanization- most young people don't want to live in smaller towns.
* The Biggest Factor-- Most schools now don't have an Athletic Department, they have a collection of teams with each going in their own direction. In the past, the football coach was usually the A.D. and most of the other coaches helped with football. Everyone was on the same page as far as discipline, etc. Not now. I know of a situation where the A.D. and High School Principal overruled the high school football coach in favor of the middle school basketball coach on the issue of strength training.
I could go on, but most of the other points have been made.

[GreenDragon]

All of the opinions and factors expressed here that are contributing to the demise of High School Football in SC are extremely valid. However, in my humble opinion the one item that may put football into a faster death spiral is the lack of officials. Young men/women just aren't moving into this honorable profession. Apparently, the younger generation can't process being 'yelled at, criticized or questioned' so therefore they aren't going to be football officials.
If you know any young men/women who have the love for the game as many of us do, please encourage them to explore becoming a high school football official.

[5thqtr]

All of the opinions and factors expressed here that are contributing to the demise of High School Football in SC are extremely valid. However, in my humble opinion the one item that may put football into a faster death spiral is the lack of officials. Young men/women just aren't moving into this honorable profession. Apparently, the younger generation can't process being 'yelled at, criticized or questioned' so therefore they aren't going to be football officials.
If you know any young men/women who have the love for the game as many of us do, please encourage them to explore becoming a high school football official.

Great Point!

One not thought about a bunch. To bounce off of this I might also add - as much as I have felt some of these officials(some I will go to my grave) have some ax to grind with maybe a HC or maybe a successful program; you can't be overly critical. You want to; but the fact is: "it's a tough job"! My old H.S. basketball coach kind of "asked-told" us to "volunteer-you better" help with youth league refereeing. It was a community service, the kids looked up to us, the whole nine yards. Well, little did I know how tough a job it was. I was missing calls. Getting criticized by parents, all that. By the time all of us had gone - our mentalities were much different regarding the refs. Instead of "looking for a call" we just went to work on the things we could control. Because we knew first hand "they not going to catch everything"!

What is the compensation for H.S. football officials? I could see some younger generation getting into it for the compensation piece. Not because they care about the sport. They would just see it as an easy supplemental income. If they were terrible: they wouldn't care as long as the check cleared!

[5thqtr]

*Quality of coaches. I attended a small high school in the 60's . Eight coaches from that school that decade became superintendents at some of the largest districts in S.C. How many superintendents now are former coaches?
* Specialization -- Got to get that scholarship.
* Year round practice, 7 on 7 etc. Football is as much mental as physical. You can only get up so many
times.
*Many more sports, leading to part timers with the little league approach.
*Urbanization- most young people don't want to live in smaller towns.
* The Biggest Factor-- Most schools now don't have an Athletic Department, they have a collection of teams with each going in their own direction. In the past, the football coach was usually the A.D. and most of the other coaches helped with football. Everyone was on the same page as far as discipline, etc. Not now. I know of a situation where the A.D. and High School Principal overruled the high school football coach in favor of the middle school basketball coach on the issue of strength training.
I could go on, but most of the other points have been made.

I am originally from a small school. You hit on something there. The coaches at larger schools get somewhat spoiled. Sure, more kids to stay on top of. But, what about job duties only having one area to control. I would think some of your better coaches( Moose Wallace comes to mind) would have some experience in 1A ball where you are the: X, Y and the Z. It gives you another point of view at the "granular level" about how things should be done. Once you get more resources you are less likely to act as though the world is coming to an end if you have to do w/o X or Y for a bit.
Specialization - I saw something about how this may be something that is leading to more injuries. Because kids don't work different muscle groups. You wear out the same ones all year long.

*** And, it's not the kids ya'll! It's the generation prior who are raising the kids with "different values"! I have to make my son/daughter put their electronics down. They hate it and probably can't stand me for it at times - but they will appreciate it later. Having something else to fall back on besides electronic stimulation is a healthy thing for a human.
We need to get back there!

[SF Band dad]

All of the opinions and factors expressed here that are contributing to the demise of High School Football in SC are extremely valid. However, in my humble opinion the one item that may put football into a faster death spiral is the lack of officials. Young men/women just aren't moving into this honorable profession. Apparently, the younger generation can't process being 'yelled at, criticized or questioned' so therefore they aren't going to be football officials.
If you know any young men/women who have the love for the game as many of us do, please encourage them to explore becoming a high school football official.

Great Point!

One not thought about a bunch. To bounce off of this I might also add - as much as I have felt some of these officials(some I will go to my grave) have some ax to grind with maybe a HC or maybe a successful program; you can't be overly critical. You want to; but the fact is: "it's a tough job"! My old H.S. basketball coach kind of "asked-told" us to "volunteer-you better" help with youth league refereeing. It was a community service, the kids looked up to us, the whole nine yards. Well, little did I know how tough a job it was. I was missing calls. Getting criticized by parents, all that. By the time all of us had gone - our mentalities were much different regarding the refs. Instead of "looking for a call" we just went to work on the things we could control. Because we knew first hand "they not going to catch everything"!

What is the compensation for H.S. football officials? I could see some younger generation getting into it for the compensation piece. Not because they care about the sport. They would just see it as an easy supplemental income. If they were terrible: they wouldn't care as long as the check cleared!

Wow, you are so right. I used to coach small fry youth baseball and we would occasionally get pressed into service as an ump when enough didn't show up for our games. It was terrible.