3 Braddock football players have made announcements they are transferring to red jacket country. 2 are already at Washingtom Jr High. A 4th has now left the fold citing the fact they don't think Alco will be able to field a JV team yet again. Yikes. I guess it was a matter of time.
City transfer doors wide open
- Thread starter BrianH1974
- Start date
I appreciate the reality. I really do... I'm not kidding... and I am not passing judgment on what is going on. Also, I believe you posted some time back that the quitters from Alco are headed to FH. Look, it is what it is. There is no moralizing here from me. FH is the football school. The opportunity and proximity can't be denied... and who can blame the kids or their parents.
What I would like to point out.... again, is that Cumberland sustains three 1A schools. The FH advantage in collecting talent from this entire area is far superior to what any rural 1A school can do. All I ask is that the FH fandom spare us the whining that FH should play only 1A schools... hell, you already got the locals to agree to their yearly beatings.
I don't condemn the situation. Young athletes can play freshman, jv and varsity football at FH... and more than likely compete downstate. It's cool. Just skip the family and dignity stuff and let Appel do his thing. Let the old red-jackets slowly die off in the fog.
Yeah they are free to do what they want, but it confuses and frustrates me at the same time because I just can't put myself in their shoes. I like to think when I'm in an actual disagreement that I can at least step back and try to understand the other side, but here... I just can't. The only way I would have ever changed schools is if I moved, or decided to go to BW. The only time I would have considered an out of district permit was if I was already in Braddock or Allegany, and then we moved to FH district.
And I especially never see me doing it for sports. I played them my whole life. I finished last and I won championships, and to be completely honest, I don't feel my life is different from any of them. Is it different from playing? Absolutely. From winning and losing? No. It never entered my mind to try to change to a better team in little league or youth league, so I sure wasn't switching schools.
That's just me, and obviously doesn't make it right. In fact, history has repeatedly shown that it's not.
Rant complete.
This is a sign of the times everywhere, not just Cumberland. I could be wrong, but I believe someone had mentioned on the Moco board that there was a MCPS board meeting concerning the requirements for transfers because frankly, its become an epidemic everywhere. I have no issue with kids transferring schools for academic reasons or other issues that are out of their control, but I do have an issue with kids transferring schools for athletics under the guise of academics. Lets face it, that's a loophole in the system that is nearly impossible to prove.
Gone are the days of public high school sports being about community and school pride. It's all about winning at all costs now. We don't teach kids to work for anything anymore, we teach them that when the going gets tough, you throw your hands up in the air, say screw it and find the easy way out that will you get that instant gratification. Society has made its bed and now everyone has to lie in it.
Gone are the days of public high school sports being about community and school pride. It's all about winning at all costs now. We don't teach kids to work for anything anymore, we teach them that when the going gets tough, you throw your hands up in the air, say screw it and find the easy way out that will you get that instant gratification. Society has made its bed and now everyone has to lie in it.
If I had a son that was a good athlete and loved football.... and there was only one school that had a freshman team and was guaranteed to have a JV team.... and I knew that I could have my son avoid a yearly homecoming beating... and I knew there was a good chance that my son would get a championship ring...... I would send my son to that school - and that school is FH.
Today's parents didn't create the mess that is Cumberland football. They simply have to make the best of what is. Everyday I thank God that I lived most of my 69 years when things were different and so I "grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind." - Wordsworth.
It's a question of ROI and expectation. There are 2 clear sides: one is, does it have a long term, financial impact on a kid's life (free or reduced college) and the other is just short term experience, or basically "I just want (my kid) to play for the better program".
Since only 1 FH kid per year on the average goes on to play scholarship level college football, then the result is pretty clear. If none of the 4 kids here transferring to FH earn a dollar in scholarship money for college, then that result is clear too.
Keep in mind here, the goals and the results are usually miles apart, especially in Cumberland. Every parent thinks their kid is either getting a football scholarship or getting screwed out of one because of the coach.
Since only 1 FH kid per year on the average goes on to play scholarship level college football, then the result is pretty clear. If none of the 4 kids here transferring to FH earn a dollar in scholarship money for college, then that result is clear too.
Keep in mind here, the goals and the results are usually miles apart, especially in Cumberland. Every parent thinks their kid is either getting a football scholarship or getting screwed out of one because of the coach.
I'm sure there is more to it. If u have a kid going into 9th grade and you are telling me he has to play varsity then that decides things easily. Alco will try to field a JV team but the numbers, just like last year, make it difficult.
Wow! You have to give Lag credit because he's been saying this was going to happen for a long time.
I'm always in favor of liberal transfer policies. The kids should be allowed to move to a more favorable situation academically or athletically within reason. If the kids want to play for a better program I can't blame them.
I'm trying to figure out if the parents believe the kids are getting scholarships because the coaches are telling them that. Just this year Helmick came on this board and said "boatloads" of FH players were getting college offers. Evidently, "boatloads" meant zero.
Half of the FH 2018 state champs got college offers. One went baseball, one is building cars and a huge handful didn't have the academics. A few made it. Whether they finish is another story.
you first have to understand how D2 and D3 academics and money works. Google it and get familiar with how that works.
The young men walking into Greenway for homecoming will ask, "Who were these people who left us this strange monument that we use but can neither emulate nor understand. In comparison to us, they now seem like gods."
a huge handful didn't have the academics.
That lands with a dull thud, frankly. Sure, some don't have the wherewithal but 'huge handful' smacks of a failure by the system.
A 2.5 GPA will make you eligible to play high school football. It doesn't get you scholarship money.
Given here, we are discussing young men who were offered scholarships rather than dealing with those who openly were going in a different direction - say military, family business or a specific trade.
So.... Thank you.... but I understand all that about grades... but with today's grade inflation and SAT inflation, that bar is so pathetically low as to be negligible. As you well can see, I fully understand that some cannot make it for whatever reason.... but the numbers you suggest... suggest a system failure.
I have preached about high school sports not being about scholarships. But (and another big but) if you have the drive to excel in one area, you have intrinsic drive - properly directed - can excel in others. You don't lose a 'full handful' of young men.
It smacks of using drive and ambition for the selfish purpose of a program - that once over - tosses one aside to flail on their own. A 3.0 in a piss-poor educational system is achievable by most kids. Getting a passable score in a watered down SAT is doable for most kids.
Ok first of all your full of shit. My son played on the 2018 team and knowing most of the key players on that team i can tell you or anyone else most of them had the grades. One did go on a baseball scholarship and 2 for football and one of them already quit to work construction. My son got a scholarship
For academics. That group of young men won a state title on hart desire and toughness. In there time at FH they were branded the misfits nobody and i mean nobody gave them a chance except their familys and coaches. So quit pretending to know shit that you don't.
So, they didn't have a bunch a students who got scholarships not being able to qualify. That's great. That sounds reasonable. Fantastic that your son got one. My point stands, which is if all these young men were lacking in grades then the system failed them. Actually it didn't. Again, great for your son.
No it didn't fail and they certainly didn't fail themselves. Personally knowing that bunch were they a rowdy bunch hell yes but they weren't dumb asses either. Average GPA for that team was well above 3.0
Red I love ya brother, that 2018 team was while ruthless, very versatile and showed weekly improvement. The 2018 team only returned 2-3 starters. It was a bunch of kids that liked each other, and were hungry. When the heat got turned up they withstood it, every single time from the Motown game to the state title when Douglass was driving on 4th and inches at the 25 to possibly take the lead in the 4th. Those kids were tough and dedicated. My hats off to them. And yes, all of them made tremendous academic improvement from 9th to 12th grade. Great to reflect back on the 2018 champs!
Every 8th grader from last years Braddock Warrior team has been in the weight room at Allegany working out regularly so I don’t know which players you are referring to. Let’s not forget Braddock was the only team in the league to beat Keyser last year. Yes, the blue side is looking up just as we thought it would.
I can name 4 players from that 2018 team that had college offers but were way below the academic line for making it into the college. Not going to name names for obvious reasons. SAT and GPA not even close. College is not high school.
Ok, I see 2 of them already transfered frome Braddock to Washington. I'll check back next August to see what happens.
As i said earlier 2 went on scholarships 1 already quit one is doing missionary work and one young man got a scholarship to play baseball other than that i don't that any others got offered anything. And as i said the teams average gpa was above 3.0 stop blowing smoke up peoples ass.
I think you are taking my posts out of context. Yes the overall team GPA thing was fantastic. If you are who you say then I have no need to ramble off names. Getting money for college isn't based on a team GPA award. To me almost the entire FH defense that season was athletically capable of playing D2 or D3 ball. Thst is not for everyone whether they have the grades or not. Playing college ball is a full time commitment at any level.
Somebody else told me the same thing. Evidently Alco is bringing in 22 freshman next fall so they should definitely have a JV
Dude you are clueless. With the exception of SFA and DeMatha (maybe), no school in the state is going to have 11 players (the entire defense) capable of playing even D3 ball. Going back and looking at the schedule in 2018 it's not surprising the defense looked great to you. To make the statement that, "Half of the FH 2018 state champs got college offers" is a flat out mistruth. It's not your fault because I'm sure a coach probably told you that but it's not even close to being true. It's probably the same coach that tells you they can't find anybody to play them
Maybe we need something like a 24 hour rule for alleged Alco transfers to FH.
Maybe we also need a 24 hour rule on alleged college scholarship offers.
Talk about clueless. Let me see whose word should I take? People and coaches who have been involved with actually getting kids to college or a person who does nothing in this realm. How many kids have you helped get to college? What recruiting organization do you run? How many college coaches call your cell #? Did you play college ball? Have you spent the last 20 some years coaching high school kids? Blah, blah, blah. Just like when I told you Flowers refused to schedule FH. I will believe the people that have done these things over the person that does not.
Beal, Bishop, King, Brehm, Metz, Powell, Snyder, Askins, Swan, Haines, Plummer, Trimble, Crabtree - all had opportunities to play college football off of t2018 team. That's 13 kids out of the 17 starters. Did they take it or did they have the grades/test scores? Only 5 of them did with a couple still only seniors this year. The first four were no brainers. Plummer, Askins and Trimble were also no brainers - maybe the best players on that team. Even Smitty had a shot at D3 ball ask his parents. But college isn't for everyone. If you knew anything about it first hand or worked with those kids then I would take what you say with a grain of salt. Instead you just play your standard Fantasy Land con game. You're a disgruntled wanna be who has no involvement.
Beal- Baseball at Mount St. Mary's
Bishop- Walk on at Utah when his missionary work is done
King- WVU
Brehm- Redshirt at AB, quit a few months in
Powell- Talked to maybe 1 college coach before deciding he didnt want to have to undergo shoulder surgery
Askins- Did not want to play college football
Swan- Walk on at FSU, quit 2 days in
Haines- Went on one college visit, goes to school in Michigan
Plummer- Didnt want to play college football
Trimble- Didnt want to talk to any college coaches
Crabtree- Talked to 1 D3 coach.
Theres the truth for you.
Does look like multiple opportunities. Hope they all went on to better things.... for some, that didn't include football.
Phrase it however you wish. Some of those names didn't qualify. Leave it at that. Left off the junior names from 2018 that are still in the mix.
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I saw Friendship has a good many players going to play college football. We will see in a few months about the players you say are transferring.
That's fine. I hope Alco does have a JV team. It sucked seeing them try last year and fail. Less local games for the kids. Never said they wouldn't have a team, but that it will be difficult. As for kids tranferring, I already know 2 that have as stated. We actually will get a better answer when practice gets rolling. I mean it's not like kids ever quit under Hansel or anything. Maybe more team meetings will help. Or getting more wins than losses for the first time in 3 years would certainly boost morale. I'm sure Alco is the team to beat in 2020 according to you yet again.
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Its the truth you should just accept it you don't know the kids or anything about what thier grades were
Been a while since I've thrown my two cents into the hat, but I'm still around and this thread has given me the itch again. I'm seeing three separate issues being discussed here as this thread has evolved into at least three separate issues. The first post on this thread has to do with kids "transferring" . What is lost is that none of the youth league, Pee Wee included, teams are associated with the local schools. Kids are encouraged to play for the team that's in their district but, they are free to transfer for whatever reason. For instance, there were several South end kids playing for a WV team this year. Had they not played on that team, it may have folded due to lack of numbers. Now should we expect those same kids to attend a WV high school when they get to that level? I don't think so, but it could be an option for them and their parents.
Next is the college recruiting. At the D2 and 3 levels, grades are everything. Now it's been a few years so I may be off a little, but the way I remember it was that an athlete can get academic money with a 3.0 avg. However, the NCAA dictates that the academic money count against the football budget unless the student's gpa is 3.6 or higher. Then it doesn't count against the school. For these small schools that's a big deal. It wasn't that long ago that a young man from a local high school signed with a division 2 school after never starting a game at the high school level. He just wanted to be on the team and he had great grades so he got the nod.
Lastly, Alco's teams for next year. They finished last year with everyone on varsity. I wouldn't move anyone back down next year. I think that it sends the wrong message. They were there when they were needed, don't demote them for that. As far as the incoming class, allow them to play at their level, as a freshman football team. If they can again get good numbers in 2021, they will then be able to field three teams. It's a building process. Alco will be senior dominated next year but I will touch on that later.
Next is the college recruiting. At the D2 and 3 levels, grades are everything. Now it's been a few years so I may be off a little, but the way I remember it was that an athlete can get academic money with a 3.0 avg. However, the NCAA dictates that the academic money count against the football budget unless the student's gpa is 3.6 or higher. Then it doesn't count against the school. For these small schools that's a big deal. It wasn't that long ago that a young man from a local high school signed with a division 2 school after never starting a game at the high school level. He just wanted to be on the team and he had great grades so he got the nod.
Lastly, Alco's teams for next year. They finished last year with everyone on varsity. I wouldn't move anyone back down next year. I think that it sends the wrong message. They were there when they were needed, don't demote them for that. As far as the incoming class, allow them to play at their level, as a freshman football team. If they can again get good numbers in 2021, they will then be able to field three teams. It's a building process. Alco will be senior dominated next year but I will touch on that later.
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