I have a friend I grew up with from our area who moved to Florida years ago for work. He was explaining to me how 5-6 of the players his son played middle school football with decided to go to another school because they had a better football program. They literally drive right past the school they would have attended to play football at the school with a better program.
He said it hurt the team but because his son was on the fringe of not getting much playing time it worked out okay for him. The school the players went to is a consistent powerhouse in their area. The school his son isn't bad, they do make playoffs but aren't strong every year.
It made me think, how often does this happen not just in Florida but other places. I've heard from friends that live in the Martinsburg area that players from surrounding schools choose to play at Martinsburg because of their program. If you look at scores nobody in their area competes with them, not even close.
I have relatives in the Calrksburg area and they say for years the same thing happened at Bridgeport, which until recently was a consistent powerhouse in that area and in class AA in WV.
I am not claiming that schools recruit, I don't think they need to. I think that parents make these decisions and it probably goes on at levels below high school too. But what would happen if players stayed at the schools they could or should attend?
If players didn't move around would it provide more balance year in and year out for local football in these areas. Of course teams have years in which they are strong but many of these programs rarely have a down year, they consistently get the talent to field a competitive team and usually are far above the competition in their geographic area.
I know in today's world and the importance we place on sports that this is common everywhere. Was this always the trend or has it become more prevalent recently? Your thoughts and opinions are appreciated.
He said it hurt the team but because his son was on the fringe of not getting much playing time it worked out okay for him. The school the players went to is a consistent powerhouse in their area. The school his son isn't bad, they do make playoffs but aren't strong every year.
It made me think, how often does this happen not just in Florida but other places. I've heard from friends that live in the Martinsburg area that players from surrounding schools choose to play at Martinsburg because of their program. If you look at scores nobody in their area competes with them, not even close.
I have relatives in the Calrksburg area and they say for years the same thing happened at Bridgeport, which until recently was a consistent powerhouse in that area and in class AA in WV.
I am not claiming that schools recruit, I don't think they need to. I think that parents make these decisions and it probably goes on at levels below high school too. But what would happen if players stayed at the schools they could or should attend?
If players didn't move around would it provide more balance year in and year out for local football in these areas. Of course teams have years in which they are strong but many of these programs rarely have a down year, they consistently get the talent to field a competitive team and usually are far above the competition in their geographic area.
I know in today's world and the importance we place on sports that this is common everywhere. Was this always the trend or has it become more prevalent recently? Your thoughts and opinions are appreciated.
