Football In MS

When you take a look at the roster; yes Covid helped. Then factor in all the crazy sideline rules they tried to enforce with contact tracking and distancing… yeah

I remember that Horn Lake game. And I believe that was chalked up as more of a socioeconomic thing than a fan interest thing.

Fans get tired of a going to away games for a month in a row. So they pick only a couple instead of attending them all

Right - which is why I said 2 games on Saturday (anytime). And I have a hard time seeing any 4A fan base outnumbering Gulfport, Tupelo, Starkville, Brandon, Oxford… There’s a reason those schools are 7A. Higher student population = higher attendance at championship games

Ref calls and no-calls, combined with sideline interference (that was also no-called)

GC beat OG during Covid when they had recruits from 3 districts all converge for 1 season… didn’t have to contact trace like the public schools did and even still they had to use some questionable tactics to beat OG. That 1 example is not a great one if you’re trying to show that private schools “can compete” with public schools on a regular basis

A month in a row of no home games is suckish. Long stints of every weekend at home followed by long stints of away does very little for fan engagement

5, 6, 7 A should always be: one on Friday night and 2 on Saturday (anytime) simply to help with the volume of people in and out of the venue. Then let the other 4 classes rotate in the other open spots on Thursday/Friday/Saturday. Planning this way - with fans travel in mind & making the experience the best it can be for the largest volume of people should be a priority. Not to mention the fact that the host town will do better economically when large fan bases come and stay.

Right. Never said otherwise.

That would be wild. I mean I can see the reasoning - whether or not I personally agree. But it’ll likely cost a reasonably good R1 team a shot in playoffs whereas the same team in R2 would’ve probably gone into playoffs as a 3 seed instead of not going at all. I still think that the overall Top 4 teams in the North and South are unlikely to change. But still. The goal is always to play post season. And there will be legit teams who don’t get that opportunity in a 7-5-5-7 setup.

Tupelo & Oxford usually trade out in regions 1 & 2. But this breakdown puts them both solidly in 2. And with the recent rise of Germantown, you take a district whose Top 4 were always the same and throw those feathers up in the air to just shift and scatter. It’s a very different look.

Would hate to be in Region 2 7A. dang that’s a tough one

Schools don’t provide them Boosters do… as long as you play their kid

Private school pay is poor - which is why we see so many teachers retire from public and then go teach private once they have full state retirement and benefits. On paper, coaches probably make less than in reality… once the boosters handle vehicles, additional stipends and such.

Median household income for MS families is approx $55k

Low performers are low performers regardless who is in charge. All involved should be held accountable at the highest level. Without accountability, nothing else matters.

Proper funding, adequate facilities, consolidation of small districts and legitimate teacher pay would be a good start.

Hodge is likely implicated in whatever is about to happen to JA and is getting out ahead of it. Literally.

There have been so many versions of this through the years. All asking for the public taxpayer to send money to private schools. It’s just not going to happen in our state. Especially when results in other states are coming back really bad. Speaker White and the Gov engaging in name calling doesn’t sit well and will not be quickly forgotten. Vouchers are a no-go in MS.

So that would mean 81 schools available to play in a “private school” league away from the AHSAA? Definitely sounds like more than enough for a good, competitive league

24 north half and 24 south half is a good showing. That’s 4 regions of 6 schools each - which is the exact same number of schools as in one section of an MHSAA classification. AND doing this means they’d all be playing by the same (private school) rules. So, looks pretty fair to me. No way they’d face nearly as much disparity in numbers than our Top 7A school and bottom 7A school. So it’s definitely doable.

What am I missing here? AHSAA doesn’t want them. They have ample ability (and funding) to create their own association. They’re not bound by the same rules as public schools. So what’s the problem? Why do they want so badly to be accepted by a system who has said they’re no longer welcome? It’s time to end the relationship. Why are these private schools begging to be in a system who doesn’t want them?

It’s staggering how many (male) coaches do exactly this. Coach football, baseball or basketball one period a day and then are ‘assigned’ other classes on paper… that they don’t actually teach. While getting full time teacher pay. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. But to be clear, I’ve only seen this with males (usually those at larger, competitive schools). Female teachers who also coach softball or cheer or basketball don’t get this same treatment.

Idk how they can win a lawsuit on this. It would seem beyond frivolous to beg AHSAA for membership & simultaneously say ‘we’re not gonna follow your transfer rules because we’re private.’ Can’t have it both ways. But private schools want it both ways. And that’s why private schools are mad.