Speaking of low numbers....

Numbers are way down a the school as a whole.  Lots of factors here not just "football is scary"

We have 8 freshman and 48 total so I'd be thrilled to have their numbers

Many, many moons ago...(when I was just a baby coach)...most schools around here had a Varsity squad and then a "B" (sophomore) and "C" (freshman) team.

In the late '60's and into the 70's, JV teams were invented because schools were getting upwards of 200 kids out for football and they needed something for them to do. They played the Varsity 2nd string and subs against this week's opponent's 2nd string and subs...called them Junior Varsity. There were enough kids to go around and schools, coaches, and parents wanted to see little Johnny play.

Just 10 years ago our school had a Frosh, Soph, and a JV team...as well as a Varsity. Not anymore.

I think those days are gone. I don't ever expect to see 80 guys on a squad again. In 2006 we had 102 sophomores come out for the JV squad! No lie. Also, no longer.

BTW...the crowds are getting smaller, too. In SoCal there's a High School on every corner.

I think, too, it has a lot to do with the caliber of athletes we see on the field. In the past, the kids were mainly technicians and occasionally you'd come up with a kid who had genuine athletic ability.

The regular local boys from the neighborhood were full of "school spirit" and just wanted to play something after school. Now we see guys who are D1 prospects when they're Juniors.

The "average" kid of days gone by thinks he doesn't have a chance of playing since he's behind a kid who has a 48" vertical leap, runs the 100 in 8 flat, and has fangs. And...he's correct! So, they play Basketball or LaCrosse...run track, specialize in Baseball, and (horror of horrors) soccer.

I guess the definition of JV is different everywhere. Our JV is typically 9-10 with some Jr's and soup sandwich Sr's playing. So hearing there is no JV team for them but still a 9-10 team doesn't make sense to me or most programs in this area since it's either Varsity or JV with the very rare freshman team in some places.

Two big reasons for lower numbers in our state:

Declining enrollment (especially in urban areas) and Pay to Play.

Is anyone experiencing level numbers or increasing numbers? We were at 50 last year and we have 50 this year. Freshman class is down a bit only 10 but our JR high (7th and 8th) combined have 40 20 a piece. This is a single A school. Anyone staying consistent or increasing? Or is it all doom and gloom everywhere?

I have 42 on JV this year. Normally it's around 55. Frosh are about the same, and our 8th grade numbers were also slightly down. I know I definitely have no right to complain here, as I'm in a good situation compared to probably most guys.

I know Macomb Dakotas numbers are actually up.

The numbers are up at my old place a little bit, a big part of that is the last graduating class only had like 12 seniors and the current senior class is closer to 40. I regard both as outliers, typical is more like high 20s low 30s for a senior class. But I'm guessing it's more a product of population growth in our city as much as anything. Everybody's numbers seem to be up slightly.

1198 with about 51% male.

They literally have one of the best football programs in the state no more than 200 yards from their front door.

Their numbers have been going down drastically over the years

Just talked with a HC that I coached with a few years ago. He's in one of the more competitive leagues in the NorCal area (EBAL) and we talked about numbers.

His school has 2,300 students. They just cut their JV 2 days ago and have gone Fr/So and varsity. They had 22 Frosh, 20 JV, and 47 varsity. This years Junior class had 55 frosh, says there are 24 left from that class.

Another team in their league has 22 frosh, 20 JV, 44 varsity, but they have no intention of cutting anything.

Another team in the league has 54 varsity, but usually carries 65+.

One of the upper tier smaller schools just dropped their JV and has frosh and varsity.

Another team at a large, 2k+ school, has 27 varsity.

LBP had 4464 per recent assessment by US New and World Report, 5090 in 2010 per Wikipedia.

My issue with Long Beach Poly is the fact that they hired Antonio Pierce in the first place. I even made a comment about it on this board. Hiring a former NFL player," whose full time job is at ESPN and who openly said he will be there when he can is a slap in the face to so many qualified HS coaches in SoCal who are far more qualified. The Jack Rabbits went with the splash hire and cared more about style than substance. I cannot confirm nor deny the hiring is the reason for their low numbers, but why wouldn't they hire an actual coach??!!

I was thinking about this too, but from a different angle. How many of you with lower numbers are missing kids that you think would have been key contributors? As I mentioned early, ours are down, but talent hasn't vastly dipped. If anything it's less babysitting going on.

I don't know Antonio Pierce personally, never met him before, and for all I know he could be a tremendous coach. But I can tell you that the name of the game for big time SoCal schools is "Recruiting". Yup, thats right, getting talent to come to your high school. One of the best ways to do this is to hire on a few NFL players as coaches and hope the name sells to parents and kids alike. This doesn't mean that the former players are bad coaches, they could be very good; just that their NFL recognition bring an additional benefit. Once again I don't know about LBP specifically just addressing one of the underlying premises of your point.