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Post by Split50 on Oct 17, 2008 5:13:32 GMT -6
While visiting the state of New York, I had the opportunity to attend a high school football game played between two teams that would be the equivilant of medium to large AAA schools in Texas, enrollments of 750 to 850 students. It was a unique experience to say the least.
I don't mean this as a condemnation of HS football in NY, but just pointing out the differences in games.
The game was in a nice, new stadium, but had seating on only one side. There was maybe 200 people in the stands. Visitors were sitting in lawn chairs behind their team, or standing along the fence. There was no admission charge, only a donation jar. There was no field house; the teams went to different parts of the field at halftime. The only concession stand was a tent set up on the track next to the fence.
The home team had cheerleaders and seemed to have a band, but I never saw them perform. The visitors had no cheerleaders or band present.
The game was at 2:30 Saturday afternoon. The home team played the next week at 1:30 Sat., but Texas-Oklahoma kept me away from that game.
I spoke with a school administrator and learned that some of the coaches are school employees, but most of the staff were not. One team the head coach was a school employee, but not so for the other team.
BTW, these were public schools. This was also my first experience with a school district that was "Union Free School District of the ......"
I am not trying to upset anyone with this post. I just thought it was interesting to see the differences between the two states.
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Post by splitricky5 on Oct 17, 2008 6:20:49 GMT -6
That sounds like a JV game!! Wow. Glad I coach in Ohio (at a great district. May have just been the district--hopefully not a state-wide problem).
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Post by wingtol on Oct 17, 2008 6:26:40 GMT -6
Welcome to HS football for most of the country. Not all states get behind it like some of the hot beds for football, not everyone plays before 10,000 people every Fri night. States like Texas where they spend Millions on HS teams are the exception not the norm for most of us out there.
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Post by olinecoach61 on Oct 17, 2008 6:32:57 GMT -6
Not suprising. I coach in CT and there is a large difference in the quality and atmosphere of high school football here depending on where you go. I used to coach for a perrenial contender with a great tradition, huge stadium, our own field house and big crowds on Friday nights. Now I've moved an hour away and we play on Saturday afternoon with about 100 - 200 people in attendance on an average day. Our program is only 8 years old, we don't have lights yet, our league schedule changes every year so its hard to get rivalry juices going, there are lots of reasons. But in CT there are definitely different attitudes regarding hs football in different areas of the state.
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Post by Split50 on Oct 17, 2008 7:10:54 GMT -6
As I stated, I wasn't trying to ruffle any feathers, just making an observation.
Oline, I was told that NY realigns every year, as well.
This stadium did not have lights either.
BTW, we visited your great state as well. We spent some time in the Litschfield area. It was very beautiful.
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Post by jgordon1 on Oct 17, 2008 7:33:17 GMT -6
I used to coach in Massachusetts (Cape Cod) our press box was literally a shipping container with some seats on top. we played by NCAA rules, one week they lined the field up in 1/3's. nobody (except me) even noticed. including the hc. One year, we had homecoming and the football team play AWAY (The soccer team was a state contender). not surprising since ma is a socialist state
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Post by ccscoach on Oct 17, 2008 7:57:16 GMT -6
What part of New York??? Most schools in our section(binghamton area) have lights and football is taken fairly seriously.
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Post by bubbajack on Oct 17, 2008 8:26:36 GMT -6
In NY a "Union Free" school district does not mean that district does not have unions. I used to think the same until I spoke to a Superintendent from a "Union Free" district. Union free districts are usually smaller districts that represent only one community/town/village/etc. and does not include many communities/towns/villages/etc. to form a larger district. Other districts are "central" school districts and those school districts include many communities/towns/villages/etc. Or "city" school districts that represents the city. Hope that helps. BTW Comparing NY and TX HS football experience is like comparing a Yankee game to a Corpus Christi Hooks game.  |
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Post by assistantcoachp on Oct 17, 2008 9:25:22 GMT -6
I believe I can shed some light on this topic. I grew up in New York City and played HS ball for a New York City Public school in the mid 90's.
We played all of our games on Saturday afternoon around 1pm. Back then the PSAL (Public School Athletic League) didn't have any night games, which meant no Public HS in New York City played under the lights. Typically crowds ranged from 100-200 depending on the opposing team.
Football takes on a much different look than the rest of the country. My take on it is this. Although they're are good players that come out of New York, it has never been a hot bed of talent because there aren't any major D-1 football programs in the New York Tri-state area. You can make a case for Syracuse, but Syracuse might as well be in Canada to kids in NYC. Rutgers has been a doormat until recently, same for UConn, and jeez don't tell me about Temple.
New York is not a heavily recruited area because schools in the SEC, PAC-10, etc won't go that far to recruit when they could get the same caliber talent in their own backyard, unless you were a can't miss prospect.
NYC has always been a basketball town. Another problem is kids in NYC traditionally have not been academically sound, which would not enable them to be eligible for a D-1 scholarship anyway.
There are more factors but my fingers are kinda tired from typing so I'll stop here and leave room for you guys to concur or disagree and we'll have a running discussion from that point.
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Post by Split50 on Oct 17, 2008 9:51:14 GMT -6
ccscoach,
I was in the Tarrytown area. The school was Sleepy Hollow.
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Post by jgordon1 on Oct 17, 2008 10:03:44 GMT -6
When I was a D1aa guy we took a bunch of kids from NYC. we always did very well because we had a goomba (his words) that grew up in NYC so he knew his way around. we also had a good connection to Nassau CC
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Post by bruincoach on Oct 17, 2008 10:14:41 GMT -6
I believe I can shed some light on this topic. I grew up in New York City and played HS ball for a New York City Public school in the mid 90's. We played all of our games on Saturday afternoon around 1pm. Back then the PSAL (Public School Athletic League) didn't have any night games, which meant no Public HS in New York City played under the lights. Typically crowds ranged from 100-200 depending on the opposing team. Football takes on a much different look than the rest of the country. My take on it is this. Although they're are good players that come out of New York, it has never been a hot bed of talent because there aren't any major D-1 football programs in the New York Tri-state area. You can make a case for Syracuse, but Syracuse might as well be in Canada to kids in NYC. Rutgers has been a doormat until recently, same for UConn, and jeez don't tell me about Temple. New York is not a heavily recruited area because schools in the SEC, PAC-10, etc won't go that far to recruit when they could get the same caliber talent in their own backyard, unless you were a can't miss prospect. NYC has always been a basketball town. Another problem is kids in NYC traditionally have not been academically sound, which would not enable them to be eligible for a D-1 scholarship anyway. There are more factors but my fingers are kinda tired from typing so I'll stop here and leave room for you guys to concur or disagree and we'll have a running discussion from that point. I totally agree with you coach! I played HS football in NYC as well but in the late 80s. |
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Post by tye2021 on Oct 17, 2008 11:29:17 GMT -6
I currently live in the Syracuse area. (not coaching) In this area football is more popular than it is in NYC. Its still no where near as big as Texas and Florida and the focus is on Syracuse Univ, not the highschools in the area.
In Texas and Florida, and more so in Teaxs, its not just the students, faculty and parents that attend the game but also the communities seem to follow the highschools they attended, go to the games and support the team. Whereas in the rest of the country most of the people in the stands are the students, faculty and current parents of the players.
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Post by tye2021 on Oct 17, 2008 11:30:50 GMT -6
And not all students and faculty memebers attend games.
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Post by 910coach on Oct 17, 2008 12:07:04 GMT -6
I have played football in the Section One area of NY and most of the people in the stands for games were students, teachers and parents.The only time I saw the stands packed where when we played our rivals on Thanksgiving. I have coached in North Carolina where the community was more involved in coming to football games. I always felt that there are more things for people to do in the section one area and football is not a top priority. People down south take there football seriously.
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Post by ccscoach on Oct 17, 2008 16:32:13 GMT -6
I have played football in the Section One area of NY and most of the people in the stands for games were students, teachers and parents.The only time I saw the stands packed where when we played our rivals on Thanksgiving. I have coached in North Carolina where the community was more involved in coming to football games. I always felt that there are more things for people to do in the section one area and football is not a top priority. People down south take there football seriously. Bingo up state there is less to do so must be more people come out. I'm not saying that it is down south or the midwest but its not as terrible as people make it out to be. Section 3,4,5, and 6 all generally have good football followings. |
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