Minerva Football

[Lion 86]

Honestly, I think too many schools look at a new league as the solution for their problems when over time the best option might just be staying in the league.

I'll give you an old school example. In 1987 the Senate League consisted of the following schools:

Carrollton
Minerva
Claymont
Tuslaw
Tusky Valley
Sandy Valley
East Canton
Lake

Lake had outgrown the league and left to join the Federal League. The league replaced Lake with Dover for two years but after 1989 the league broke up to create the core two new leagues. The larger schools became the NBC and the smaller schools became the PAC-7.

But what if they hadn't broken up and stayed together? If you kept the 1987 membership you'd have a league of

Claymont - 238
Carrollton - 225
Minerva - 239
Tuslaw - 174
Sandy Valley - 168
Tusky Valley - 144
East Canton - 124

That's the basis of a pretty good league. East Canton is a little small but everyone else is in the same range. Tusky Valley is in a stage where they have historically low boy enrollment but their girls are at 173.

Now, even if East Canton bailed out you still have a core of six teams with some great options to add.

Canton South - 232
Fairless - 210
Indian Valley - 222

Obviously you can't go back in time but if the old Senate League had stayed together you'd have a nice league today.

Excellent point! , really seems like this league would be a fit. History repeating itself. Thanks for posting this as it is a very interesting perspective.

 

[Lion 86]

Honestly, I think too many schools look at a new league as the solution for their problems when over time the best option might just be staying in the league.

I'll give you an old school example. In 1987 the Senate League consisted of the following schools:

Carrollton
Minerva
Claymont
Tuslaw
Tusky Valley
Sandy Valley
East Canton
Lake

Lake had outgrown the league and left to join the Federal League. The league replaced Lake with Dover for two years but after 1989 the league broke up to create the core two new leagues. The larger schools became the NBC and the smaller schools became the PAC-7.

But what if they hadn't broken up and stayed together? If you kept the 1987 membership you'd have a league of

Claymont - 238
Carrollton - 225
Minerva - 239
Tuslaw - 174
Sandy Valley - 168
Tusky Valley - 144
East Canton - 124

That's the basis of a pretty good league. East Canton is a little small but everyone else is in the same range. Tusky Valley is in a stage where they have historically low boy enrollment but their girls are at 173.

Now, even if East Canton bailed out you still have a core of six teams with some great options to add.

Canton South - 232
Fairless - 210
Indian Valley - 222

Obviously you can't go back in time but if the old Senate League had stayed together you'd have a nice league today.

Also take Lake away and add Malvern, this is a solid program for D7 plus very local. They would have beat us in football this year and a lot in the past years plus they seem to have our number a lot in basketball.

 

[Spread All Day]

I like the IVC Large school with Claymont, Indian Valley.....

And after a couple of years, when the program gets a little better they can come right back

 

[Lion 86]

This is what bothers me the most 1988. Carrollton, Canton South, Salem and WB all got better. We have the exact same team as we had last year but have gotten worse.

No one expected an undefeated season but I think it’s reasonable to expect we’d field a competitive team on a weekly basis. The talent level is not that bad to lead to blowouts week after week. We have gotten worse.

I’m not someone who is going to put all the blame on the coaching staff, however, I think it is fair to criticize them. The product on the field is abysmal and has only gotten worse since the beginning of the season. The mark of a good coach is the ability to make gains and improve from one day to the next and from the beginning of the season to the end.

Yeah and we seem to not address this issue

And after a couple of years, when the program gets a little better they can come right back

More like several years. I don’t know if Minerva’s numbers for football will ever increase much even if we would start a winning streak, I think it’s just where we are with the sport in general. I see the enrollment decreasing some also in the future so I think what you see now for numbers is what you get. I do believe though that a change would be good for the program and more kids would play if they see a chance to win. Just to schedule a OOC that is more in line with our program is not the answer. It starts with a change in league, then evaluate the staff and HC.

 

[Bull GreenDog]

I feel like if a team wins one league game in six years they need to change leagues. No way around it. I hope Minerva finds a fit that's right for them.

 

[TriangleMan]

Great point! This would be a very competitive league with relatively short travel, which is important when it comes to jr hi.

Maybe we need to stop having every junior high, and in some areas the middle schools, affiliated with their "big brother's" league so we don't have to worry about the effect of school proximity on the lower levels. They should be scheduling games against other junior highs in their area, not having to worry about travelling 'X' miles like their high school does because it's a 'conference game'.

Do junior highs actually hang league/conference championship banners?

 

[Starkcountylegend]

Minerva needs a re-set, if were only looking at football, you cannot keep trotting out teams that win 0 to 1 game a year, and expect the feeder program to excel. Sometimes. it's best for a school that is in a huge rut, to go the Independent route for a couple of years, pick and choose whom you will play, get some wins by dumbing down the schedule. Of course, Minerva would never survive as an Indy team, but it buys them time to find a league.