Northside JV cancels game with Salem

[mike salem]

Salem had filled it's schedule last week by adding Lord Botetourt. (Both teams had openings due to not playing WV JV teams Bluefield or Martinsburg)

The reason for the thread isn't really to discuss JV, but just sad to see the number of players for a good program like Northside to decline enough to have to drop a game. (I heard they had dropped a game previously) This seems to be an alarming trend across the state, and I assume the country.

 

[mvwarrior]

Salem had filled it's schedule last week by adding Lord Botetourt. (Both teams had openings due to not playing WV JV teams Bluefield or Martinsburg)

The reason for the thread isn't really to discuss JV, but just sad to see the number of players for a good program like Northside to decline enough to have to drop a game. (I heard they had dropped a game previously) This seems to be an alarming trend across the state, and I assume the country.

You right Mike...it appears that is happening more and more...the piedmont has seen that in baseball also with declining numbers of kids wanting to participate. I think GW had to drop baseball if I'm not mistaken a couple years ago due to not enough players. Martinsville Varsity football a year or so ago I think fielded only 16 players (not sure if that number is accurate but I know it was low).
What do you think the trend is here in football? Concussions? Lack of motivation? Kids wanting to play these video games instead of physical interaction? It's is a sad trend regardless!
Coach Favero here in Ridgeway does a fantastic job of getting in the kids lives and motivating them to be part of something special! But I guess sometimes the parents step in in cases and say that their child isn't going to play because of all the media attention due to concussions and association to CTE. I have a young nephew that is a top athlete and is getting recruited in another sport at MV but his parents nor himself want to play football due to possible injury.

 

[martinsvillebulldog]

Man that's crazy! A top program like Northside having issues, William Byrd didn't even have a JV last year and their varsity is suffering this year! Buncha other programs in VA ain't even have a team this year! Crazy thing is Football aint even the most dangerous sport! Check out this link...
https://www.iii.org/table-archive/21160
Says that exercise equipment, and basketball cause more injuries every year! And playgrounds ain't far behind Football!! LOL. We gonna quit going to the gym and letting kids play on the jungle gym! LOL

 

[Scarlett_Grey]

Kids are getting soft and are more accustomed to sitting indoors playing video games, watching Netfilx, or youtube on their phones. Another reason for declining numbers, in my opinion, is that in youth leagues every kid plays, but when you get to JV and varsity, not everyone is going to play and kids/parents can't handle that and quit. Another biggie is AAU/travel teams in other sports and coaches convincing kids they have a collegiate future in that sport and these coaches convince kids that they need to focus on one sport...basketball and baseball are great examples.

 

[btowenatc]

Kids are getting soft and are more accustomed to sitting indoors playing video games, watching Netfilx, or youtube on their phones. Another reason for declining numbers, in my opinion, is that in youth leagues every kid plays, but when you get to JV and varsity, not everyone is going to play and kids/parents can't handle that and quit. Another biggie is AAU/travel teams in other sports and coaches convincing kids they have a collegiate future in that sport and these coaches convince kids that they need to focus on one sport...basketball and baseball are great examples.

Spot on. Kids would rather sit in AC instead of playing a sport that requires mental toughness and hard work. The wrestling team at GW has also taken a huge hit, kids simply don't want to compete and work hard anymore and parents are cool with that I guess.

 

[mike salem]

You right Mike...it appears that is happening more and more...the piedmont has seen that in baseball also with declining numbers of kids wanting to participate. I think GW had to drop baseball if I'm not mistaken a couple years ago due to not enough players. Martinsville Varsity football a year or so ago I think fielded only 16 players (not sure if that number is accurate but I know it was low).
What do you think the trend is here in football? Concussions? Lack of motivation? Kids wanting to play these video games instead of physical interaction? It's is a sad trend regardless!
Coach Favero here in Ridgeway does a fantastic job of getting in the kids lives and motivating them to be part of something special! But I guess sometimes the parents step in in cases and say that their child isn't going to play because of all the media attention due to concussions and association to CTE. I have a young nephew that is a top athlete and is getting recruited in another sport at MV but his parents nor himself want to play football due to possible injury.

I think it's a combination of the factors listed. There are so many options for kids these days. I chose not to play because I was more interested in girls. So I got a job, so I could get a car, so I could get a girl!

 

[Bfootball08]

I think it's a combination of the factors listed. There are so many options for kids these days. I chose not to play because I was more interested in girls. So I got a job, so I could get a car, so I could get a girl!

Nailed that one Mike! Lol

 

[ShadesMcgrades]

Bassett only has 3 players on golf team and Martinsville only 1. Millennials just don’t seam that interested in sports anymore. Stair at there iPhone for hours and hours.

 

[1MoreHokie]

Listen, if you actually had players when you played that weighed more than 180 pounds and did actual off-season training not just a set of squats and some curls before sneaking out back to smoke, you'd have had the same concussion issues these kids have and numbers would have trailed off earlier in the sport. You didn't play against 6'1 220lb RBs and 245lb LBs, 300+lb OL/DL and bang helmets with them all season. Force equals mass times acceleration. When you played your teams were scrawny and slow, these kids are jacked and fast which means the hits are nastier and so are the resulting injuries. You know why kids tear ACLs more than they did when you played? It's not because their knees are "soft", it's because evolution didn't design the knee to cut on a dime while carrying 215 lbs on it. Well guess what, our brains aren't designed to do ping pong inside our skull either.

This is a totally different game than when you played and anyone here who says otherwise is a liar and they know it. There are kids in college, not even pros but college, who now have CTE and have killed themselves because their brains became scrambled before they were even 22 which means the CTE developed IN HIGH SCHOOL. It is a FAR more dangerous sport than it was 30, 40, 50+ years ago and every single goddamn metric bears that out.

But sure, kids are "soft" because they want to remember what a toaster does when they're 35. It's bizarre that none of you can seem to take off your rose-colored glasses and see that your football and their football are completely different. Christ, don't even look at HS look at the pros. Do you have any idea how badly the Steelers of the 70s would be trounced by any random current NFL team? The 1972 Steelers OL and DL weighed an average of 250 pounds, how many of our team's high school lines are bigger?

 

[gweagles1]

Bassett only has 3 players on golf team and Martinsville only 1. Millennials just don’t seam that interested in sports anymore. Stair at there iPhone for hours and hours.

These kids aren’t millennials btw. They are Gen Z. I think the youngest millennials are 22/23 now and we did not act anything like this.

 

[1MoreHokie]

Actually read this article, don't skim it but actually read it and quit posting anecdotal nonsense as evidence of trends. A school not having as many kids playing golf doesn't mean "Millennials" are "on their iPhones".

https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...-sports-participation-drops-first-time-years/

 

[1MoreHokie]

Oh and in case you didn't read, which I'm sure will be most of you, it has the following neat tidbit:

"Consider that in 1988, only 1.84 million students participated in high school sports. That number has since increased by more than 300 percent."

The population of the US in 1988 was 244 million people. The population in 2019 is 329 million, or 35% larger than 1988. 35% bigger population, 300% more kids in high school sports.

That, to help you out, means YOUR generation were the lazy kids who didn't play sports. Boomers and Xers can't even come close to matching sports participation by Millennials or gen Z in high school.

 

[VHSL-helper]

yep... OUR generation was just too dang lazy to go out there and play varsity badminton, archery, fencing, bass fishing or ultimate frisbee.
But that doesn't mean we didn't whip out our rods and shuttlecocks on the weekends.

 

[mvwarrior]

yep... OUR generation was just too dang lazy to go out there and play varsity badminton, archery, fencing, bass fishing or ultimate frisbee.
But that doesn't mean we didn't whip out our rods and shuttlecocks on the weekends.

Shuttlecocks...that's funny as hades! Bout spit my drink out!

 

[fgmtifolluf]

Just to be devil's advocate here - there are a lot more opportunities for kids to play sports now and now there are more opportunities for girls to compete in varsity sports.

 

[bowlingref]

Golf courses,bowling centers and lots of other sports venues are closing every year in the US. The declining numbers for high school sports and adult sports is unreal. A few years ago we had a 40 team bowling league here in Lynchburg. We also had a waiting list for teams to get on the league. This year we are down to 16 teams. One night last year on 4 adjoining lanes there was 20 bowlers. All of us are retired and I was the youngest there at 66. You look around and wonder where are all the kids. They are not there. This type of reduced participation is happening in a lot of adult sports. Trying to figure out why high school kids are not playing might reflect the old saying, kids learn what they live.
The local high school officials association is hurting big time for officials. Like a previous poster said, we are all setting at home on a video game or Va.Preps complaining about nobody playing sports.

 

[moto138]

Adult sports and such are being hurt by corporations. Now days too many people are doing multiple work loads for no extra money, or like myself your working 72 hours a week. Not much time or energy left to do much more.

 

[bowlingref]

Adult sports and such are being hurt by corporations. Now days too many people are doing multiple work loads for no extra money, or like myself your working 72 hours a week. Not much time or energy left to do much more.

I worked 12 hour rotating shifts for 45 years. All kinds of overtime. I still found time to referee and bowl and do lots of other things.

 

[moto138]

I worked 12 hour rotating shifts for 45 years. All kinds of overtime. I still found time to referee and bowl and do lots of other things.

I allways found time to assist my daughters in their activities, swimming, cheerleading, band. Being a industrial millwright i never for 40 years know when i may be getting off from work or having to goto work in the middle of the night.

 

[ClarkeFan83]

yep... OUR generation was just too dang lazy to go out there and play varsity badminton, archery, fencing, bass fishing or ultimate frisbee.
But that doesn't mean we didn't whip out our rods and shuttlecocks on the weekends.

You owe me a new keyboard, just spit out my soda!!!

 

[bowlingref]

I allways found time to assist my daughters in their activities, swimming, cheerleading, band. Being a industrial millwright i never for 40 years know when i may be getting off from work or having to goto work in the middle of the night.

You might work in a paper mill. I went thru the same deal only I was in production and got tons of the middle of the night calls.

 

[ClarkeFan83]

You might work in a paper mill. I went thru the same deal only I was in production and got tons of the middle of the night calls.

I worked the 4 pm to midnight shift in a brickyard, had to stay another shift if my relief didn't show up. Filthiest, hottest, crappiest job I ever had. Forced me to realize what I didn't want to do for the rest of my life. Straightened my ass out.

 

[ClarkeFan83]

I think it's a combination of the factors listed. There are so many options for kids these days. I chose not to play because I was more interested in girls. So I got a job, so I could get a car, so I could get a girl!

My parents forced us to play soccer in Spring and Fall, Swim Team in the Summer. I think the lack of participation in youth sports rests solely on the parents who don't force their kids to participate in an activity. You don't have to be good at it, just do something. As a soccer goalie, nobody ever scored a penalty kick on me in my career of over 7 years. Didn't play HS team sports, just did youth league sports. I was pretty good at swimming too, had a couple of team records for a little while. I went skiing in the winter a lot, did intramural sports in college. I played football in 7th grade and got my shoulder hurt in a game, parents wouldn't let me play that anymore. I loved playing football though.

 

[moto138]

You might work in a paper mill. I went thru the same deal only I was in production and got tons of the middle of the night calls.

Yup, im at the paper mill.

 

[VHSL-helper]

And when I flung that rod, you betcha I had those rubbers on, too!

 

[moto138]

Hip waders im sure. Lol

 

[FoxesPride]

I think it's a combination of the factors listed. There are so many options for kids these days. I chose not to play because I was more interested in girls. So I got a job, so I could get a car, so I could get a girl!

When I played HS football in Florida in the 80s you had to play football to get the girl!

 

[bowlingref]

basketball got the girls for me in the late 60's early 70's.