St. James
- Thread starter BoKnowsSports
- Start date
So is it correct that this place has never fielded a football team as of yet? Is it a school? What teams would they end up playing?
It's a huge sports complex with an indoor football field. Hosts a ton of youth and high school events in a number of sports. They are trying to start up programs where kids do online learning part of the day and then train the rest of the time. Probably the facilities don't bring in much money during school hours and this is a way to change that. They also hired prominent coaches to run girls basketball and track & field. I think it's tough to make this work for football but we'll see.
Trying out for what? Their website doesn't have any kind of tryouts posted. Was it invite only? Many teams use that facility. Was it something to do with that?
Heard he’s pissing a lot of DMV coaches off right now…just know that PME pipeline is about to have that program up.
So they’re attempting to create an IMG of sorts at St James, just without the on campus housing as well as established credentials that IMG already possesses
Why would anyone get mad or expect him to do anything different than he has always done?
Nothing different than what he's always done. Only now it's legal. Personally, I'd like to see him take a public school that has been struggling and build it up from within, without the recruiting. Just take what players that are already there. To me, that's the sign of a good coach. Anyone can go and create an all star team and look good doing so.
He doesn't have the ability or the inclination to do that.
Yea this gonna be very interesting moving forward. What's interesting is most of the kids lining up to play for them would most likely get offers at their home school. So I wonder what make it such an attractive thing for already established kids.
I've seen many kids get promised this or that and transfer for "better opportunities ", yet they end up going to lesser schools than the kids who stayed "home". Or in some cases, don't even play in college at all. The coaches that do this can claim they care about the kids, but in the grand scheme of things, they only care about boosting their own ego and win loss record and are trying to live their past through kids
The thing is Overton has a very successful youth organization that he pulls his kids from. A lot of hate for coaching the kids he has had in his program some as early as 6 years old. PME might be a top 10 program nationally right now and that’s no exaggeration…he should do very well at St James. I’ll be rooting for them for sure. Keep creating a way for kids to get better exposure and opportunities. I know what they do for them kids off the field…it’s bigger than Friday and Saturday.
Though I don’t necessarily agree with some of the social media antics (they’ve cleaned it up), the stats ain’t lying. He’s been sending kids to lots of places and let’s talk about his retention rates cause these kids are seeing the field early and staying and competing at high level places.
True, but the recruiting has ramped up a notch from what I have heard. And now he can do it legally. If what Bo said at the beginning of this thread is true, that there were 150 kids trying out, then there are going to be a lot of disappointed players. Maybe 60-70 make the team, but how many of those see the field most of the time? 30-35 or so? Some kids who might have been starters or stars at their public school are not going to get nearly as much playing time and possibly not much at all. But if that is their choice, so be it.
I'm 38 but I'd say kids want attention, exposure and they want to win these days. If I play for my neighborhood school, I might not make it out of the region. I go join a private school all star team. I'm going to play a national schedule and probably put the beats on any local competition. Overton has everyone's attention, even those hoping he fails. So kids know folks are going to be watching and they'll get exposure with him.
I respect Overton for the work he puts in, getting the most out of the kids and getting them to the next level. I wasn't a fan of how he got all the talent into publics but his current situation is exactly where he should have been from the start. He can pipeline the PME youth program right to the St James and they are going to be St Francis of Virginia real soon IMO.
I believe kids want discipline, consistency, and a strong leader...in the classroom and on the playing fields. When that isn't present, they start doing stuff on their own and you have problems that the admin try to fix by using "rules" that don't work.
Not sure what you mean by putting "team" in quotes, but I meant playing for St James. Why would players even go there (attend and pay the high fees, which I heard were $15k/year) if it was only for workouts and camps? I am assuming St James will form a team of some sort which is exactly why they have started up their football program. As to a schedule I have no idea.
They crave it. They’ll never say it, but when you provide it they love it.
This is correct. They initially resist it, but most kids thrive on it once introduced to someone who implements it consistently. This is not very different from 25-30 years ago. Think about it. Did you jump right into your work diligently when a substitute teacher was there instead of your regular teacher? Nope, because your default setting was to take advantage and be lazy.
Of course, they also need to trust that the person running things cares about them beyond winning. And kids in 2025 absolutely won’t quietly work hard for a bigot; they know better. You see a lot of “kids ain’t like they used to be” from coaches who wear their ignorance on their sleeve. Nah, most kids just recognize racism etc when they see it and they reject it.
Of course, they also need to trust that the person running things cares about them beyond winning. And kids in 2025 absolutely won’t quietly work hard for a bigot; they know better. You see a lot of “kids ain’t like they used to be” from coaches who wear their ignorance on their sleeve. Nah, most kids just recognize racism etc when they see it and they reject it.
Always funny hearing adults bemoan modern day children with the stark ignorance that their parents did the same to them. We have records from two thousand years ago where idiot adults say the equivalent of "kids these days...". Turns out that adults crying and complaining about children is just what crotchety old fools do to pass the time until the Reaper claims them.
Kids finally woke up to the reality that few adults are worth respecting and even fewer are worth trusting. If kids fail, it's because the adults failed them. Simple as.
Kids finally woke up to the reality that few adults are worth respecting and even fewer are worth trusting. If kids fail, it's because the adults failed them. Simple as.
Kids definitely not the problem…adults are the problem. I taught/coached for a while. Two most idiotic statements you hear all the time are “pick your battles” and “it is what it is”. Everything is a battle….and it is what you make it.
