I can't Be the only one who has noticed this

[bordertown]

Texas High …. The forgotten school.  I laughed at some of the “power houses” of East Texas …. Redwater???? 

[tomlandry]

18 hours ago, LoboFan07 said:

Hallsville has never competed for a state title, or really been that good. Same for Whitehouse, out of Patrick Mahomes years. Nacogdoches...that's just laughable.

Jacksonville has been hammered by not having the enrollment and/or participation against the higher class teams. Give them a little bit and I think they'll return to being a good team in 4A.

Mount Pleasant is similar to Jacksonville, the participation or lack there of is really hurting them.

Tyler and Tyler Legacy....you'll have to ask the Tyler ISD guys. It makes no sense to me how they're not competing at a higher level than they are.

Lufkin just doesn't have the talent they did in the early 2000s.

D E M O G R A P H I C S 

 

Lots of communities on this list grappling with changing demographics and shifts in community interest. You can substitute football state championship competition for overall football competitiveness. Many of these schools were at least competitive within their pre-district and district records. Hard for folks who remember the good times in these towns to accept times aren't just changing but have totally changed. I am fascinated by how schools will adapt. To me, there is no case study school that schools could use and point to as the winning formula for increased engagement and support. Each of these schools struggle with the cultural and demographic changes. Outside of demographic shifts, cultural changes in schools are present as well. There is less willingness to engage in both academic and athletic school organizations. This lack of engagement is across demographic lines. Many of these schools have students who participate in nothing and cost them when UIL enrollments come due. I'm sure there is a process for changing this trend, but there is no clear example to follow. Time will tell.

[LoboFan07]

52 minutes ago, tomlandry said:

D E M O G R A P H I C S 

 

Lots of communities on this list grappling with changing demographics and shifts in community interest. You can substitute football state championship competition for overall football competitiveness. Many of these schools were at least competitive within their pre-district and district records. Hard for folks who remember the good times in these towns to accept times aren't just changing but have totally changed. I am fascinated by how schools will adapt. To me, there is no case study school that schools could use and point to as the winning formula for increased engagement and support. Each of these schools struggle with the cultural and demographic changes. Outside of demographic shifts, cultural changes in schools are present as well. There is less willingness to engage in both academic and athletic school organizations. This lack of engagement is across demographic lines. Many of these schools have students who participate in nothing and cost them when UIL enrollments come due. I'm sure there is a process for changing this trend, but there is no clear example to follow. Time will tell.

I mean, I definitely understand the demographics stuff but students who participate in nothing? Mount Pleasant for example went from a decently competitive team in football to having a consistent deep playoff team in both basketball and soccer. Sulphur Springs has gone from a state champion in football to having the same consistency in basketball that Mount Pleasant has had.

Hallsville has never been a powerhouse in football, but they've chose to shift away from football and focus more on baseball/softball/volleyball and it almost got them a state title in baseball/softball.

Life changes. The metro areas are where the jobs are so hence that's where people are going to flock to. Rural Texas has to adapt.

[Beastx89]

50 minutes ago, tomlandry said:

There is less willingness to engage in both academic and athletic school organizations. This lack of engagement is across demographic lines. Many of these schools have students who participate in nothing and cost them when UIL enrollments come due.

This is a major issue I've seen across the state in smaller schools. Kids are not participating in extracurricular activities. Not just coming out for sports but band, cheer, student trainers, etc. There are way more kids just walking the halls and not coming out to do anything related with their school in today's world. 

[StangtilDeath]

4 hours ago, BoyzNdaHood said:

Yall got some athletes on that team and should do well... pine tree should be up their with yall, they had around 30+ on their squad, they looked like a jv squad when we played them.... every kid on the team was well seasoned...

I can't remember exactly but yall had a kid with a DF uniform on in our scrimmage and that kid was legit.....  yalls QB can sling it and accurate, good luck to yall in tri County! I've seen the red raiders and their no threat... but the other tyler squads are ready.. 

Don't say the the df stuff too loud lol. he's a baller for sure, hope he stays in town.    Red raiders beat my sons team last year in the superbowl.   They has 34 kids to our 17.  Lots of good teams in tri county with good competition. And teams the kids will play against all thru school.  Good luck to yall too bud.

[BoyzNdaHood]

5 minutes ago, StangtilDeath said:

Don't say the the df stuff too loud lol. he's a baller for sure, hope he stays in town.    Red raiders beat my sons team last year in the superbowl.   They has 34 kids to our 17.  Lots of good teams in tri county with good competition. And teams the kids will play against all thru school.  Good luck to yall too bud.

Last thing on this subject and I'll let it die, did yall play a team this year called east texas heat? Heard someone say they beat gimer like 66-7 or something like that, could've been the little cypress team they played though... 

[DannyZuco]

15 hours ago, HornetSenior said:

Caddo will probably be 5A in one of the next enrollments. About 10-20,000 houses are being built in the Nevada, Josephine, Caddo Mills area. Nevada Community has all ready moved up to 4A-1. Rockwall, Rockwall-Heath, Royse City, and North Forney are all 6A now and still growing in population.

You are correct about the growth, as I live in the area. A friend of mine has been building the Nevada Community Schools--he says that they could be 6A in 2024, they rebuilt their high school--then had to add 16 classrooms, and now they recently passed a bond to continue adding onto the school, plus build several new elementaries and middle school. 

And just up the road, Farmersville is at capacity this year with 650 students, adding millions of dollars worth of buildings right now--expected growth to high school could be near 1000 next year. 

Caddo just built a small college for their high school--can't wait to see what the new stadium will look like, but it should be on the same level at Royse City or bigger. 

[TrumpisDump]

Yeah I think a lot of kids have moved from football because of the physicality. I think a lot has to do with the East Texas lack of factory or plant jobs. This would bring in thousands of families to the area if we had more resources. Most smaller towns don't want big corporations to infiltrate the money flow of smaller towns because it's mainly the "have and have nots". Most people have moved away from ETX because of job opportunity isn't like the city. School choice is also a big factor too. Schools can choose to send kids out for behavior or grade problems but that would be the same kid you would need in football. If you look at dominate programs such as Longview, Carthage, Gilmer, Texas High they have that type of kid. 

[TIMRIGGINS]

4 hours ago, Everide2016 said:

The smaller towns are still competing against schools with the same enrollment numbers, so I don't see how people leaving (moving away) has an impact on the success of their football program?  If enrollment goes down, their classification drops.  There are schools and towns just like them that are encountering the same issues, but still find a way to be successful on the gridiron. 

With the smaller towns and schools, the single biggest factor is coaching.  Yes, talent is important, but a coach that can inspire the kids, knows how to engage, and how to truly coach can dominate the other small (4A and down) schools that don't have this.  And even more so if a small town/school finds a way to get a coach like this to stick around and not be enticed to move on to "bigger and better things" in the larger towns/schools.

 

You're right, if you lose kids you play smaller schools. The point I'm trying to make is you lose the kids that make a difference. I can't speak for everybody but in my town the school and community are dwindling. The kids from stable families that afford to play more and get extra work in go to school in surrounding towns even tho they don't live there. Sure we play schools our size but the kids we are losing are difference makers from good families.....that has to have an impact.   

[hornetblue]

6 hours ago, Five0pd310 said:

Whoaa there big spenders!

***They're***

[PelvisPresley]

22 hours ago, LoboFan07 said:

Hallsville has never competed for a state title, or really been that good. Same for Whitehouse, out of Patrick Mahomes years. Nacogdoches...that's just laughable.

Jacksonville has been hammered by not having the enrollment and/or participation against the higher class teams. Give them a little bit and I think they'll return to being a good team in 4A.

Mount Pleasant is similar to Jacksonville, the participation or lack there of is really hurting them.

Tyler and Tyler Legacy....you'll have to ask the Tyler ISD guys. It makes no sense to me how they're not competing at a higher level than they are.

Lufkin just doesn't have the talent they did in the early 2000s.

like so many of these places, there is talent in these towns / communities, but to turn it into some type of prolonged success it takes a special coaching staff to bring the whole community together moving & focused on the goal of success.

[PelvisPresley]

15 hours ago, BoyzNdaHood said:

Which Gilmer team does your lil boy play? Mine plays Winona 5th n 6th grade tackle.... we played 1 Gilmer team 2 weeks ago and won 26-12

We scrimmaged another Gilmer team early in the season and they were a different breed of animals... beat the #### out of us 

that Gilmer team that your 5th/6th grade beat was the 2nd grade Buckeyes...playing with their backup QB 

 

  

[StangtilDeath]

1 hour ago, BoyzNdaHood said:

Last thing on this subject and I'll let it die, did yall play a team this year called east texas heat? Heard someone say they beat gimer like 66-7 or something like that, could've been the little cypress team they played though... 

Yea, they're one of the Longview teams.  They're pretty good this year.

[PelvisPresley]

perfect question I have...Gilmer and Gladewater are relatively the same distance from Longview for work opportunities...Gladewater is 15 miles or more closer to Tyler for work...Gladewater was as powerful (or more) than Gilmer for a decade atleast and for 50 years was the town rival. what changed? why? why has it not been flipped? how can the Bears school appear to shrink as Gilmer expands and blossoms? on the athletic side, Gilmer doesn't waste an opportunity to flip the scoreboard on Gladewater...the Bears have no interest in taking a lump. 

this would be a great study opportunity...

from about 1999 to the present...

[VonG]

9 minutes ago, PelvisPresley said:

perfect question I have...Gilmer and Gladewater are relatively the same distance from Longview for work opportunities...Gladewater is 15 miles or more closer to Tyler for work...Gladewater was as powerful (or more) than Gilmer for a decade atleast and for 50 years was the town rival. what changed? why? why has it not been flipped? how can the Bears school appear to shrink as Gilmer expands and blossoms? on the athletic side, Gilmer doesn't waste an opportunity to flip the scoreboard on Gladewater...the Bears have no interest in taking a lump. 

this would be a great study opportunity...

from about 1999 to the present...

Gladewater is definitely closer to Longview than Gilmer. Not that it matters. I just couldn't let that go unnoticed. 

[JTFAN99]

On 10/5/2022 at 2:45 PM, GraysonFan said:

Look at areas of the state with population growth, which leads to more players to select from and more money to pay for coaching, facilites, and training.

Bingo. Athlete pool is shrinking in East Texas because the parents are moving to big metro areas (DFW, Houston, Austin, San Antonio).  Not only that, when East Texas manage to get a very good coach, they end up leaving for those metro areas too. 

 

[cotton84]

On 10/5/2022 at 4:13 PM, Dadgoat said:

I’m gonna reference Atlanta, linden, Queen City. Just because I’m from cass county. When graduated we had 190 in our class. Now it’s considered a big class if they have 125. Linden had around 500 kids in the High School, now they have 150ish. Queen City, has dropped 150 kids as well. In the 90s to mid 2003, Atlanta put 8 kids in the NFL. Since 2003 graduating class there has only been one get a tryout for practice squad. Someone may ask why? There is not enough good Jobs in our area to keep people here anymore. Lone star steel, oilfield, and other industries has closed down or moved. Now I will say this, Bowie county is about to explode so maybe we get some trickle affect from that. Also, I think the bigger cities has more access to the proper training and better knowledge to nutrition. Plus like someone said more kids are not playing unlike before. 

What year(s) did L-K have over 370 ?

[Truthseeker96]

5 hours ago, cotton84 said:

What year(s) did L-K have over 370 ?

From 85 to 98 would be a strong guess for me. 

[cotton84]

3 hours ago, Dadgoat said:

From 85 to 98 would be a strong guess for me. 

340 to 360…….I know 1982 graduated 82…..1984 graduated 83

[Truthseeker96]

1 hour ago, cotton84 said:

340 to 360…….I know 1982 graduated 82…..1984 graduated 83

That’s still 200 plus kids different. 

[Everide2016]

23 hours ago, TIMRIGGINS said:

You're right, if you lose kids you play smaller schools. The point I'm trying to make is you lose the kids that make a difference. I can't speak for everybody but in my town the school and community are dwindling. The kids from stable families that afford to play more and get extra work in go to school in surrounding towns even tho they don't live there. Sure we play schools our size but the kids we are losing are difference makers from good families.....that has to have an impact.   

"Difference makers from good families?"  Wow!  I think I know what you're trying to say, but difference makers can come from all backgrounds and types of families.  Right?  I have to think your community isn't unique.  There are plenty very similar to that, but still field successful teams.  Have you been through Mart or Refugio lately.  

[VerumDixit]

23 hours ago, PelvisPresley said:

perfect question I have...Gilmer and Gladewater are relatively the same distance from Longview for work opportunities...Gladewater is 15 miles or more closer to Tyler for work...Gladewater was as powerful (or more) than Gilmer for a decade atleast and for 50 years was the town rival. what changed? why? why has it not been flipped? how can the Bears school appear to shrink as Gilmer expands and blossoms? on the athletic side, Gilmer doesn't waste an opportunity to flip the scoreboard on Gladewater...the Bears have no interest in taking a lump. 

this would be a great study opportunity...

from about 1999 to the present...

Gilmer's success has insulated them from some of these issues. Kids from the area want to be at Gilmer.

Gladewater has also been pretty bad on the academics side for awhile which doesn't help them. 

[theprodigy]

Lot of the reason is kids don't participate as much. At smaller schools that can hurt you. Bigger schools can afford half of their student body not playing but small schools can't. Also job opportunities. Dfield was loaded back when the plant in Dangerfield was booming and families were there working the factory and kids going to school. Same in several other towns. Plant or factory work brings in working families and their kids attend that school. Those jobs close and the families have to find work elsewhere. 

[KirtFalcon]

On 10/5/2022 at 5:42 PM, Cat51993 said:

Timpson 

Beckville 

Joaquin 

Centerville 

Corgan 

Lovelady 

Hemphill 

Rusk

 

Garrison has been to the State Championship finals three times since 1980 ... winning one in 2003 .... all in a classifiction higher than they are currently in ..... Garrison also has one of the highest all-time wiinning percentages in the state .....

[Cat51993]

51 minutes ago, KirtFalcon said:

Garrison has been to the State Championship finals three times since 1980 ... winning one in 2003 .... all in a classifiction higher than they are currently in ..... Garrison also has one of the highest all-time wiinning percentages in the state .....

Garrison has always been a winning program.  They were in my district in the early 90s. They were extremely good then as well.