Lumberton Middle School Football

[Onemoretime]

I cannot take credit for this idea, but it was brought up as a suggestion during the 8th grade football game this week.
Several years ago, Lumberton Middle School's Girls Volleyball Coaches realized that when the girls reached high school many of them were not playing any longer, therefore leaving a void in talent. They decided to create two A teams and a B team in 7th and 8th grade. (Lumberton and Vidor are the only schools in the district that do not have split middle schools)The idea being that it would allow more girls to play and develop, eventually leading to success at the varsity level. Over the past several years the idea has,proven fruitful.
With that being said , why can't the football program do the same thing. As it stands now, there is talent that stands on the sidelines all game( both A and B teams)that will never develop, and eventually quit or not reach their full potential. It is my belief that year after year Lumberton's program loses a lot of talent to moves or kids not being interested in playing anymore. More playing time leads to more development and an eagerness to continue to play at the high school level. All you have to do is look at Lumberton's current varsity roster to see that there is a good group of core talent, but not enough depth to be successful. It would not hurt to try something different. Any thoughts?

[RaiderRed30]

This something that has been a different sight for me living down here. Growing up in West Fort Worth every school seemed to have three 7th and 8th grade teams. We had a league of 16 schools and every team played the full allotment of 9 games in football and 12 in basketball and volleyball. These were not large 5a but a mix from Burleson and Weatherford down to schools the size of Stephenville. And they were not the best football schools Joshua and Brewer, the two worst football teams in the state, were able to have 3 teams as well. I think that not having the full allotment of games hurts just as much for development because they are not able to actually go and hit somebody but they have to practice so much beforehand. When you are in seventh grade you do not care about practice you want to go knock out somebody from another school. That is a fact. The schools down here are the same size as those up there so I agree I do not understand why every school doesn't have 3 teams because it does seem to affect the numbers getting into high school because so many teams have only 3 high school teams when the rest of the state averages 4 to 5 at the 4a and 5a level.

 

Also since it is middle school football, can someone please explain why Beaumont/Port Arthur have their own league? Merge the two play everyone in your side once, play one crossover game and then have a placement round to determine the champion. It works up there and those teams are a lot more spread out. This way you can get a Beaumont champion and a whatever the league is called champion and then play for all the marbles. That might make more want to play as well knowing that your games mean something for the last week of the season.

[PA4Real]

That would be a good idea. Doesnt make sense for area middle schools to not play each other at some point. I know the kids would love it.

[vp93]

Lumberton has an a and b team in 7th & 8th. I would think they would also have an A and b 9th.

[Alpha Wolf]

PA has 2 middle schools and Beaumont 6. The play in one league, division or whatever you want to call it. They all play each other already giving them 7 games a piece. They could have a championship game where the 2 best record's play each other but right now they just crown whoever has the best record, when it's said and done, as the champion. Beaumont only has 1 7th and 1 8th grade team and probably won't have any more. Most of those kids do go out for the Freshman teams at their respective schools...

[Team Game]

This has been a problem in Lumberton for years. Stacey Johnson believed in developing a program, that is why it was done on the girls side. I don't know if that is the same mind set in football.

[RaiderRed30]

PA has 2 middle schools and Beaumont 6. The play in one league, division or whatever you want to call it. They all play each other already giving them 7 games a piece. They could have a championship game where the 2 best record's play each other but right now they just crown whoever has the best record, when it's said and done, as the champion. Beaumont only has 1 7th and 1 8th grade team and probably won't have any more. Most of those kids do go out for the Freshman teams at their respective schools...

But why not merge the leagues and have an overall champion? They all play each other in high school so what's the difference? UIL allows for 9 games so play 9 games. The same in basketball and volleyball. Having more games may cause more students to play.

[Stattrax]

I thing you are over analyzing the situation... It should be a benefit to have only 1 middle school.. Take PNG for example... Those kids play together in junior league. Then they are apart for 2 years.. Then back together as Freshman. You can see it in middle school some kids that start are not starters as freshman because they combine the starters back together. Not to be rude, I just can't imagine so much talent that kids are being left out... Sounds more like a coaching issue.. I for one would love to have our freshman team together for 2 years before high school. Just my 2 cents.

[badndn]

In volleyball you only really need one coach two is helpful. In football you need three for each team. It could be a personnel issue at Lumberton. Just throwing it out there.

[Team Game]

I thing you are over analyzing the situation... It should be a benefit to have only 1 middle school.. Take PNG for example... Those kids play together in junior league. Then they are apart for 2 years.. Then back together as Freshman. You can see it in middle school some kids that start are not starters as freshman because they combine the starters back together. Not to be rude, I just can't imagine so much talent that kids are being left out... Sounds more like a coaching issue.. I for one would love to have our freshman team together for 2 years before high school. Just my 2 cents.

I understand your view, but the other side is you have twice the number of kids getting playing time and getting better. Plus when they go to HS they now have to "compete" for those starting positions. It makes kids work harder. Also, if a starter gets injured, the backup has had experience at playing, not just waiting on the sideline. If you aren't getting playing time in MS then you may not go out in HS. Let's face it, lots of kids don't develop and mature until their Junior year or so and some have left the program that could now be an asset. IMO