Bisonguy06 wrote:Sorry, but I can't let him off the hook that easily.
If you support the new plan, you support a plan that, by the numbers, will TAKE AWAY state tournament appearances from small schools (from 56% to 50%). I don't know how you could see it any other way.
If you support the new plan, you support a plan that, by the numbers, will force every small and medium sized school in the state to travel more miles for district games. And you will either travel the same distance or farther for your regional tournament. Look at your current school, your current district, and your new district. It is a larger geographic area than it used to be. Inevitably, you will be driving past a school that used to be in your district to get to a school that used to be in a different district.
Trenton will drive past Stanley to get to Kenmare. Beach will drive past Heart River to get to Solen-Cannonball. Maple Valley will drive past Central Cass to get to Hankinson. Mandaree will drive past New Town to get to Wilton-Wing. And yet, when we're playing for all the marbles at the state tournament, your small school will still have to go through Stanley, Heart River, Central Cass, New Town, ect. to win a state championship.
When distance traveled goes up, you have to expect that attendance will go down. Again, I don't know how you could draw any other conclusion.
Distance also equals food and fuel which equals money. The new plan will cost more money for schools, parents and fans.
And are you getting more bang for your buck? If you are the Beach girls this year, you'd now HAVE TO play Solen-Cannonball. Does that game do anything positive for either school?
Class B districts would have a larger number of teams, meaning less flexibility in scheduling. There are more games on your schedule that you HAVE TO play, and less room for rivalry/proximity/holiday tournament type games.
Class A districts would only have five teams, meaning that you have to look elsewhere to fill about 15 games. Given that the class B schedules are tighter, where are you going to go to get these games?
And your state tournament will draw from the same pool of schools. There is no reason to believe that this new plan will draw any more attendance or interest to the state tournament.
I don't see a single component of the new plan that you could say is an improvement over what we already have. Where am I going wrong?
luvmy3gbb1wr wrote:I'm afraid for most schools the travel issue is a moot point and shouldn't be used for this argument.....we already travel hundreds of miles.....for most of the us the travel doesn't change......if you look at a school like LaMoure , their athletic schedule already includes just about every team that they would be playing if the "3" class system were instituted. I believe that the only schools they do not already play are Richland and Maple Valley. I can't speak for every team that would be in the new Region 1.....but I believe that most are similar to their situation (when I'm bored I like to scan schedules). Besides if the NDHSAA had not wanted an argument and a new class system, they would have put VC in with Kindred, Oak Grove, Central Cass, etc., moved Richland down to District 1 and nobody would have complained.....
Bisonguy06 wrote:Perhaps the NDHSAA made the right decision, but they went about it the wrong way, and that's why the member schools voted overwhelmingly to move the enrollment line back to 325, thereby moving VC back to A.
Bisonguy06 wrote:Indy, I thought you followed this pretty closely... it went something like this:
The NDHSAA board went and changed the enrollment cutoff in their by-laws to 400, without putting it to a vote of the member schools. This past year, the member schools actually got to vote on it and voted to return the number to 325. I believe what the member schools were saying was, "Hey NDHSAA, you can't just make these decisions without asking for our approval."
Similarly, Governor Hoeven can't just wake up one morning and decide that the interstate speed limit should be 85mph. That change in law has to come from a vote of the people or their representatives.
I'd have no problem with the number being at 400 if it got there by a majority vote of the member schools. Heck, I'd probably vote 'yes' to that if it meant that we didn't have to deal with this new 3 divisions, 2 tournaments proposal.
Right number, wrong process. Indy, I hope this makes some sense.
classB4ever wrote:I didn't realize that attendance in the state b tournament was down that much. One thing I have noticed over the past decade is the way the media has covered it. They use to have news crews going out to the small towns the entire week before the tournament interviewing people. There were many more human interest stories tied to the event. They always interviewed parents, fans, etc., at the tournament as well. They don't do that anymore and I miss that part of it.
Mighty-Mouse wrote:I'll throw a wrench in here to see what people think.
I like the 4 class system as football has right now. Let's make this for all programs in the school system. That system seems to work good and I don't hear people complaining about it.
Let the fur fly!
classB4ever wrote:I didn't realize that attendance in the state b tournament was down that much. One thing I have noticed over the past decade is the way the media has covered it. They use to have news crews going out to the small towns the entire week before the tournament interviewing people. There were many more human interest stories tied to the event. They always interviewed parents, fans, etc., at the tournament as well. They don't do that anymore and I miss that part of it.
scruffy wrote:classB4ever wrote:I didn't realize that attendance in the state b tournament was down that much. One thing I have noticed over the past decade is the way the media has covered it. They use to have news crews going out to the small towns the entire week before the tournament interviewing people. There were many more human interest stories tied to the event. They always interviewed parents, fans, etc., at the tournament as well. They don't do that anymore and I miss that part of it.
Could it be due to the fact that most of the schools (and their towns) who make the tournament are much smaller then they were 20 years ago. Demographics play a role. Another factor is overall enthusiasm. I don't think the interest is there by the general public like it was 20 to 30 years ago. Families are now involved in so many more things that an event like this gets watered down.
scruffy wrote:classB4ever wrote:I didn't realize that attendance in the state b tournament was down that much. One thing I have noticed over the past decade is the way the media has covered it. They use to have news crews going out to the small towns the entire week before the tournament interviewing people. There were many more human interest stories tied to the event. They always interviewed parents, fans, etc., at the tournament as well. They don't do that anymore and I miss that part of it.
Could it be due to the fact that most of the schools (and their towns) who make the tournament are much smaller then they were 20 years ago. Demographics play a role. Another factor is overall enthusiasm. I don't think the interest is there by the general public like it was 20 to 30 years ago. Families are now involved in so many more things that an event like this gets watered down.
classB4ever wrote:scruffy wrote:classB4ever wrote:I didn't realize that attendance in the state b tournament was down that much. One thing I have noticed over the past decade is the way the media has covered it. They use to have news crews going out to the small towns the entire week before the tournament interviewing people. There were many more human interest stories tied to the event. They always interviewed parents, fans, etc., at the tournament as well. They don't do that anymore and I miss that part of it.
Could it be due to the fact that most of the schools (and their towns) who make the tournament are much smaller then they were 20 years ago. Demographics play a role. Another factor is overall enthusiasm. I don't think the interest is there by the general public like it was 20 to 30 years ago. Families are now involved in so many more things that an event like this gets watered down.
Perhaps. You could also look at the exact opposite. With the larger schools & privates participating at a high percentage, they have more programs which draw away kids and fans. Also for the teams that repeat a trip every other year, it takes a little of the magic away for the fans. Been there/done that sort of mentality. I still believe that when small schools/towns make the state tournament (especially when it has been a 10-20 years since last visit), they "lock up the town" for the weekend. Not as prevalent as years past but still happens.
There have been many good points brought up as to why the attendance may be down. I am sure that it is a combination of all of them.
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