FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[HScoach]

And a lot of DI and DII benchwarmers no longer love the game (some have come to hate it) but do not drop out because it would mean giving up the grant-in-aid. Their attitudes adversely affect the general attitude of their respective teams.

BINGO!

If you have scholorship money attached to playing college ball, you stick with it whether you like it or not.  In D3, if you don't like it you quit.  Which is one of the reasons the attrition rate between the freshman and sophomore years is so high.  Many college kids find out in a hurry that college ball isn't nearly as fun as HS ball.

[HScoach]

  For 99% of the kids playing high school ball, you could describe their reason for playing as they "love it".  Same with D3.   

I can't let a naive statement like that slide as it clearly shows a lack of understanding of what motivates 15-18 year old young men.

Yup.  That's me.  Completely naive.  At least I'm not the idiot in this.

You listed a lot of sub-factors that come into play with the decision to participate in anything, including sports, but I stand by the statement that the MAIN reason is you have to like the sport on an individual basis.  All of those outside factors might be the main you chose to "tryout" for the sport in the first place, but the love of the game keeps you coming back year after year to take the physical abuse associated with it. 

Case in point, I started wrestling in junior high because 2 of my best friends did it too.  And short, slow white guys that can't run, jump or shoot like me can't make the basketball team.  I knew nothing about it going in, but ended up loving the sport and give it a ton of effort thru junior and senior high school.  Most of the other kids that joined in over the years quit because they didn't like it.  They didn't stick around just because our team was great and would be getting League Championship jackets in March.  The kids that liked it stayed.  Those that didn't quit.  The staying and quitting wasn't directly connected  to playing time either.  We had scrubs bust their butts to get better because they loved it and we had stud athletes quit because they didn't like it or couldn't hack it.

If you have a bunch of kids playing football or wrestling just to get a jacket, or because it's cool, then your program takes it way too easy on them in practice.  No one in their right mind would have ever survived our wrestling camps without a serious love of the sport.   

In all my years playing and coaching, I've only seen 1 football player on the team simply because his parents (Dad) wanted him to.  And it was very obvious he didn't want to be there.  The rest of the kids played because they liked the game.  Sure, it made it easier that some of their friends were doing it too, but it all comes back to them liking the sport.

Again, which is why I like HS and D3 football so much better than D1 and the NFL.  The kids are playing it because they like it.  Not because their is money attached.

[Small but Slow]

HS Coach - I agree with you 100%.  I have seen kids who don't have the talent to contribute in a varsity game stick with a sport they love just to be a part of something good, no matter how brutal the practices are.  D-III does allow those kids an opportunity to continue to pursue their dreams even though they may lack the size or talent to be a star.  D-I and D-II can not make these opportunities available.  One main reason I love D-III.

[Sir Spiedie]

There are some major things being overlooked here. There are lots of DIAA teams that are non-scholarship. Ivy's and Patriot League, for example. I don't know how you can correlate a players love for the game to the Division he is playing in. Some would say that as to some players, by no means all, that the fact that they play in D1 was determined by the fact that they have spent more time in the weight room, more time running steps, more time watching films. In other words, playing at the DI level is not purely an outcome of physical talents, alot of it has to do with hard work, which in turn is driven by love of the game. Bottom line is blanket conclusions about who loves the game more based upon what division they play in are suspect.

[Small but Slow]

Good point, Sir Spiedie, Ivy Leaguers have a definite love for their sport.  It may be overgeneralizing that D-I athletes are only playing to get to the pros.  Some kids work very hard to get that D-I scholarship because it is the only way they can secure an education.  Most realize that an NFL career is a tough goal that requires a combination of talent, hard work, and luck (avoiding injuries) to achieve.  Even most D-I kids love their game and are enjoying the college experience.  Our views are tainted by the jaded few who use college sport only as a spring board to the pros.

[HScoach]

Sir Spiedie,

I didn't mean that only D3 players like playing and all D1 players are only playing for the $.  Sorry if it was written incorrectly to make you think that.  I mentioned it as purely an overview statement of why I like D3 better as it doesn't have the $ influence that D1 does. 

[seventiesraider]

At least I'm not the idiot in this.

Wow, there he goes again with the name calling. If working with young people for thirty plus years and coaching multiple sports has made me an idiot then so be it.

The results of my less than scientific poll of the varsity athletes in my first three periods has "Love of the Game" getting more laughs than votes. The general opinion is that "Love of Game" is something we old people say after we don't have to survive two a days anymore.  I will grant you that among those older players who intend to continue playing beyond high school, love of the game is high on the list.

Perhaps naive was a little strong, but how else do you describe a sweeping generalization with little or no basis in fact. Personal opinion, I guess.

PS I totally agree that among the kids who move on into lower division football or who play for some of the less successful D1 programs, love of the game is sincere reason to conrinue to participate

[HScoach]

I didn't know being on the HS film crew constituted "coaching". 

[kcreds]

hscoach, I also agree with you and I can give first hand insight on Jr.'s thoughts during high school and his reasons for choosing DIII. I'm not saying he is in the majority but I believe that there is a lot of players in DIII like him. Jr. was a 3 sport athlete until his sophomore year when he chose football and baseball as his sports of choice because he loved them. Coming from a small high school and not having the size or speed it takes to play DI, he chose DIII. He was offered DII scholarships but turned them down because he felt the DIII schools in Ohio were better academically and more competitive than the DII schools in WV. As far as the parent influence, I told him to go DII and get a free ride. He obviously didn't listen. I just had a discussion with his high school coach yesterday about DIII. His coach said that some athletes think they can play DIII because they were halfway decent in high school. Some find out very quickly that the level of talent in DIII is still pretty high in which there is a lot of freshman quitting after their first year. Jr. suffered a back injury prior to his sophomore year and could have easily gave football up. This year he is looking forward to participating more than he ever did. Why? FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME. He is looking forward to playing the Raiders because he believes they could beat just about any DII school out there and it will be like playing a National Championship every year. IMHO to rap up, DI will get the majority of the best players who may stick it out for the scholarship but may end up not loving the game, DII will get some very good players who may have been recruited by DI but fall into the same scenario as a DI player, and a DIII player plays because he may think he can but only sticks it out for the LOVE OF THE GAME. I also believe as so many people have stated, DIII football is more pure as a whole. Don't get me wrong, there are thousands of football players outside of DIII who play for the love of the game and work hard. Its just that a higher percentage is in DIII, why else would they play for 4 years? I don't buy into peer and parent pressure on the college level.     

[seventiesraider]

I didn't know being on the HS film crew constituted "coaching". 

Sorry if my current role as Head Cross Country Coach, Head Boys Track Coach and Coed Indoor Track Advisor limits my involvement with football to support work and youth football. Still happy to do whatever I can for the kids.

[e_lee]

A little dissention in the ranks.

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Not enough Sun in OH.  Long, cold, gray winter getting to the boys.  Need to come down to Sunny FL (not so sunny the last couple days) and rejuvinate the soul!

[reality check]

Why Can't We Be Friends?

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

I will relate my brief stint of HS Football Coaching.

I went back to coach Varsity FB at my Alma Mater.  I graduated HS in 1990 and my senior year (89 football season) we were 8-1 regular season (only play 9 games in IL) and 1-1 in the playoffs.  Since then my HS has not had a winning season.  Best effort was 4-5 I think.  Anyways, the HS had a new HC and I was a paid assitant, although I didn't teach.  Our Varsity squad had about 30 or so guys on the team.  New Coach had success at other schools and was brought in to renew the pride and tradition.  I was there for two years (ended up moving back to OH)  and we went 1-17 in those two years and the one win was after the season due to an opponent using an inelligible player.

I can tell you that out of those 30 kids we probably had 10 that were really committed to playing football and the love of the game.  The rest were purely there to wear their jerseys to school on Fridays and get their letterman jackets.  They didn't have the work ethic, nor the pride to put in what was needed to succeed on Friday nights.  It was really disappointing.  Our problem was that we had such a lean roster that we couldn't push them too hard or they would quit.  Both years we had a Varsity, Sophmore and Froshmen teams and they all practices separatly.  The year after I left he decided to take the top players (no matter the age) and play them on Varsity and the others would practice as one group (Sophs and Frosh) and they would play the other games.  That year they went 2-7, but haven't won more than 2 games since and are now on their second coach since I left.

This school does have a top Wrestling Program and decent records in other sports, but for some reason the football team has not been able to turn it around.

[kcreds]

Just to clarify, my last post was pertaining to DIII and why it is the purest form of football. I agree that there are many reasons why a high school athlete would play football besides the love of the game. It just goes to show again, DIII and yes the other non-scholarship divisions, play football in the purest form.