Recruiting Students for Athletics in High School

[oldergoat]

We know it happens at every level 1A to 6A so any thoughts on how to fix this problem?
Maybe you don't see it as a problem and those comments would be welcome as well.
The recruiting could be by hiring a coach, getting a family moved into the district, or just having a player "move in with a family member". Is there anything that can be done to stop this? Does it need to be stopped? I have some ideas and will share after seeing other comments?

 

[smokeyjoe53]

You may call it recruiting. Some may call it following success.
Personally I feel that’s it’s pretty shallow for parents to uproot their families purely for athletic purposes.
I saw it on the 2A level this past year.
It seems that the public places all the guilt, whether deserved or not, on coaches, school boards and administrations. How about the parents? I have yet to hear any credible stories of parents being forced to transfer at gun point.
If you want to cry foul about recruiting, spread the blame around..............x

 

[Deleted member 21909]

Maybe the UIL could make all decisions for all of us, instead of parents, then no one will move for athletic reasons!

 

[LBK6manFan]

Maybe the UIL could make all decisions for all of us, instead of parents, then no one will move for athletic reasons!

Just like those 2 senior boys from valley that moved to RS before the season? Guarantee they didnt move from Turkey,TX to RS for academic purposes. And then BOOM! Burkharts back (a week before 2adays) when he knows he has Rigdons boys and his transfers after Rigdon was blackballed from his job. I mean, I guess that's the recipe for success right? This is corruption at its finest. This was planned all along and the coup happened. Oh yeah... not too mention, wasnt Tippie from Mullin? Another transfer.. and TE from Hermleigh? Another transfer. Not sure if Reeves was one of them but JB sure knows how to recruit

 

[Deleted member 21909]

Maybe the UIL could make all decisions for all of us, instead of parents, then no one will move for athletic reasons!

Just like those 2 senior boys from valley that moved to RS before the season? Guarantee they didnt move from Turkey,TX to RS for academic purposes. And then BOOM! Burkharts back (a week before 2adays) when he knows he has Rigdons boys and his transfers after Rigdon was blackballed from his job. I mean, I guess that's the recipe for success right? This is corruption at its finest. This was planned all along and the coup happened. Oh yeah... not too mention, wasnt Tippie from Mullin? Another transfer.. and TE from Hermleigh? Another transfer. Not sure if Reeves was one of them but JB sure knows how to recruit

Heck yeah, Landon would go to Marathon while Jerry coached at Novice if the UIL had their way! I can just see it now "We the people, in over to form a more perfect union, establish all power within the federal government and any subsidiaries [aka the UIL] to decide what is best for us all!"

 

[LBK6manFan]

Maybe the UIL could make all decisions for all of us, instead of parents, then no one will move for athletic reasons!

Just like those 2 senior boys from valley that moved to RS before the season? Guarantee they didnt move from Turkey,TX to RS for academic purposes. And then BOOM! Burkharts back (a week before 2adays) when he knows he has Rigdons boys and his transfers after Rigdon was blackballed from his job. I mean, I guess that's the recipe for success right? This is corruption at its finest. This was planned all along and the coup happened. Oh yeah... not too mention, wasnt Tippie from Mullin? Another transfer.. and TE from Hermleigh? Another transfer. Not sure if Reeves was one of them but JB sure knows how to recruit

Heck yeah, Landon would go to Marathon while Jerry coached at Novice if the UIL had their way! I can just see it now "We the people, in over to form a more perfect union, establish all power within the federal government and any subsidiaries [aka the UIL] to decide what is best for us all!"

Cmon bud, you can do better than that. What an idiotic post.

 

[oldergoat]

Did not start this post to bash RS. Simply want to see what people thought and ideas that might fix a problem (if there is in fact a problem). I know at one time if a student moved to a new school that could not participate at the varsity level for 12 months.
My thought was two fold.
1) Incoming freshman are not allowed to participate at the varsity level. No exceptions. If you can't field a varsity team then play a JV schedule for one year (12 months).
2) Any student enrolling in High School (at any level/grade) would not be allowed to participate at the varsity level for one year (12 months).

These would apply to ALL UIL events such as Band, One Act Play, Track etc.

I think that this is a problem and some action may need to be taken. And no UIL should not rule our life, but sometimes some rules need to be in place to protect some people from themselves.

 

[MA1984]

I don’t think any kid should be ruled ineligible because their parents decide to move them to a different school. I do think moving your kids just for the possibility of a championship is wrong because you don’t know what kind of educational benefits they will receive. I have yet to fill out a resume that asked if I ever won or how many state championships I won. I have seen on every resume the education section.

 

[6for6]

Some interesting thoughts from the Motley County Coach https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RQUqLMshNUw

 

[CoachTJones]

Okay so I simply do not understand this. How is it recruiting to hire a coach? Talking about the two kids from Turkey, their mom is the girls Basketball coach. I can tell you that I have both coached in the same district as her as well as being the coach who she replaced at Richland Springs. She is very qualified for the job. Did you expect her kids to stay in Valley whenever she took the job? Really doesn't make much sense. Also Walker Tippie's family moved several times for work not sports. He was in Blanket early on, then Mullin, then Richland. The funny thing is I've never heard anyone complain about him playing at Mullin instead of Blanket. I mean what grade would we be allowed to move up to? I was born in Greenwood, Tx. Should I have sat out my Freshman season at Paducah? The UIL has pretty tight rules on recruiting. If you have not seen a PAPF form, but they ask a lot of questions. This form asks 1) Do you live with both Parents and if not do they live in your old house. 2) Do you live in the attendance zone. 3) Does your family own more than one house. The list goes on for somewhere along 18 questions. What giant loopholes are you so worried about? I simply don't see the point in punishing a kid for having a coach as a parent.

Travis Jones
Athletic Director
Sam Rayburn ISD

 

[bigbadwolf]

Maybe the UIL could make all decisions for all of us, instead of parents, then no one will move for athletic reasons!

Just like those 2 senior boys from valley that moved to RS before the season? Guarantee they didnt move from Turkey,TX to RS for academic purposes. And then BOOM! Burkharts back (a week before 2adays) when he knows he has Rigdons boys and his transfers after Rigdon was blackballed from his job. I mean, I guess that's the recipe for success right? This is corruption at its finest. This was planned all along and the coup happened. Oh yeah... not too mention, wasnt Tippie from Mullin? Another transfer.. and TE from Hermleigh? Another transfer. Not sure if Reeves was one of them but JB sure knows how to recruit

Seems to be a lot of talented kids that transfer into RS because their parents land lucrative coaching or teaching positions. Just sayin’.

 

[Deleted member 21909]

Did not start this post to bash RS. Simply want to see what people thought and ideas that might fix a problem (if there is in fact a problem). I know at one time if a student moved to a new school that could not participate at the varsity level for 12 months.
My thought was two fold.
1) Incoming freshman are not allowed to participate at the varsity level. No exceptions. If you can't field a varsity team then play a JV schedule for one year (12 months).
2) Any student enrolling in High School (at any level/grade) would not be allowed to participate at the varsity level for one year (12 months).

These would apply to ALL UIL events such as Band, One Act Play, Track etc.

I think that this is a problem and some action may need to be taken. And no UIL should not rule our life, but sometimes some rules need to be in place to protect some people from themselves.

That sounds fair to me as long as it applies to the kids of coaches as well.

 

[MA1984]

I think people get a lot of misinformation because they are not the ones hiring and firing. I’m not going to lie if I was the one making those decisions I would probably hire teachers/coaches with kids. The quality of the teachers/coaches would be number 1 priority obviously but them bringing in a couple of kids to a small school would be an added plus. I do think at times the skill set of kids have influenced the decisions made by a school and I’m not talking about Richland Springs I’m just saying schools in general.

 

[drfootball88]

I can guarantee you there’s no recruiting going on in RS. Parents want to give their kids the opportunity to be part of a winning program. It happens all over, not just in RS. You should see all the kids (good athletes) that moved into the San Saba district this year in hopes of a state ring!

 

[CoachTJones]

So let me clear that up real quick. The only kids on that team whose parents were hired any time recently are Rigdon and Chandler. So who are all these kids that you are talking about? Not Bryant. Not Appleton. Not Shannon. Landon Burkhart has been in RS for all but 1 year of his HS school career. So Im just unsure of what kids you are thinking that they are bringing in. Of course a small district like RS would want to hire teachers or coaches with kids. They need all the kids they can get. Thats how state funding works.

 

[MA1984]

So let me clear that up real quick. The only kids on that team whose parents were hired any time recently are Rigdon and Chandler. So who are all these kids that you are talking about? Not Bryant. Not Appleton. Not Shannon. Landon Burkhart has been in RS for all but 1 year of his HS school career. So Im just unsure of what kids you are thinking that they are bringing in. Of course a small district like RS would want to hire teachers or coaches with kids. They need all the kids they can get. Thats how state funding works.

I meant schools in general have probably based hiring on the talent of the kids instead of the quality of the coach/teacher. Richland Springs is just brought up a lot. You might not even be replying to what I said I just wanted to make its clear I’m not singling one particular school out.

 

[CoachTJones]

So let me clear that up real quick. The only kids on that team whose parents were hired any time recently are Rigdon and Chandler. So who are all these kids that you are talking about? Not Bryant. Not Appleton. Not Shannon. Landon Burkhart has been in RS for all but 1 year of his HS school career. So Im just unsure of what kids you are thinking that they are bringing in. Of course a small district like RS would want to hire teachers or coaches with kids. They need all the kids they can get. Thats how state funding works.

I meant schools in general have probably based hiring on the talent of the kids instead of the quality of the coach/teacher. Richland Springs is just brought up a lot. You might not even be replying to what I said I just wanted to make its clear I’m not singling one particular school out.

MA I do believe i took it out of context. I would say some schools. However, I feel a lot of schools get both and are accused of recruiting. If I have a gold mine of a coach who knows the game and has stud kids I would be stupid not to hire him. Not directed at you, but I can say that when the Rigdons were brought on, it was to help form an amazing coaching staff. We had 4 football coaches on that staff at RS last year and all of us had head coaching experience in 6man. Pretty rare to have a full staff with HC experience.

 

[6manonly]

We are all guilty of lying to ourselves. But to some it becomes habitual

 

[Johnny South]

Just to answer the question that most are curious about, the answer is yes. McCulloch County does have a higher percentage of nutballs and fruitcakes than any other county in Texas. Sad but true.

 

[Deleted member 21909]

Just to answer the question that most are curious about, the answer is yes. McCulloch County does have a higher percentage of nutballs and fruitcakes than any other county in Texas. Sad but true.

While I know I'm not the target of this post, what does San Saba County have that McCulloch County doesn't besides state rings? Pretty sure San Saba doesn't have a Golden Chick and a Burger King like Brady!