I acknowledge that conferences aren't perfect & the fact that Naperville Central needs to go play St. Catholic Central in Columbus, Ohio stinks. I acknowledge that scheduling is a nightmare for some schools. I acknowledge that conference shuffling is problematic. But, districts don't necessarily alleviate the first two problems, and seemingly only create more problems. So, here goes.
Problem #1: District geography. If travel for games is an issue now, it's still an issue under districts. How many trips will Edwardsville have to make to the southwest suburbs a year now? 2? 3? If Moline goes 7A, who are they playing? Batavia? Geneva? How is that trip from North Chicago to Rochelle going to go? Glenbard South had a great tweet yesterday showing their predictions of 5A districts. It's absolutely comical that CPS schools may have to drive out to Peoria for a game. Sidenote, for a school like Edwardsville, they'll now have to play some games on Fridays & some on Saturdays. That will make for an enjoyable fall for those players, coaches, & their families.
Problem #2: Scheduling Part 1. Non-conference scheduling isn't going to change. I know that everyone seems to believe that scheduling will somehow become easier because, "We'll now schedule up since the game doesn't matter!", but some teams will still look for challenging games to prepare for district & postseason play, while others will look for cupcakes so as to avoid potential injuries or blows to confidence. Non-conference scheduling will still feature a myriad of competing interests, which will still make scheduling tough.
Problem #3: Scheduling Part 2. Some districts will have an odd number of teams. Some teams will have off-weeks Week 7. So, some teams will still need to find games Week 7. I can't wait for the first match-up between Quincy & Vernon Hills, who both have the week off, but still wanted to play. Oh, there's also the opportunity to take a week off. That's awesome! If you choose that, you just robbed a kid of a week without a game.
Problem #4: Scheduling Part 3: Are underclass teams included? Didn't Batavia, Geneva, & the St. Charles schools leave the Upstate 8 to get away from competing against teams that didn't have underclass levels(across all sports)? If so, if those teams are stuck in a district with their old counterparts, they're stuck trying to find games again. That creates more scheduling issues.
Problem #5: Scheduling Part 4: Are underclass teams included? No? Ok. So now ADs have to schedule varsity games, as well as underclass games? That creates more scheduling issues.
Problem #6: Scheduling Part 4 + Staffing: Let's say underclass teams are not included. At many schools, the Varsity/JV/Soph staff is one staff that works together on game nights. If underclass games are not included, you're now sending your staff to coach a varsity game on Friday night, then sending at least some of them to coach again on Saturday morning. Yes, many teams play JV games on Saturday morning. But, most schools don't send as many coaches to a JV game as they do to a Sophomore game. You've now killed staff game-planning on Saturdays, which likely means a whole bunch of staffs will now have to gameplan on Sundays instead. I know that coaches work everyday, but you've now created a situation where most coaches in the state are going to now go into school every. single. day. for at least 9 weeks. That will make for an enjoyable fall for those coaches & their families.
Problem #7: The Catholic League. I'm admittedly not tapped into the Catholic League outside of what I read from the Sun-Times or Trib. However, didn't Brother Rice's coach state his unhappiness that all of those storied rivalries will now be taken away? What are the odds that they bolt from the IHSA to form their own league now? What does that do to the suburban schools when the Catholics are gone, & without being checked at all by the IHSA, to recruit at will? Great. You just watered down the level of play in the suburbs. I have no issue with the Catholic League bolting either. If I was at Carmel, Rice, Rita, etc, I'd be pretty mad that my storied rivalries are now gone because I have to play 'insert cps school here' instead of Marist.
Problem #8: CPS. This will kill CPS football. How does it not, unless they're allowed to excuse themselves? Even the best CPS schools like Morgan Park will get pummeled playing in a district with Carmel, Rice, Rita, & Marist. The non-traditional power CPS schools will be hurt even more. Congratulations, because once you kill football at most schools, you've taken away the opportunities of those kids as well.
Problem #9: Atmosphere, rivalries, etc. Instead of traveling a few miles to Lakes to play the kids they went to junior high with, Grant now gets sent to Rockord East. No more Lake Zurich vs. Stevenson. No more Libertyville vs. Stevenson. Glenbrook North & Glenbrook South? Gone. St. Charles East vs. St. Charles North? No more. Chad Hetlet expressed his dismay at no longer getting to play schools they've played for 100 years. They're either going to be lumped in with OPRF, LT, & York, or Downers North. No more Moline vs. Rock Island. No more Normal vs. Normal West. Don't worry, I'm sure the atmosphere at the Moline vs. Geneva game will be riveting though. I'm sure the atmosphere at the St. Rita vs. Corliss game will be stellar as well. So will the Kaneland vs. Juarez game on a Saturday morning in the city. Check out what Mascoutah's AD posted to twitter yesterday. It was legitimately sad.
Again, I know the state, and some schools in particular have issues. But, I think this will legitimately create more issues that many people didn't realize, or bother to ponder before voting.
Problem #1: District geography. If travel for games is an issue now, it's still an issue under districts. How many trips will Edwardsville have to make to the southwest suburbs a year now? 2? 3? If Moline goes 7A, who are they playing? Batavia? Geneva? How is that trip from North Chicago to Rochelle going to go? Glenbard South had a great tweet yesterday showing their predictions of 5A districts. It's absolutely comical that CPS schools may have to drive out to Peoria for a game. Sidenote, for a school like Edwardsville, they'll now have to play some games on Fridays & some on Saturdays. That will make for an enjoyable fall for those players, coaches, & their families.
Problem #2: Scheduling Part 1. Non-conference scheduling isn't going to change. I know that everyone seems to believe that scheduling will somehow become easier because, "We'll now schedule up since the game doesn't matter!", but some teams will still look for challenging games to prepare for district & postseason play, while others will look for cupcakes so as to avoid potential injuries or blows to confidence. Non-conference scheduling will still feature a myriad of competing interests, which will still make scheduling tough.
Problem #3: Scheduling Part 2. Some districts will have an odd number of teams. Some teams will have off-weeks Week 7. So, some teams will still need to find games Week 7. I can't wait for the first match-up between Quincy & Vernon Hills, who both have the week off, but still wanted to play. Oh, there's also the opportunity to take a week off. That's awesome! If you choose that, you just robbed a kid of a week without a game.
Problem #4: Scheduling Part 3: Are underclass teams included? Didn't Batavia, Geneva, & the St. Charles schools leave the Upstate 8 to get away from competing against teams that didn't have underclass levels(across all sports)? If so, if those teams are stuck in a district with their old counterparts, they're stuck trying to find games again. That creates more scheduling issues.
Problem #5: Scheduling Part 4: Are underclass teams included? No? Ok. So now ADs have to schedule varsity games, as well as underclass games? That creates more scheduling issues.
Problem #6: Scheduling Part 4 + Staffing: Let's say underclass teams are not included. At many schools, the Varsity/JV/Soph staff is one staff that works together on game nights. If underclass games are not included, you're now sending your staff to coach a varsity game on Friday night, then sending at least some of them to coach again on Saturday morning. Yes, many teams play JV games on Saturday morning. But, most schools don't send as many coaches to a JV game as they do to a Sophomore game. You've now killed staff game-planning on Saturdays, which likely means a whole bunch of staffs will now have to gameplan on Sundays instead. I know that coaches work everyday, but you've now created a situation where most coaches in the state are going to now go into school every. single. day. for at least 9 weeks. That will make for an enjoyable fall for those coaches & their families.
Problem #7: The Catholic League. I'm admittedly not tapped into the Catholic League outside of what I read from the Sun-Times or Trib. However, didn't Brother Rice's coach state his unhappiness that all of those storied rivalries will now be taken away? What are the odds that they bolt from the IHSA to form their own league now? What does that do to the suburban schools when the Catholics are gone, & without being checked at all by the IHSA, to recruit at will? Great. You just watered down the level of play in the suburbs. I have no issue with the Catholic League bolting either. If I was at Carmel, Rice, Rita, etc, I'd be pretty mad that my storied rivalries are now gone because I have to play 'insert cps school here' instead of Marist.
Problem #8: CPS. This will kill CPS football. How does it not, unless they're allowed to excuse themselves? Even the best CPS schools like Morgan Park will get pummeled playing in a district with Carmel, Rice, Rita, & Marist. The non-traditional power CPS schools will be hurt even more. Congratulations, because once you kill football at most schools, you've taken away the opportunities of those kids as well.
Problem #9: Atmosphere, rivalries, etc. Instead of traveling a few miles to Lakes to play the kids they went to junior high with, Grant now gets sent to Rockord East. No more Lake Zurich vs. Stevenson. No more Libertyville vs. Stevenson. Glenbrook North & Glenbrook South? Gone. St. Charles East vs. St. Charles North? No more. Chad Hetlet expressed his dismay at no longer getting to play schools they've played for 100 years. They're either going to be lumped in with OPRF, LT, & York, or Downers North. No more Moline vs. Rock Island. No more Normal vs. Normal West. Don't worry, I'm sure the atmosphere at the Moline vs. Geneva game will be riveting though. I'm sure the atmosphere at the St. Rita vs. Corliss game will be stellar as well. So will the Kaneland vs. Juarez game on a Saturday morning in the city. Check out what Mascoutah's AD posted to twitter yesterday. It was legitimately sad.
Again, I know the state, and some schools in particular have issues. But, I think this will legitimately create more issues that many people didn't realize, or bother to ponder before voting.
