Posted by Old School Mule on July 31, 2018, 7:35 am
So I am from Louisiana, so I can only speak for the condition over here, but it dont look good.
Letting people go to 8 man has destroyed MAIS football here. Central Private is fleeing to the LHSAA, there's talk of Glenbrook doing the same. If Glenbrook bails, I believe that will leave River Oaks, Riverfield and Union Christian as the only north Louisiana schools playing 11 man. I think Bowling Green and Oak Forest in south LA still are, right?
I know in Mississippi Trinity has closed. Other than them I don't know how everything is going. My senior year, our schedule was: Huntington (closed) Trinity (closed) Tallulah (8 man) Tensas (8 man) Briarfield (8 man) Riverfield Prairie View (8 man) Claiborne (8 man) Pine Hills (closed) Plain Dealing (closed)
I know it can't be helped in some of those areas, with the majority of the population that can afford private school moving away. But some of those schools are playing 8 man with more kids than we used to play 11 man (we had 14 my junior year), and they ought to be ashamed of themselves for taking the easy way out.
I'm afraid Riverfield and River Oaks are going to give in to the pressure and head to LHSAA sooner or later. I assume Union might do the same.
So how are the schools in Mississippi faring? Anything better to report?
Re: State of the MAIS
Posted by CSA1 on August 1, 2018, 9:09 am, in reply to "State of the MAIS"
Bigger problem is the state of football in small schools. In the future expect to see less young men playing the game As our culture changes, obviously the character or our young men changes. Football is a demanding sport; most of todays youth are not cut out for outdoor difficult work. Many schools are facing the problem of getting enough men to field a team; years ago this was not the case. Problem living in the last era of small school football....
BGS and OFA both strong enrollment wise.
Re: State of the MAIS
Posted by SportsFan on August 1, 2018, 12:50 pm, in reply to "Re: State of the MAIS"
8-man has hurt the MAIS big time. The MAIS officials should have never created an 8-man League or should’ve made rules/guidelines to be able to join. Majority of those schools should be playing 11-man which would make AA classification bigger, districts bigger and more competitive, and scheduling/traveling wise better.
Re: State of the MAIS
Posted by Brakeitdown on August 1, 2018, 3:45 pm, in reply to "Re: State of the MAIS"
Our society believes everyone deserves a trophy and unfortunately some schools will do whatever it takes to get one. If your school has male enrollment numbers of 25 or more students 10th through 12th grade they should not be allowed to play 8 man football. If a school does not have at least 14-16 kids out of 25 willing to play football then they should not be allowed to play period. I bet if that rule was put in place there would be some schools figuring out how to play 11 man!