After listening to Murph and Andy discuss the Lincoln v. North (86-28) game last Friday, I wanted to know what people see as possible solutions to improving the quality of programs within the city. To begin, I don’t blame Lincoln for the score, its sounds like the coaches made the right substitutions early.
I have taught and coached (not football) at two Des Moines High Schools. Our problem is not from a lack of athletes. We have big athletic kids everywhere and all of us try to encourage them to join all athletics and activities, not just football.
Some of these varsity squads have as little as 20-25 varsity players showing up to an average practice. This is with a student population around 1400. Many of those varsity players would be on a sophomore or JV team at a suburban school.
All the coaches that I know are quality guys and dedicated coaches.
The discussion on Murph and Andy moved from the discussion of the unequal score, to the amount of poor kids and immigrants we have. That is an obstacle, but Omaha has the same problems as us but they seem like they have some great football and are a regular recruiting area for Nebraska, ISU and others. Besides the occasional A-Rob, we don't really send many players to the next level.
With the population of Des Moines, with five high schools combined, we should be sending at least a couple every year to a D1 school.
I really don’t know the solution and would like some outside input. We have a loser’s mentality and it needs to stop. The most frustrating part of my day is seeing 30 kids out on the practice field and 100 kids loitering around the building.
I should also say I’m writing this during my lunch not neglecting your kids.
I have taught and coached (not football) at two Des Moines High Schools. Our problem is not from a lack of athletes. We have big athletic kids everywhere and all of us try to encourage them to join all athletics and activities, not just football.
Some of these varsity squads have as little as 20-25 varsity players showing up to an average practice. This is with a student population around 1400. Many of those varsity players would be on a sophomore or JV team at a suburban school.
All the coaches that I know are quality guys and dedicated coaches.
The discussion on Murph and Andy moved from the discussion of the unequal score, to the amount of poor kids and immigrants we have. That is an obstacle, but Omaha has the same problems as us but they seem like they have some great football and are a regular recruiting area for Nebraska, ISU and others. Besides the occasional A-Rob, we don't really send many players to the next level.
With the population of Des Moines, with five high schools combined, we should be sending at least a couple every year to a D1 school.
I really don’t know the solution and would like some outside input. We have a loser’s mentality and it needs to stop. The most frustrating part of my day is seeing 30 kids out on the practice field and 100 kids loitering around the building.
I should also say I’m writing this during my lunch not neglecting your kids.
