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Could JV Football in February work? Give us your thoughts.

Kick it!

Should JV football be played in February?

I originally posted this as a poll in early 2010 and it was beat down big time. I posted it again, I think in late 2011 or early 2012 and it did a little better. The better being it only lost 70% to 30.

I posted it again a few weeks ago and was really surprised by the response. As of this writing those in favor of JV football in February lead 51% to 49. That’s a huge change in opinion of those who click on our site.

I want to hear your arguments. Those are the most intriguing. Whether you are for or against, give us your point of view.

Again, here are some of mine.

Staffs are stretched so thin in the fall. Coaches have a hard enough time filling out their varsity staffs and then they have to find a way to fill out their lower level staffs as well.

Move the junior varsity season to February. Make it a six to seven game season. No playoffs, one, maybe two non-league games. No out of area games, no Covina traveling to El Segundo type of scheduling. Keep it local and league centric.

What about two sport athletes? First those athletes are generally exceptional already and they can work out with the coaches about playing or not playing. While all players require instruction and advanced instruction, the two-sport athlete’s skill level will improve. Second, are we not seeing fewer and fewer multi-sport athletes? Baseball players are giving up football earlier and football players are spending their off seasons getting ready to play football again. Track is the safe exception.

Fill the roster with underclassmen. If a student played freshman football the previous fall, he shouldn’t play in February (of what would still be his freshman year), but either be brought up to the varsity roster for the fall or play on the JV roster the next February.

Start the games at 3:30 so you don’t have to worry about lights. Charge people a few bucks to come in. Open a snack bar. Football has a fan base beyond families and girlfriends, you don’t need to watch “Field of Dreams” to know people will come.

The head varsity coach should not coach this team. He should watch and assess what he sees on the field. One of his key assistants from the varsity level should coach the team.

Better and more concentrated instruction can be given to the players without the distractions that come with Friday night lights in the fall.

The JV players who play in the spring can play varsity football later that fall if they make the team. If they don’t they can play JV the following February.

The key is varsity teams would have extra manpower, better prepared, on the field and coaches who are undivided with their football time. None of the stress that comes with trying to get everybody, everywhere, during a fall season. No more head varsity coaches, coaching JV football at the same time. No more frantic searches to find people to “cover” this or that.

The freshman schedule remains the same.

I understand not liking the idea of football being year round, but liking it or not doesn’t change the fact that football is already year round. That question has been answered, but maybe a way can be found to better the experience for the players and coaches and reduce some of the stress level.

A former coach asked me earlier this football season to write a report (yeah, he asked me) to help break down a better league system that they could present to the other schools in their league (struggling with terrible programs) and potentially CIF. He wanted it from a sportswriter’s view, as someone who sees multiple teams over the course of several seasons.

I went to work on it, but I couldn’t do much because most of the administrators I touched base with were unbending in their approach to prep athletics. To their credit, they think like school administrators not sports commissioners seeking to better market their product. Education and the entire student body was and remains first. No issue…I completely understood.

The report went nowhere, and JV football in February won’t go anywhere until there is a change in perception. And it begins with: ALL SPORTS ARE NOT EQUAL.

They just aren’t, and they cannot be treated as such. I do get education has to be first and when you see all the stops Kurt Scoby has made (currently at five) the argument becomes sharper.

The world has changed however. The popularity of football has exploded and subtle adjustments (association rule) have turned football into a year round proposition. Administrators may not be sports commissioners but they do have a product to market.

There’s no argument on this.

It’s not basketball 95% of it is unwatchable and people don’t care.

It’s not baseball, while often very good, which starts too early, has a smaller base, and is becoming a specialized game.

It’s not volleyball, soccer, water polo, or badminton.

Its football. To play football you don’t need a pitching coach or a hitting coach. You don’t need to play on three or four different travel ball teams. Its broader and the bulk of it takes place on field and in the weight room.

Title IX (a disaster) is another subject, but it should not apply to football. Especially since so many girls are now on football rosters.

If there was money to be spent none of this would be an issue. Coaching staffs could be hired, paid a decent wage, and everything could go on and on…But the money is gone. We can pass a thousand Prop. 30’s and there will never be enough money ever again.

So schools, offering athletic programs (keep an eye on that going forward, because all schools won’t be doing this), have to find a way to raise revenue. They also have to find a way to help out the lead football coach. A football coach should be mentoring young athletes, teaching them the values of the sport, and efforting to provide experiences, great memories, that will bless them for a lifetime. The head football coach should not be running firework stands, car washes, and fundraisers at Shakeys.

That’s true for all coaches, but the water polo coach does not have the potential to bring in the revenue the football coach does.

…And football coaches are not found working at Johnny Rocket’s on the mall. In many ways they are like the Jedi, ever so valuable but vanishing.

The Dude abides…

500

Jeremiah 17: 9-10

Contact Joe at joe@midvalleysports.com

Follow him on Twitter at @joet13b