Courtside

50% Rule ??“ Applies to basketball, baseball, and softball. Participation (includes practice or games) during the school year on a non-school team prior to the school season by students that will play the following season on the high school team is limited to 50% of the number of players required to play the game (3 in basketball, 5 in baseball, 5 in girls softball). Only the specified number of students participating on a non-school team prior to the school season may be placed on the high school eligibility list the following season.

The difference is that a school that has 1,000 people show up to watch a basketball game will only have 30 show up and watch a baseball game. Whether it is fair or not, money talks, so football and basketball will always be the dominate sport.

The real problem is that adults are making all the decisions...Let the kids decide what sport they want to play and for how long. If a kid wants to play basketball 12 months out of the year then let them.

i would say they want to have district tournaments in a central location instead of revolving each year to all schools in the district. This is just a guess, i know from the past that Chattanooga schools traditionally hate traveling up the valley BUT expect all the valley teams to travel to Chattanooga each year. Also, in 13 away games in a season, how many games would you think that Chattanooga schools have to travel at least 30-45 minutes to play. Valley schools travel that far in about 12 out of 13 away games in a season...

what is the big deal, it is only averaging about 10 points a game over a 25 game season...

Since everyone seemed to have picked Chattanooga Christian to win the district, how does this shake things up???

relax, i have known outsider since elementary school... i was just messing with him. His daughter was the best, hardest, and most consistent server the school has ever had!!!!!!!!! i wish these girls today had the passion that his daughter played with.

you can find out all the info you want, just go to a game...

then it would have been in the version sent to the valley subscibers wouldn't it?

if the jamboree had more chattanooga teams in it and it was held in chattanooga they would have, it is a shame the valley is not seen as important; seeing how much revenue chattanooga makes from valley shoppers!!!!

there are many middle school programs that are really great, but when those kids get to high school for some reason they cannot win, what is the problem? they are still playing the same schools and players they played against in the 8th grade and won. Are there any high school programs that have a consistent, terrible middle school program? Is there a relationship between great middle school's and great high schools?

Polk 30 Bledsoe 12

you are correct in the rules that you stated, but let me tell you of a conversation i had with bernard childress of tssaa last year. we had a similar discussion about head coaches who were not faculty members and did not have 5 years of the required experience as stated in the by laws. he told me that these were more of a guide line than an actual rule. he said no school has ever been fined over this rule , because they know how hard it is for some schools to get a coach who is a faculty member. he said the bottom line is that principals can hire whoever they want.

i agree with most of what you are saying about bledsoe athletics the problem is administration, BUT... some programs have done well. softball has been winning for 4 out of the last 5 years including sending several of those girls to division 1 scholarships. volleyball never had a winning season until rhonda cagle took over 6 years ago and she has NEVER had a losing record going deep into the region tournament every year!!! i guess girls sports do not count, but since you guys mentioned ALL bledsoe athletics i thought i would put my 2 cents in. Warrior4ever i hope volleyball is not included as an embarrasment for you since they are winning, but maybe you do not know bledsoe has a team, how many games have you supported.

if the 8th grade only had 170 students and school has not started yet, how do they know they have 249 freshmen coming for this year??????????????Where did the other 79 students come from, recruiting trips?

indian, i am not sure where you got your freshmen info ? the 8th grade only had about 170 last year, not 249. what about this 250 for incoming classes from now on? from the 4th grade thru 8th grade the biggest class is 160.

i will agree with you about giving him a chance since he is already here, but i was just going on our past history. we have only had maybe 2 or 3 coaches that were not local coaches in the past 50 plus years. How many trips have we made to the championship game??? ZERO!!!

i have said it before and i will say it again.........as long as the bledsoe administration (principal, and superintendent) are satisfied just to have sports teams, this is the way it will always be. most all of the sports football, basketball, baseball, are sub .500 teams at best, and the administration is happy just to have a team, not a competitive team. these are all local coaches who honestly are probably trying their best, but their best is not competitive enough. we need some new coaching, and administrating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

kids can still practice and play like the rest of us use to.... play in the backyard with your friends, pick up games and etc..... oh yeah i forgot, no air-conditioning, too hot outside, bugs, i might sweat, it is raining!!!!!!!!!!!

you are right, do not blame TSSAA, at least not this time, the coaches had this coming for along time in alot of sports. Players, fans, and coaches are tired of the bigger schools, more kids, bigger payrolls, bigger facilities, and recruiting coaches from taking advantage of schools that are required to play these teams because of district committments. Blame yourselves not TSSAA!!!!!!!

This really shows how much you do not know. Alternative license is for people that have a degree, but need a few classes to be certified in a certain subject. If you have not checked lately, people are not exactly knocking down the door to be a teacher. It is hard to find someone certified for some classes because there is simply not enough people to teach all of these subjects. There are people trying to fill these positions but need the extra classes to be certified, that is why the state allows them to have an alternative license for three years to become certified. As far as coaches go, the state has nothing to do with athletics!!! TSSAA says a principal can hire anyone to be a coach even a non teacher!!! It would be nice if every teacher was highly qualified and every coach, but the truth is there are not enough people for either job to fill all of the positions. I do not get on here or any newspaper and gripe about your profession, so stop griping about teachers.

it is by 8th grade enrollment, but your classification may change one year to the next depending on the number of schools in the tournament. One year we competed they put us in 3A, one year it was 4A, and the last year it was again 3A.

it seems really hypocritical for tssaa to not let teams play late on a school night, but then they require teams to MISS school to play in the state tournament during the day.

hey, where is your sense of humor???

hey indian, how about starting a tournament thread for the boys, you do watch them too, don't you???