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OOLTEWAH FOOTBALL 2009 AND BEYOND


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Yea, life as you know it at OHS will be changing dramatically when East Hamilton opens and a big chunk of your student body transfers to the new school. Much like Red Bank is feeling the opening this year of Signal Mountain High and Bradley Central felt the opening of Walker Valley High and on and on.... There will be a shift for many folks to support a new school starting fresh and building it from the ground up. It's a very enticing opportunity to be the first class at a new school and no matter what the Ooltewah fans and staff say today, there will be turmoil and chaos during the first couple of years of the new school's opening.

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OMG!!! They'll be trying to recruit Ooltewah's players! Just one more school the Owls will refuse to play.

yeah Baconbreath and Owlpride are in charge of the PR for East Hamilton. According to them half the students all the good football players and most of the coaches are jumping ship and going there. POOORRR Owls..oh yeah by the way...I WOULD LOVE TO PLAY THEM.. fill our schedule /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

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I ran into one of the freshman players dads the other day and he said that several of the good freshman players are looking to jump ship including his son. The main reason given is they do not want to watch from the sideline when they could be playing somewhere else. He also reiterated what I have heard all season from the parents who sat around me at the games. There is no reason for a school the size of Ooltewah not to have a JV schedule for the development players. I will hate to see these kids leave but I am sure some other kids will step up. And I would even go as far as saying, "I think we will see a lot more sophomores playing in games next season out of necessity."

 

Go Owls and good luck East Hamilton!

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yeah Baconbreath and Owlpride are in charge of the PR for East Hamilton. According to them half the students all the good football players and most of the coaches are jumping ship and going there. POOORRR Owls..oh yeah by the way...I WOULD LOVE TO PLAY THEM.. fill our schedule /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

 

 

I believe you mis-read my post. I never mentioned that the good football players would be moving. Just that a sizable portion of the OHS student body will be zoned for and transferring to EHHS. This will include some that play sports. OHS Principal Ed Foster says that students in the upper class at OHS will be given the option to complete their education at OHS or transfer to EHHS. Those in the 9th and 10th grade zoned for EHHS will be expected to attend EHHS. Those are 'expectations', not necessarily requirements. I don't live in Hamilton County and I don't have kids in school and therefore I don't know if zoning in Hamilton is enforced. Most counties allow you to attend whatever school you wish as long as you provide transportation.

 

By the way, responding to an earlier reply to my post, I am not part of the EHHS publicity machine. I have no interest in them or their sports programs because they won't be playing any of the schools that I closely follow. I'm just relaying information as it has been discussed in the local news forums.

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First, anyone who has started at Ooltewah can stay at Ooltewah. So if you are a current 9th grader and zoned for EHHS you can finish your HS years at OHS. Second, I think we will be fine next year. We have some skill returning and I am sure there are some in the wings waiting their turn. Ooltewah may be down for a couple of years, but who knows. As VW comes closer to completion, the Ooltewah area will start to boom again. I have seen the anticipated growth for the area and it is huge. Sorry I can't remember the numbers.

 

If what was posted on another forum is true that Benny may look to step down after next year, then I hope he brings in some good replacements for Gatewood and the other coach that left. It would be great of he brought in an heir apparant to stink as much information as he can from this legendary coach so that he can hit the ground running. This may be hard with the budget cuts going on in Hamilton County. I am worried about just filling those positions at the moment. Speaking of which, are their any rumours flying around about who they might be?

 

Go Owls

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It's pretty apparent who the new coach at OHS will be now that Gatewood is moving to EHHS.

 

If it is so apparent....then why didn't you name them?.....and to answer back to some of the haters on here,that think the owls will be destroyed by this new school..owls will not miss a beat,if some of the freshmen want to leave,let 'em..they have every right to leave,hope they do well.OOLTEWAH will be fine there are kids on the team NOW,that have stepped-up already this past season and some that will next,also there are several big linemen that are coming back(not one or two),but several,(that sat out for whatever reason this year),that are coming back.OWLS will be fine people!!! and I second loveshsfootball's suggestion....OWLS VS. EAST HAMILTON should happen sooner than later,would be a great game to be around.

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If it is so apparent....then why didn't you name them?.....and to answer back to some of the haters on here,that think the owls will be destroyed by this new school..owls will not miss a beat,if some of the freshmen want to leave,let 'em..they have every right to leave,hope they do well.OOLTEWAH will be fine there are kids on the team NOW,that have stepped-up already this past season and some that will next,also there are several big linemen that are coming back(not one or two),but several,(that sat out for whatever reason this year),that are coming back.OWLS will be fine people!!! and I second loveshsfootball's suggestion....OWLS VS. EAST HAMILTON should happen sooner than later,would be a great game to be around.

 

 

 

Why would Ooltewah want to Play a team that had only freshman and sophmores?

Nothing to gain and not very fair.

As to losing coaches- Henderson was the only coach that was getting a supplement. Coach Gatewood was a volunteer.

Don't worry, Benny always has a plan and I'm sure a long list of coaches who would love to come to OHS.

If you havn't noticed he probably had the most experienced coaching staff in the Southeast. Not including Gatewood

you had 4 coaches with 25-30 years experience.

OHS will be in good shape for a long time to come!

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