Scheduling - local teams not playing one another

[eers]

Scheduling is becoming increasingly difficult for some schools and it makes me ask why local schools are choosing not to play one another. I know Beech is not the only one that suffers from this, however as they are my school I will use them as an example. Beech has had to schedule Powell, Farragut, Jackson Northside, Summit, Brentwood, and Henry County to have a complete schedule in the last couple of cycles. These are 45 minutes to over 3 hours away. Hendersonville is in the same boat, having to play Oakland, privates, and out of state schools. Why are the Sumner County schools not all playing each other? Why are the Sumner County schools and the Wilson County schools not playing? They’re not only close in proximity, but also in size. This would cut down on travel and expenses, but also increases crowd size, ticket revenue, and concession money.

It appears to me some teams are ducking others for wins and sacrificing rivalries and tradition, not to mention the financial implications. Maybe I just don’t understand it, but inflating your regular season record by playing cupcakes doesn’t really help anyone… especially when you have a rich tradition yourself. I understand it for the short term, as is the case with Station Camp trying to turn a struggling program around. Aside from those rare circumstances coaches need to put on their Big Boy pants and play the other local schools. 

 

[FBfan26]

2 hours ago, eers said:

Scheduling is becoming increasingly difficult for some schools and it makes me ask why local schools are choosing not to play one another. I know Beech is not the only one that suffers from this, however as they are my school I will use them as an example. Beech has had to schedule Powell, Farragut, Jackson Northside, Summit, Brentwood, and Henry County to have a complete schedule in the last couple of cycles. These are 45 minutes to over 3 hours away. Hendersonville is in the same boat, having to play Oakland, privates, and out of state schools. Why are the Sumner County schools not all playing each other? Why are the Sumner County schools and the Wilson County schools not playing? They’re not only close in proximity, but also in size. This would cut down on travel and expenses, but also increases crowd size, ticket revenue, and concession money.

It appears to me some teams are ducking others for wins and sacrificing rivalries and tradition, not to mention the financial implications. Maybe I just don’t understand it, but inflating your regular season record by playing cupcakes doesn’t really help anyone… especially when you have a rich tradition yourself. I understand it for the short term, as is the case with Station Camp trying to turn a struggling program around. Aside from those rare circumstances coaches need to put on their Big Boy pants and play the other local schools. 

 

Multiple answers….Is playing local benefiting you playing wise? It’s good to see different cultural philosophies and different structures. I don’t think y’all playing SC would do anything for beech min the gate and the recruiting war which would be my #2. Can’t say they beat you if y’all didn’t play each other. 3 I think a lot of the coaches are friends and want to build relationships across the state which ends up coming in handy. Networking works in so many ways. Also the main reason y’all are just beech lol. Run run run run run pass run and y’all beat everyone lol.

Edited November 3, 2022 by FBfan26

[eers]

24 minutes ago, FBfan26 said:

Multiple answers….Is playing local benefiting you playing wise? It’s good to see different cultural philosophies and different structures. I don’t think y’all playing SC would do anything for beech min the gate and the recruiting war which would be my #2. Can’t say they beat you if y’all didn’t play each other. 3 I think a lot of the coaches are friends and want to build relationships across the state which ends up coming in handy. Networking works in so many ways. Also the main reason y’all are just beech lol. Run run run run run pass run and y’all beat everyone lol.

Yeah, I get it. It’s just frustrating when you have Portland in county, SC right down the street, 4 Wilson County schools the next county over, and now Gallatin wanting to drop us. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the other games, particularly Henry County, but depending on the new regions, we could be looking for 5 non-region games. If we have to look way outside our area for those opponents, it becomes a financial burden. If we end up with Hunters Lane and Glencliff in region, those will already be terrible gates. On your point of winning… I’m sure you understand the more you win, the less opponents you have lining up to play you. 

[Verb58]

This is an interesting subject.  A few years ago Beech was moved to 4A while Hendersonville and Gallatin were 5A.  Beech wouldn’t play Gallatin in an effort to build a winning culture. They developed that culture and came back to the same classification as H and G.  They also went through a coaching change in the process.  Crabtree has been a huge difference maker in Beech’s success.  I remember fans wanting him to be gone after his 2nd season.  Took some lumps and got his team better.

As far as gate goes, I have to say that most teams haven’t held up their end of the bargain when coming to Gallatin.  SC brings a good crowd and most years Hendersonville does.  I honestly can’t recall Beech bringing a huge crowd when the game is at Gallatin.

Myself, not knowing which region we will be placed in next cycle, I can’t say who will and won’t be scheduled based solely on how many non-region games Gallatin has to fill.

To me and my age, Gallatin’s big rivals have been Hendersonville, Mt.Juliet and recently SC.  I hope to always see those 3 on the schedule.  Of course having Beech on the schedule is a very short drive and generates a huge gate at Beech but like I said earlier not so much in the return.  
I guess until I see the region and schedule that this will be a good discussion in the off-season.

Who knows, maybe Gallatin puts all the upper Sumner Teams…Portland, SC, B, H and newbie LC to fill 5 games.

What do you want out of your regular season?  Gate Money, Wins, competition to prepare you for a deep playoff run?

I noticed that Clarksville has used winning games to build confidence which to me, was a huge advantage in last weeks game.  It’s all about what you want to define success with.  

I’m not pretending that other areas and counties aren’t dealing with the same problem.  I can only speak on the teams in Sumner County.

Edited November 3, 2022 by wave88

[GREENWAVE84EG]

Wave88 I also remember when Beech wouldn't play Gallatin.  Sometimes it might not be possible for everybody to play each other, even if they tried.  One or more teams might be in a 7 or 8 team region, thus fewer non region games, open dates might not match up, and everybody wants to get 5 home and 5 away games.  

We'll have to wait and see how it goes, but I wouldn't think anybody has eliminated another at this point.

[mondo44]

Agree with Eers on this. Don’t have a problem with the Sumner County schools. I respect the schedules that Gallatin and Beech played this year. I have a major problem with the Wilson County schools.  Coaches now are more concerned with “my record” and keeping their job above everything else. Most fanbases would rather you go 8-2 with a cream puff schedule than play a tough schedule and go 5-5. I guess gate doesn’t matter.  I can’t imagine not playing Beech and Gallatin. If our friends at the Sumner Co. BOE would move about 100 students from Gallatin to SC problem would be at least partially solved. 5 Sumner County schools in the same region. 

[TheCommissioner]

1 hour ago, wave88 said:

This is an interesting subject.  A few years ago Beech was moved to 4A while Hendersonville and Gallatin were 5A.  Beech wouldn’t play Gallatin in an effort to build a winning culture. They developed that culture and came back to the same classification as H and G.  They also went through a coaching change in the process.  Crabtree has been a huge difference maker in Beech’s success.  I remember fans wanting him to be gone after his 2nd season.  Took some lumps and got his team better.

As far as gate goes, I have to say that most teams haven’t held up their end of the bargain when coming to Gallatin.  SC brings a good crowd and most years Hendersonville does.  I honestly can’t recall Beech bringing a huge crowd when the game is at Gallatin.

Myself, not knowing which region we will be placed in next cycle, I can’t say who will and won’t be scheduled based solely on how many non-region games Gallatin has to fill.

To me and my age, Gallatin’s big rivals have been Hendersonville, Mt.Juliet and recently SC.  I hope to always see those 3 on the schedule.  Of course having Beech on the schedule is a very short drive and generates a huge gate at Beech but like I said earlier not so much in the return.  
I guess until I see the region and schedule that this will be a good discussion in the off-season.

Who knows, maybe Gallatin puts all the upper Sumner Teams…Portland, SC, B, H and newbie LC to fill 5 games.

What do you want out of your regular season?  Gate Money, Wins, competition to prepare you for a deep playoff run?

I noticed that Clarksville has used winning games to build confidence which to me, was a huge advantage in last weeks game.  It’s all about what you want to define success with.  

I’m not pretending that other areas and counties aren’t dealing with the same problem.  I can only speak on the teams in Sumner County.

 

30 minutes ago, GREENWAVE84EG said:

Wave88 I also remember when Beech wouldn't play Gallatin.  Sometimes it might not be possible for everybody to play each other, even if they tried.  One or more teams might be in a 7 or 8 team region, thus fewer non region games, open dates might not match up, and everybody wants to get 5 home and 5 away games.  

We'll have to wait and see how it goes, but I wouldn't think anybody has eliminated another at this point.

I have always enjoyed when Springfield played Gallatin.  And yes I enjoy going to the Wave Yard.  I will admit it bothers me some to be charged to park in Beech’s parking lot.  I

 

[TheCommissioner]

13 minutes ago, mondo44 said:

Agree with Eers on this. Don’t have a problem with the Sumner County schools. I respect the schedules that Gallatin and Beech played this year. I have a major problem with the Wilson County schools.  Coaches now are more concerned with “my record” and keeping their job above everything else. Most fanbases would rather you go 8-2 with a cream puff schedule than play a tough schedule and go 5-5. I guess gate doesn’t matter.  I can’t imagine not playing Beech and Gallatin. If our friends at the Sumner Co. BOE would move about 100 students from Gallatin to SC problem would be at least partially solved. 5 Sumner County schools in the same region. 

Or follow the MontCo play and have every school in the county play In  the same class to create a Region @eers

Edited November 3, 2022 by TheCommissioner

[eers]

32 minutes ago, TheCommissioner said:

 

I have always enjoyed when Springfield played Gallatin.  And yes I enjoy going to the Wave Yard.  I will admit it bothers me some to be charged to park in Beech’s parking lot.  I

 

Just for clarification on the parking fee… you can park free at the elementary and middle schools. The parking fee is to help fund the FFA program at the school and is worked by the FFA students. 

[eers]

1 hour ago, wave88 said:

This is an interesting subject.  A few years ago Beech was moved to 4A while Hendersonville and Gallatin were 5A.  Beech wouldn’t play Gallatin in an effort to build a winning culture. They developed that culture and came back to the same classification as H and G.  They also went through a coaching change in the process.  Crabtree has been a huge difference maker in Beech’s success.  I remember fans wanting him to be gone after his 2nd season.  Took some lumps and got his team better.

As far as gate goes, I have to say that most teams haven’t held up their end of the bargain when coming to Gallatin.  SC brings a good crowd and most years Hendersonville does.  I honestly can’t recall Beech bringing a huge crowd when the game is at Gallatin.

Myself, not knowing which region we will be placed in next cycle, I can’t say who will and won’t be scheduled based solely on how many non-region games Gallatin has to fill.

To me and my age, Gallatin’s big rivals have been Hendersonville, Mt.Juliet and recently SC.  I hope to always see those 3 on the schedule.  Of course having Beech on the schedule is a very short drive and generates a huge gate at Beech but like I said earlier not so much in the return.  
I guess until I see the region and schedule that this will be a good discussion in the off-season.

Who knows, maybe Gallatin puts all the upper Sumner Teams…Portland, SC, B, H and newbie LC to fill 5 games.

What do you want out of your regular season?  Gate Money, Wins, competition to prepare you for a deep playoff run?

I noticed that Clarksville has used winning games to build confidence which to me, was a huge advantage in last weeks game.  It’s all about what you want to define success with.  

I’m not pretending that other areas and counties aren’t dealing with the same problem.  I can only speak on the teams in Sumner County.

I don’t think these have to be mutually exclusive. I think you can play a very competitive schedule and have more local play as well. Like I said, I enjoy some of the travel and playing different teams, but I also enjoyed the MJ series. I would love to keep Henry County on the schedule, and while I think Brentwood and Summit typically give you a good look for the playoffs, I would still rather have MJ or SC on the schedule than to travel to Farragut, Jackson, or who knows where next year. Gallatin telling Beech they don’t want to play next year (prior to even knowing the regions) is a bit puzzling to me. Sounds like to me Watson is looking for an easier game or perhaps a guaranteed W. That has to be frustrating as a Gallatin guy or at least I know it is for my friends that grew up a Gallatin fans. 

[eers]

56 minutes ago, TheCommissioner said:

Or follow the MontCo play and have every school in the county play In  the same class to create a Region @eers

That almost feels like throwing in the towel in their case and saying “we can’t win anyway and this way we get more teams in the playoffs”. 

[TheCommissioner]

42 minutes ago, eers said:

That almost feels like throwing in the towel in their case and saying “we can’t win anyway and this way we get more teams in the playoffs”. 

Yes, my thoughts exactly