running up scores in a high school sport? classless

Teams usually know before hand that the game is not going to be close. Dressing some 9s and 10s may alleviate the problem. Coaches know before the game whether or not it is going to be a contest or a route. Having players in RMF gives a definite advantage over the small towns that do not have access to city programs.

Bear, I disagree.

Although dressing grade 9 and tens would seem like an answer how do you tell the grade eleven and twelve kids that have paid their dues and put in the time you are gunna sit so the weaker new players can play in your place? It is just not fair to a kid that has paid his dues to a program in some cases in thier last year of football.

Also Instead of treating the RMF games as some kind of unfair advantage other programs should use the Lumsden model as a guide to get their younger players experience. I know that In the Fort anyway the coaches have put in the effort to get the "Rookies" Several games this year which will only make the young guys stronger going into next season.

Facts are facts Lumsden has a strong team this year thru hard work and a great program. They have the full support of their town and all availible players. I have said it before I will not second guess the coaches for building a system that has made them dominant just because other programs are not as strong. All the Players and fans of other teams need to hold their heads up win or lose and not try to look down on a team just because this season they are stronger.

With all that said The Maraders Will play the devils in the quarter Finals this year. Not one player on the Fort team is saying they want to play a weaker grade nine and ten team in Lumsden just to "keep it close!" They all understand that if they want to be Provincial champs this year the road goes thru Lumsden and if they want to be the best this year they have to beat the best.

GG

I completely agree with G. Grant. Players who pay their dues deserve a chance to play in their senior years. I also like your point about facing reality, any team in the Province whether is Lumsden, Assinibioa, Delisle, Humboldt, or any of the other teams teams that were not 1st place in their conference will have to play the best team eventually to win. For the past 2 years Lumsden has most likely faced their toughest opponent in the semi final, that just shows you never know when you ll play the "best team/hardest game" but either way your gonna have to face that team and play that game.

Well said G Grant - Everyone is giving Lumsden a hard time for being so good. Sounds like jealousy to me! Everyone should be like Fort and suck it up and get better. Playing good teams like Lumsden only does one thing. It makes you better. If you're not willing to get get better just quit because your just teaching your kids to be quitters anyways. If more teams were like Fort then 9 man football would only get stronger and stronger. Keep up the great work.

The teams that are closer to Regina and Saskatoon have a distinct advantage over teams like Meadow Lake that are hours away because their younger players have a league with hundreds of kids to play against. Meadow Lake has a population of 5500 , Regina and Saskatoon have 40 times as many prospective players. Yes , starting a minor football league with a couple of teams in Meadow Lake would be a start but you are competing with a finite group of players. If Lumsden's junior players could only play against other Lumsden teams their program would not be as competitive. Similar circumstances have evolved the sport of volleyball in this province. The competitive small town teams play "club" volleyball part of the year and " high school " volleyball during that season. With indoor facilities available in Regina and Saskatoon perhaps there will soon be winter league football.

I agree with ftblth, the teams with a geographic location to the cities have a distinct advantage over most of the other 9 man teams. That is obvious. Lumsden does not incur any extra cost with their students playing RMF. Most other 9 man teams simply cannot absorb the cost. As for not letting your weaker players play because it is the right of the older players, then you will have blowouts, and injuries to the players of the programs who are simply not at that level. Might be a good idea to break 9 man into 2 divisions to allow for a more levelled competition. I believe the six man division has 2A and A. Might be something to look at.

I do not think that breaking 9 man into two conferences is truly an option due to the number of teams (6 man has 40 teams total and 9 man has 24).

Good point. I just wanted to identify the widening spread of calibre within 9 man. Many schools do not have the same opportunities as the strong programs.

I think that a number of good points are made here. In many programs when a blow out is happening it gives the coach a chance play players in a varsity game who might never see such a game otherwise. This helps give young players a chance to gain experience at a high level and in turn develops the team for the future. It is a fact that a team with a JV team playing in an established league will not have to do this, a luxury many programs do not have. In regards to being jealous of a program being able to take advantage experienced players coming into your program, all coaches would like to take advantage of that.

I think the issue is more that some schools are struggling to keep a program alive and some are struggling to start a program. I totally agree that a widening spread of calibre is happening in 9-man because of many reasons. I think as I said earlier in this forum that we may have room for another division. I think that it is possible that a new 12 man division could be developed with stronger 9 man teams and possibly some of the weaker 12 man programs. This would possibly open up the opportunity for some schools to develop programs. I think that if we were to have 6 or so of the stronger 9 man programs move into another division we would likely see a number of 6 man teams change to 9 man. I just can't see how any scenario that evens the competition out isn't a win win. We potentially win by getting more athletes involved and we win by getting more communities excited about high school football. I don't know just a thought!

The weaker city teams would sloughter the 9 man teams moving up to 12-man, look at a school like Marion Graham, they moved from 4A 12 man to 3A 12 man and won back to back city titles along with a provincial title and will contend this year again. The nineman teams would be moving into a whole new style of football, the difference between 9 and 12 man is HUGE.

I would agree that the jump would be huge if the players had not done it before. Given that teams around Saskatoon and Regina have many of their younger players playing in 12 man until they play high school ball the leap would not be as big as say a team moving from 6 to 9 man. Would it take a few years for those players to challenge? I can not say either way. A lot of that has to do with the talent that they have in their younger ranks. If their thier RMF or Saskatoon Minor Football teams are very competive then I would expect their 12 man teams to be competive sooner, rather then later.

I think that we would all be surprised at how fast teams would adapt. I have seen 9 man teams play exhibition games in in the 12 man format on several occasions and it is not as bad as you think. I have also seen 6 man teams play play 9 man and they do very well. I think that the basic fundamentals are the same and the teams that we are talking about are very good at those. Do not under estimate the players and coaches to adapt.