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Saturday, October 31, 2015 | BataviasBest.org
In Section V High School Football, Sectional Titles have proven to mean a whole lot to those that pursue them.
While League Titles are fun, and are certainly something that should be acknowledged and commended, it’s not too much of a stretch to say that a Section V Football Championship can in fact be life-changing. Basically it’s like the difference between a Conference Title, and a Super Bowl Title by NFL standards. Just ask anyone who has ever won one, and anyone who has ever come close to winning one.
They’ll tell you…. and they’ll keep telling you, and telling you, and telling you.
That being said, if you’re from Genesee County, you know that finding someone who has won a Section V Football Title in recent years may be more difficult than one may assume. For since the last ‘Golden Age’ of GR Football in the mid-2000s, when from ’04-’06 four GR teams won Section V Titles (OA ’04, Elba ’05, OA and ND ’06), the only Section V Football crown won by a GR team has been Notre Dame’s 2012 championship. Aside from that, members of the Genesee Region Football League have endured a decade-long title drought of such steep proportions only the Buffalo Bills’ Super Bowl dry spell seems to draw any noticeable comparison.
To put it plainly, success in the Sectional round for GR League teams has simply not been what it used to be.
This GR Football fan shared his viewpoint on the lack of postseason success experienced within the GR.
What’s changed?
In my opinion, from the outside looking in – many things. However, one seems to stand out above the rest:
Numbers.
Participation across the board has undoubtedly taken a massive hit since the days of GR Sectional success. While there are several teams who have displayed this recent downturn, Oakfield has been a prime example of it.
A traditional powerhouse in the lower classifications when I was in school during the early to late 2000s (graduated in ’09), the Hornets have now fallen on extremely hard times in terms of their ability to get student athletes to come out and play football. Times have gotten so tough for OA, that this program that was once steeped in Championship tradition, was in fact pursuing a merger with Pembroke for a short time during this past offseason.
Over the summer, OA was struggling to fill their roster and were indeed close to disbanding their football team this fall in order to combine with Pembroke. However, despite what seems to be a sign of things to come for the Hornets, greater efforts prevailed at OA and they were indeed able to compete as a program this season.
The potential merge between Oakfield and Pembroke would not have been the first of it’s kind within the GR League as years ago, Elba Football, another storied GR program, did indeed go through a unification of their own with Byron-Bergen (who was previously without football) in an effort to maintain adequate numbers. Now, as the Lancers continue to enjoy prosperity on the field, as they did prior to combining with B-B, a majority of their team is made up of student athletes from their sister school – without which Elba would likely be unable to field a team.
Also resembling the troubles experienced by Oakfield this past offseason, and Elba in past years, programs such as Pembroke and Holley are going through a recent decrease in numbers as well. As a result both schools, along with OA, were forced to halt their respective JV programs for the time being. If the low numbers at the varsity level weren’t crippling enough for these programs, going forward without a feeder system at the lower levels will prove to be even more debilitating.
The Holley Football program was rumored to have pursued a merger with Kendall (who currently doesn’t offer football) this past offseason but the request seemed to fall through as a result of the Eagles favoring their boys soccer program – which they believed would take a hit as a result of the introduction of football into their fall sports offerings.
To make matters a bit more clear as far as the numbers drop we are experiencing throughout the GR, let’s look at the stats:
From what I could gather online, in 2005 the average number of players per GR Football roster was 26.5 – and that was with each and every team (to the best of my knowledge) within the league also providing close to equal numbers on their JV rosters.
In 2015 the average number of players per GR Football roster is, you guessed it, down from where it was 10 years ago as now there are just an average of 25.7 players per roster. Now keep in mind, while a one player per roster difference doesn’t seem like a whole lot, that number must be put into context with Elba having recently combined with Byron-Bergen (increasing their numbers), and Oakfield, Pembroke, as well as Holley going forward without JV teams as it stands right now – which increases the amount of underclassmen on the Varsity roster who would typically be playing at a lower level.
Pembroke, Oakfield, and Holley all went without JV programs this fall.
When you take all of these matters into account, along with the fact that sports such as soccer and cross country are continuing to gain traction amongst a wider range of student athletes, and the reality that more student athletes have chosen to specialize in other sports outside of the fall season, it is no surprise, nor is it a question, that GR Football has a numbers problem.
Going forward if the problem continues to progress without a solution, we may start to see even more mergers between schools and perhaps even the end of GR Football as we know it.
Which would be devastating to say the least.
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Now I’d like to hear from you.
Do you believe that a lack of numbers is the true reason for the lack of postseason success experienced by GR League members over the past ten years?
Or is it something else that has plagued the GR in the Sectional round in recent times?
Express your opinion by either:
A.) Commenting below this post directly on our webpage using your Facebook account. It’s easy! Just login using Facebook if you aren’t already, and enter your comment in the text box provided! No more hassle in signing up for random accounts. Just log in, and go!
B.) Commenting on one of our social media outlets, either on Facebook beneath the link to this article, or on Twitter using #GRSectionals. This seems to be the easiest form of sharing one’s opinion, but if you would like to have your opinion seen by the thousands who visit our site each day, be sure to share your comment on our webpage using the method in option A.
C.) Send an email to [email protected] and leave your comment there. This is for those who aren’t social media savvy.
The most well thought out comments will be shared in a follow up post later next week.
Thanks for your input!
Other articles you may like:
Above the Fold: A few in-depth details going into this weekend’s Section V Football Sectionals
5 things to know heading into this weekend’s Section V Football Sectional games
