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Sunday, November 8, 2015 | BataviasBest.org
In an email that I received after my previous post concerning GR Football and their lack of recent postseason success, Dale from Corfu expressed his reaction to my article – explaining his view of the situation.
Here is what Dale had to say:
I am 68 and played at Corfu (now Pembroke). As a Junior in 1963 we won what was then the Genesee-Orleans League with a 7-0 record, including a big win over a powerful Attica team. We had a total of 37 players with no JV.
Today, there are so many other things for students to do. Also, football is a grind and for too many people, especially the parents, the elephant in the room is the fear of injury. The numbers will only continue to decrease and rules will be implemented to eventually make high football look like an intramural flag football program.
Today, I live in the DC area where the schools all have enrollments of 1500+ – and even their football games draw only the parents and a few die hards like myself.
Also, as far as the GR’s lack of postseason success, there is not a lot of diversity in the league now a days. And in today’s game, the game is all about speed.
After my time at Corfu, I moved to Buffalo for my SR year and played for Bishop Gibbons (now closed). Playing in the catholic league was a major step up from the G-O league.
I agree with many of the points that Dale brought up in his email.
First, when he mentions the “many other things” for students to do: I imagine he is referring to the recent emergence of soccer, along with other sports, as well as other activities outside of the sports realm which have weighed heavily on GR Football’s overall participation numbers in recent years. I discussed this in my previous post.
Secondly, I believe Dale’s point concerning the lack of diversity in the GR was what I failed to mention in my first post related to this topic.
In the GR, running the football between the tackles is simply a way of life (outside of the way Oakfield has played recently). However, as teams within the league advance to postseason play, I believe in many cases these teams have trouble adjusting to a different style which typically comes with postseason action. Therefore, often when GR teams are forced to step out of their comfort zone during Sectionals, they do not find the same success as they had found playing within a system which was more conducive to their own system during the regular year.
How do we solve these issues? The answer is relatively simple.
In order to flip the downward numbers trend which has appeared in recent years, I believe that increased efforts to further participation in youth leagues around Genesee County will work wonders in preserving Varsity rosters in years to come. After an apparent drop-off of sorts in participation at the youth level about 3-4 years ago, there has been a resurgence of sorts in leagues around Genesee County as of late – which has been spearheaded by the efforts of various individuals, including a few Varsity coaches from around the GR League. I truly believe that their efforts will start to pay off in the years to come, and I hope that I’m correct because otherwise, we may be seeing changes throughout the league going forward.
In addition to the numbers issue we have beaten to death over the past two weeks, the apparent lack of diversity within the GR League also has a simple solution. In order to develop a more adaptable style of play within the league, skill development at the youth level over the next several years is a must. If there is hope to advance the level of competition throughout the league for years to come, those involved must continue to develop young athletes’ ability to run, pass, and catch in relation to a progressive style of play – as from my perspective, the GR already sits behind most leagues throughout Section V in terms of their overall adaptation to today’s game.
In order to do so, I believe coaches at both the Varsity and JV level will continue to become more involved with teaching these young athletes the basics – which will require cooperation with youth coaches in their respective towns. Some have already taken this step, but I believe it is time for each program to become more-integrated with their local youth program in order to develop more continuity and depth within their Varsity program going forward.
All in all, it comes down to the ground level.
Providing young athletes with adequate instruction in the basic skills of the game, while also allowing them to understand the importance of their progression into the football player of today is vital to the advancement of the GR League and its team’s future postseason aspirations. As efforts to do so increase, so will the success experienced by teams within the league come Sectional time.
It’s that simple.
Other articles you may like:
GR Football and Sectional Titles: Mixing like oil and water since the mid-2000s
