Small schools in the St. Louis area are having a much tougher time getting kids out.
Class 4 Dubourgh finished with 17 players. Class 4 St Charles has 800 kids in school
had less than 38 kids in total program. Many class 2 and 3 schools only have varsity
teams Soccer is huge in St. Louis area and kids don't want to put in the work. I coached 27 years of varsity football up there and things have really changes. There wont be another state champion in small schools come out of st. louis again. Trinity and Lutheran North have great talent but the kids
show up at different times in their high school career and you can never beat a school like Lamar
where kids start in grade school running high school program. 5 schools have dropped football and
I can see that happening more up here. Very few lower level teams and lot of assistants are non teachers. Small towns that have tradition and the administration really cares about athletics will always dominate small school football. Class 4 has a few still thriving programs but very few. Class 5 and 6 schools have enough kids to run strong programs. Great example Berkeley rated number 1 in class 3 had 28 total kids and many of those kids have very difficult lives I knew they had no chance against Blair Oaks who had over 60 kids and don't have to worry about safety where they live. As Berkeley coach said in the paper he has so much respect for his players for what many over come just to be on a team. He is a class act. I hope football can survive up here in small school but it going to get harder and harder without a doubt.
Class 4 Dubourgh finished with 17 players. Class 4 St Charles has 800 kids in school
had less than 38 kids in total program. Many class 2 and 3 schools only have varsity
teams Soccer is huge in St. Louis area and kids don't want to put in the work. I coached 27 years of varsity football up there and things have really changes. There wont be another state champion in small schools come out of st. louis again. Trinity and Lutheran North have great talent but the kids
show up at different times in their high school career and you can never beat a school like Lamar
where kids start in grade school running high school program. 5 schools have dropped football and
I can see that happening more up here. Very few lower level teams and lot of assistants are non teachers. Small towns that have tradition and the administration really cares about athletics will always dominate small school football. Class 4 has a few still thriving programs but very few. Class 5 and 6 schools have enough kids to run strong programs. Great example Berkeley rated number 1 in class 3 had 28 total kids and many of those kids have very difficult lives I knew they had no chance against Blair Oaks who had over 60 kids and don't have to worry about safety where they live. As Berkeley coach said in the paper he has so much respect for his players for what many over come just to be on a team. He is a class act. I hope football can survive up here in small school but it going to get harder and harder without a doubt.
