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Warsaw needs a new home if it intends to be a player in 6A


Guest DT

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The more I hear about declining numbers and staff turnover at NLC schools, the more I am inclined to think that Warsaw should be looking for a new conference home for its athletic teams.  

Enrollment continues to rise at WCHS, football roster numbers climb annually under Coach Bart Curtis, and the Tigers are steadily building a competitive gap between themselves and many other conference members.

The Tigers have scheduled Ohio powerhouse Dublin Coffman and speedy Duneland Conference foe Michigan City to open the season in weeks one and two.  Then the conference season starts and Curtis is facing a schedule of games against schools much smaller than his.  How can Warsaw really prepare for a 6A sectional after playing a roster of 3A, 4A and 5A schools for 7 consecutive weeks?

I dont think they can?

We spoke to Coach Curtis in our interview series and as expected, he was complementary towards the other NLC schools and applauded the great coaching and the toughness of the conference.  Everything you would expect out of a class act like Curtis.

Bottom line, Curtis and Warsaw are doing everythinjg they can to move forward in 6A football.  Great facilities, solid numbers, excellent year round training, tough non con scheduling.  A move to The SAC and a steady diet of regular season Fort Wayne football against the likes of Snider, Homestead, Dwenger, Luers, Carroll, etc will help push this program over the top and give Curtis the opportunity to take his team all the way to Indy on TG weekend.

 

 

 

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Enrollments 2021 clssification

Warsaw  2103

Goshen   1923

Concord  1657

Mishawaka  1477

Northridge  1397

Plymouth  1097

Northview  1016

Wawasee   939

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I think of them when I talk about what I would like to see happen. I know it never will, but do feel it should. If East Allen would consolidate into one, MAYBE two high schools, they could go in with the larger SAC schools, along with Warsaw to form a new 5A/6A conference. Wishful thinking, I know. 

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Enrollments 2021 clssification

Warsaw  2103

Goshen   1923

Concord  1657

Mishawaka  1477

Northridge  1397

Plymouth  1097

Northwood   901

Wawasee   939

 

Thanks NLC.  

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2 hours ago, Irishman said:

I think of them when I talk about what I would like to see happen. I know it never will, but do feel it should. If East Allen would consolidate into one, MAYBE two high schools, they could go in with the larger SAC schools, along with Warsaw to form a new 5A/6A conference. Wishful thinking, I know. 

New Haven ,at one time ,was considered a large school, before the classification started. Then Heritage was constructed in the late 60’s to alleviate the crowding. Instead of building a new building for NHHS.  Then to alleviate heritage h.s. crowding, Harding high was built. But the area of East Allen system is pretty vast maybe, for two schools.  
im not sure about the area, size wise,covered by Warsaw high school in comparison.  

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3 hours ago, DT said:

Bottom line, Curtis and Warsaw are doing everythinjg they can to move forward in 6A football.  Great facilities, solid numbers, excellent year round training, tough non con scheduling.  A move to The SAC and a steady diet of regular season Fort Wayne football against the likes of Snider, Homestead, Dwenger, Luers, Carroll, etc will help push this program over the top and give Curtis the opportunity to take his team all the way to Indy on TG weekend

Warsaw would be a great addition to the SAC. May have to invite Huntington North or Leo to have an even number of teams. At the end of the day though, if the SAC were ever to expand, I could see Leo first, New Haven second, HN third, and Warsaw fourth as priority schools...........mainly for distance reasons. 

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7 hours ago, BTF said:

Warsaw would be a great addition to the SAC. May have to invite Huntington North or Leo to have an even number of teams. At the end of the day though, if the SAC were ever to expand, I could see Leo first, New Haven second, HN third, and Warsaw fourth as priority schools...........mainly for distance reasons. 

 Good call out..anyone know the longest distance between schools in the top tier conference's..or any conference alignments that require "distant" traveling? 

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1 hour ago, Justasportsfan said:

 Good call out..anyone know the longest distance between schools in the top tier conference's..or any conference alignments that require "distant" traveling? 

Warsaw would be about 45 minutes from most of their SAC competition........Wayne being the furthest at 60 minutes. Huntington North would be 20-40 minutes from SAC opponents.

LaPorte to Crown Point = 54 minutes

LaPorte to Crown Point = 45 minutes

Valpo to  Crown Point = 33 minutes

Edited by BTF
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On 7/26/2021 at 8:26 AM, DT said:

The more I hear about declining numbers and staff turnover at NLC schools, the more I am inclined to think that Warsaw should be looking for a new conference home for its athletic teams.  

Enrollment continues to rise at WCHS, football roster numbers climb annually under Coach Bart Curtis, and the Tigers are steadily building a competitive gap between themselves and many other conference members.

The Tigers have scheduled Ohio powerhouse Dublin Coffman and speedy Duneland Conference foe Michigan City to open the season in weeks one and two.  Then the conference season starts and Curtis is facing a schedule of games against schools much smaller than his.  How can Warsaw really prepare for a 6A sectional after playing a roster of 3A, 4A and 5A schools for 7 consecutive weeks?

I dont think they can?

We spoke to Coach Curtis in our interview series and as expected, he was complementary towards the other NLC schools and applauded the great coaching and the toughness of the conference.  Everything you would expect out of a class act like Curtis.

Bottom line, Curtis and Warsaw are doing everythinjg they can to move forward in 6A football.  Great facilities, solid numbers, excellent year round training, tough non con scheduling.  A move to The SAC and a steady diet of regular season Fort Wayne football against the likes of Snider, Homestead, Dwenger, Luers, Carroll, etc will help push this program over the top and give Curtis the opportunity to take his team all the way to Indy on TG weekend.

 

 

 

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no it won't, Warsaw dose not want to be there

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15 minutes ago, WCHS Tiger Fan said:

no it won't, Warsaw dose not want to be there

The program will not grow and prosper if they stay in The NLC

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8 hours ago, MarshallCounty said:

DT, the Michiana area schools as a whole need to have a major culture shift. A few places have mad necessary changes, but for the most part, the region as a whole is being left behind compared to other regions of the state.

The area seems to be dependent on the RV industry.  Which tends to run hot and cold.  

You have the lake culture, which competes directly with football.

Football seems to be slipping at many schools in the arean  Programs not on a level they used to be :

Goshen

Jimtown

Penn

Concord

Plymouth

Wawasee

St Joe

Huntington North

New Prairie - have they slipped since Russ left?

The HNAC has somewhat filled the void, but a 1A-2A rising conference cannot replace a declining 4A/5A/6A conference from a statewide perspective.

 

 

 

 

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9 hours ago, WCHS Tiger Fan said:

no it won't, Warsaw dose not want to be there

I’m with you here. Being from the Fart Wayne area, Warsaw is too far removed from the Summit City. They need to find something in that northern pocket, their area, too keep up the interest up for the program. 

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I mean, Warsaw didn't even win the NLC outright last year, so might want to pump the brakes a bit. 

Yes, Bart has changed the Warsaw football culture in a couple of short years, but I don't see them bailing on the NLC 60 years of membership and all the rivalries/ relationships they have built with the rest of us member schools. 

Outside of Wawasee and Goshen, the rest of the schools may have had a down year or two, but in general are right there competing with any other conference in this part of the state in all sports. 

Even those two schools have a history of football success, Northwood isn't too far removed from a state title game, Northridge has a young new coach, some of the newest and best facilities in the state, Mishawaka shared the title last year and looks be just as good this year, Concord is almost always a contender in 5a North. 

Aside from all of those facts, there are more sports than just football, and while Warsaw is consistently competitive for the overall NLC All Sports Awards, Northridge has dominated this in recent years.

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On 7/26/2021 at 8:26 AM, DT said:

We spoke to Coach Curtis in our interview series and as expected, he was complementary towards the other NLC schools and applauded the great coaching and the toughness of the conference.  Everything you would expect out of a class act like Curtis.

@DT - has this been released yet? Just want to make sure I didn't miss it.

34 minutes ago, NRRaider2001 said:

Aside from all of those facts, there are more sports than just football, and while Warsaw is consistently competitive for the overall NLC All Sports Awards, Northridge has dominated this in recent years.

This is the biggest reason why I could never see Warsaw legitimately leaving the NLC for the SAC. Outside of football, the NLC is a fantastic conference in terms of competition across all sports. I know we all like to talk specifically about football here (obviously), but a conference shift affects all sports in a high school's athletic department.

That being said - while I do not believe Warsaw would ever leave the NLC for another existing conference... if (big IF here) schools like Penn, Elkhart, Carroll, Homestead, and Snider came to Warsaw asking to create a new large school conference in Indiana (with the additions of maybe Dwenger, North Side and Northrop or some combination of those 3)... THEN I could MAYBE see Warsaw moving, but even then I am not entirely convinced.

Also - another point directly to the title of this thread "... if it intends to be a player in 6A" - who is to say that Warsaw will be in 6A in 5-10 years? While I do not think the Warsaw are is necessarily shrinking, other areas of the state are definitely growing at a faster rate. Based on the previous enrollements, Warsaw was in the bottom 7 of 6A enrollment (#26 in the state at 2,103 students) and about 70 students separate them from where class 5A enrollment starts (#33 FW Northrop at 2,032 students). Pretty soon the NLC could be a conference of 5A/4A only.

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49 minutes ago, NLCTigerFan07 said:

@DT - has this been released yet? Just want to make sure I didn't miss it.

This is the biggest reason why I could never see Warsaw legitimately leaving the NLC for the SAC. Outside of football, the NLC is a fantastic conference in terms of competition across all sports. I know we all like to talk specifically about football here (obviously), but a conference shift affects all sports in a high school's athletic department.

That being said - while I do not believe Warsaw would ever leave the NLC for another existing conference... if (big IF here) schools like Penn, Elkhart, Carroll, Homestead, and Snider came to Warsaw asking to create a new large school conference in Indiana (with the additions of maybe Dwenger, North Side and Northrop or some combination of those 3)... THEN I could MAYBE see Warsaw moving, but even then I am not entirely convinced.

Also - another point directly to the title of this thread "... if it intends to be a player in 6A" - who is to say that Warsaw will be in 6A in 5-10 years? While I do not think the Warsaw are is necessarily shrinking, other areas of the state are definitely growing at a faster rate. Based on the previous enrollements, Warsaw was in the bottom 7 of 6A enrollment (#26 in the state at 2,103 students) and about 70 students separate them from where class 5A enrollment starts (#33 FW Northrop at 2,032 students). Pretty soon the NLC could be a conference of 5A/4A only.

This one is available in audio version only on Hoosier High School Football

https://www.facebook.com/Hoosier-High-School-Football-107360041590757/videos/398319414930847

 

A little grainy

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