US31

For the record...any SF discussion I particpate in is supposed to begin with DON'T FORGET ABOUT WEBO!!! 🤪 My issue with 1A is you could very well end up with a yo-yo situation of P/Ps moving up and down "taking turns" in 1A. Lutheran, LCC, CC... Shrinking 1A down to 32 would bump some of these schools up to 2A. I don't think its unrealistic to move any other P/P up into the 33-?? 2A.

I would reiterate, I think that should only happen if we shrink 1A to smallest 32.

While I am personally in favor of the following: a 4 year minimum, "rolling" SF. 1a should be smallest 32, 6a biggest 32. Divide rest evenly by 4. No P/P in single A class of 32 smallest. I would also piggy back on your comment above and add that (IMHO) no program should be SF'd up unless they have points AND a state title. Something just doesn't seem right about SF if you are moving programs that have not actually won a title. I maybe wrong about that...but its how I feel.

Clearinghouse method was basically a system where you only count the number of kids that participate in ANY extracurricular activities. This wouldn't be difficult to do...most schools have some form of "Code of Conduct" that students have to sign in order to participate in any extracurricular (sports, band, etc), so the data isn't gonna be hard to grab. This number would be use for classificaiton, not the DOE "enrollement" number. This does a more accurate job of classifying based upon the size of the "participant" population in the school....and it doesn't matter if that school is public, P/P, charter, Hogwarts, etc The real enrollement disarity the P/P's enjoy is they don't have the (please forgive me for using this term....its the best descriptor, I can think of) "dead weight" part of the student body. They have no mandatory enrollees. ALL public schools have kids they HAVE to enroll by law. These kids may contribute nothing to the school in terms of extracurricular participation (for a variety of reasons), but they are still counted in enrollement. Now what that percentage of "never gonna participate in anything" enrollee's actually calculates to will vary a LOT. At Zionsville, Cathedral, University, West Lafayette....its probably a small percentage of the overall student body. At IPS, South Bend Schools, etc...its probably a LARGE percentage.

Not if its a "rolling" 4 year cycle. The year they acrue enough points they would bump up the next season.

Not to dig up any old dead horses...but these so called academics need to take statistics 101 again....As has been pointed out ad naseum....The advantage in P/P demographics is not who they count.....but who they NEVER have to count. The fact this went unstated in the article is due to one of more of the following: Poor quoting of the researchers statements from the Indystar. Ignorance of the researchers on the issues relavent to their study Some type of bias in study's collection methods. A "clearinghouse" method of counting students would account for this, and may have possibly precluded any need for SF.

All I'm saying is that whatever problems exist with current NIC schools....those problems are not the current NLC schools' to solve. At no point am I "mad" about anything. I'm just trying to point out the reality of how these decisions are made, and all of these schools should be welcome to make the best decisions for their own student athletes. Sometimes those best interests are common to other schools...sometimes they aren't.

Why should the NLC blow up their conference to help SB area schools???? This would be stupid for Ply/Waw/NR/NW. Say bye bye to a large amount of your athletic gate, and quite a few of your JV/Frosh contests in a lot of sports. Several MUCH smaller athletic programs want nothing to do with the SB schools for those exact reasons. Why should 4A NLC schools want to hitch themselves to those SB schools???? You could argue that the NLC is holding back Warsaw, but they have a much better situation in the NLC than they would in a South Bend/Elkhart conference.

Been several years since I've had an oppourtunity to talk to Coach James...but spent MANY summers working Belden Line Camp with Coach James back in the day. He is one of the good ones, and there wasn't just a little bit of knowledge I absorbed from him....both X&O's and just how to coach kids. Best of Luck Coach!!

From the Star article, they mention "safety"...apparently too many injuries are occuring during rebounds after free throws. Eliminating that occasional extra rebound is "safer" Total clown explanation

I beleive all HCC teams are only non-con weeks 1 & 2. Penn is a nice fit in the HCC in terms of school size, demographics, etc. Just not too close. Would be nice to see them schedule some HCC teams.

Penn to the NLC does nothing for Penn on the big stage. Is it better than current NIC situation....yes. Is playing Northwood, Northridge, Goshen, & Concord preparing you to beat the best schools in the Region, FW, and Indy...emphatically No. Go Indendent, and I'm sure with in a year or so you could schedule Mishawaka, Warsaw, Elkhart, and a couple DAC schools, along with your marquee matchups with Carmel, Cathedrawl, Brother Rice, etc. It seems like you could get CG on a schedule too. Penn to the NLC makes zero sense for the NLC or Penn.

Does TV not have a JV?

Did Clay have a JV and/or Frosh team last year? If not, then I can completley understand a school dropping them. Why schedule a team that would not allow your own JV and Frosh to have a game that week?

In my mind I hear "Holiday Road" from National Lampoon's Vacation playing while I look at this map.

That seems to be a textbook case of what Bob is describing above. I don't know if he rules were different in 2000, but that looks like blatant false start to simulate a snap...they aren't even "shifting" to a legal formation.

I have no actual knowledge of this decision process at WC, but I don't see Kirsch being so petty. I could see Kirsch saying to someone else ..."Look we aren't driving all the way to FtW on Saturday for JV/Frosh...can we at least drive to CG for those games"

and the options were....?

Kicking Goshen out too?

Maybe they'll need some new bus drivers???

Or take 421?

Could be some of both?....Trader's Point Christian is right there off 65. I don't know how long theyve been open, but they've only had football a handful of years.

Its not. The fact that some of the NIC schools cannot field JV/Freshman teams in MANY sports is the primary factor. Why should Bremen, Jimtown, Glenn, etc stay in conference when half the kids in their programs constantly have their games/contests cancelled. Seems like the only responsible thing to do for their student athletes. The reality is, this change says less about the smaller NIC schools and MUCH more about some of the larger schools. All conferences have different by-laws, but generally is a combination of the Principals & AD's.

Recently spoke to a HC at one of the 3 schools mentioned often in this thread. They were very specific this was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, and for some was THE primary factor in leaving NIC.

Penn, Elkhart....maybe Warsaw. Strange things may happen in the Region with Penn, Elkhart, Harr, & McCutch all being part of recent conference shake ups.