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Forget Seeding ... how about NEUTRAL SITE Regional and Semi-States please!


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We all know and converse plenty about seeding sectionals, but are there any others out there that wishes Regional and Semi-State games were played at neutral sites? Every other team sport within IHSAA has neutral sites for these rounds, why not football? Is it really too much of a logistical nightmare? I find it hard to believe with how Ohio has done it for years. Imagine these neutral site regionals last year (just stuck to the North because, well, that's where I am)

6A

Valparaiso: Merrillville vs. Warsaw
Marion: Carmel vs. Homestead

5A

Elkhart: Mishawaka vs. Valparaiso
Laf Jeff: FW Dwenger vs. Harrison (WL)

4A

Michigan City: Hobart vs. New Prairie
Homestead: East Noble vs. Mississinewa

3A

Plymouth: Knox vs. Mishawaka Marian
Noblesville: Chatard vs. FW Concordia

2A

Harrison (WL): Andrean vs. Lewis Cass
Warsaw: Eastbrook vs. Eastside

1A

Logansport: LCC vs. North Judson
Bluffton: Adams Central vs. South Adams

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21 minutes ago, NLCTigerFan07 said:

We all know and converse plenty about seeding sectionals, but are there any others out there that wishes Regional and Semi-State games were played at neutral sites? Every other team sport within IHSAA has neutral sites for these rounds, why not football? Is it really too much of a logistical nightmare? I find it hard to believe with how Ohio has done it for years. Imagine these neutral site regionals last year (just stuck to the North because, well, that's where I am)

6A

Valparaiso: Merrillville vs. Warsaw
Marion: Carmel vs. Homestead

5A

Elkhart: Mishawaka vs. Valparaiso
Laf Jeff: FW Dwenger vs. Harrison (WL)

4A

Michigan City: Hobart vs. New Prairie
Homestead: East Noble vs. Mississinewa

3A

Plymouth: Knox vs. Mishawaka Marian
Noblesville: Chatard vs. FW Concordia

2A

Harrison (WL): Andrean vs. Lewis Cass
Warsaw: Eastbrook vs. Eastside

1A

Logansport: LCC vs. North Judson
Bluffton: Adams Central vs. South Adams

I'm coming around to the idea, but my biggest sticking point is what you have in 6A and 2A.  Is it asking the impossible for Homestead's Athletic Director to host and get workers for the 4A regional while their team plays that same night?  Same with Harrison (WL).  It could be possible, but in my experience the PA, clock, stats, gates, concession workers, etc. are pretty dedicated workers.  They would most likely want to see the team play in the regional vs. working a game of two teams they have no connection to.

If this could be addressed, I would be 100% on board with the idea.

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16 minutes ago, Basementbias said:

Yep, I'm on board with this as well. Would you have the Ohio mandate of turf as well? It appears so.

I feel like that would be best to guarantee field conditions for all teams.

4 minutes ago, oldtimeqb said:

I'm coming around to the idea, but my biggest sticking point is what you have in 6A and 2A.  Is it asking the impossible for Homestead's Athletic Director to host and get workers for the 4A regional while their team plays that same night?  Same with Harrison (WL).  It could be possible, but in my experience the PA, clock, stats, gates, concession workers, etc. are pretty dedicated workers.  They would most likely want to see the team play in the regional vs. working a game of two teams they have no connection to.

If this could be addressed, I would be 100% on board with the idea.

Good point, but I guess my answer to that is Ohio finds a way to do it so no reason why Indiana could not.

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13 minutes ago, oldtimeqb said:

I'm coming around to the idea, but my biggest sticking point is what you have in 6A and 2A.  Is it asking the impossible for Homestead's Athletic Director to host and get workers for the 4A regional while their team plays that same night?  Same with Harrison (WL).  It could be possible, but in my experience the PA, clock, stats, gates, concession workers, etc. are pretty dedicated workers.  They would most likely want to see the team play in the regional vs. working a game of two teams they have no connection to.

If this could be addressed, I would be 100% on board with the idea.

Definitely would have to have sites be schools that are out of the playoffs for it to work. Especially now with the state finals format not being determined until semi state matchups or even after. 

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How about places like Ball State, Butler, IU, Purdue? Depending on if those schools have games on that weekend or what their stipulations would be. I am a supporter of neutral site Regional and Semi State games. Makes it feel like a bigger deal and if the IHSAA really wants an "equal" playing ground then this is it.

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45 minutes ago, NLCTigerFan07 said:

We all know and converse plenty about seeding sectionals, but are there any others out there that wishes Regional and Semi-State games were played at neutral sites? Every other team sport within IHSAA has neutral sites for these rounds, why not football? Is it really too much of a logistical nightmare? I find it hard to believe with how Ohio has done it for years. Imagine these neutral site regionals last year (just stuck to the North because, well, that's where I am)

6A

Valparaiso: Merrillville vs. Warsaw
Marion: Carmel vs. Homestead

5A

Elkhart: Mishawaka vs. Valparaiso
Laf Jeff: FW Dwenger vs. Harrison (WL)

4A

Michigan City: Hobart vs. New Prairie
Homestead: East Noble vs. Mississinewa

3A

Plymouth: Knox vs. Mishawaka Marian
Noblesville: Chatard vs. FW Concordia

2A

Harrison (WL): Andrean vs. Lewis Cass
Warsaw: Eastbrook vs. Eastside

1A

Logansport: LCC vs. North Judson
Bluffton: Adams Central vs. South Adams

I am all about the NEUTRAL sites.  But in some of settings that you have suggested, there's no way that they are close to being "travel neutral".

Dwenger to Lafayette to play a Lafayette area school?  Nope

East Noble/Ole Miss at Homestead (who you say is still playing)...Norwell perhaps a better locale.

Eastside/Eastbrook bypassing an EACS turf field?? ...pick any one the 4.

AC/SA at Bluffton..better call in the National Guard and MANDATE the use of those facilities.  

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40 minutes ago, Indian72 said:

I like it.  How des Ohio and Michigan do it and it works?

Lot of nice stadiums around that have decent seating on both sides

Don't know about Michigan, but Ohio has 600+ schools that play football.  Only half of them get in the tournament.  So they already have 300+ "neutral" sites available even in the first round of sectionals if they ever wanted to do that.   It gives them way more options geographically than it would here in Indiana even for regionals and semi-state choices since we have an all in tourney.  I am okay with neutral sites.  My old high school in Ohio has hosted a few tournament games.  It gives Ohio fans a chance to watch a tournament game and sometimes All Star players even if their team didn't get in.   High school football in Ohio is the unofficial state religion.

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2 hours ago, Indiana Fan said:

How about places like Ball State, Butler, IU, Purdue? Depending on if those schools have games on that weekend or what their stipulations would be. I am a supporter of neutral site Regional and Semi State games. Makes it feel like a bigger deal and if the IHSAA really wants an "equal" playing ground then this is it.

Too costly 

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Interesting idea.  I work the games at Plymouth and I would love to see more football after we are eliminated.  (Our quarantine is killing me!). If we had better locker room facilities for football I would say we could host a semi-state as well.  But I'm sure there are schools with better facilities that would host those games.

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IMO, this is one of the most over-looked issues, esp. at Semi-State level in 1A, 2A, et al where one team can be forced to travel several hours to play.  There are also complications that arise from the tradition of allowing Visiting team to pick game day/night while Home teams typically set start times.  There has been a bit of gamesmanship in this regard over the years. 

Hopefully sites could be found that are reasonably travel neutral and have more equitable seating arrangements than typical high school fields provide, particularly on the Visitor's side.  Some sites bring in extra seating but these are usually poor set ups.  Turf should be a requirement too, to cope with potential weather issues.  

 

 

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On 10/9/2020 at 3:40 PM, Yuccaguy said:

I am all about the NEUTRAL sites.  But in some of settings that you have suggested, there's no way that they are close to being "travel neutral".

I never claimed this should be the ONLY list, just threw out potential settings that would have been nice. By no means am I an expert on ALL Indiana high school football fields and stadiums. Lighten up Francis

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6 hours ago, NLCTigerFan07 said:

I never claimed this should be the ONLY list, just threw out potential settings that would have been nice. By no means am I an expert on ALL Indiana high school football fields and stadiums. Lighten up Francis

🤣🤣

I thought that this was a "forum" where others could disagree with things from time to time.

Perhaps YOU need to lighten up! 

Edited by Yuccaguy
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33 minutes ago, Duke of Denham said:

I don’t like the neutral site for regionals or semi-state.  Small community schools sometimes wait a lifetime to host one of those games.  The opportunity to create memories in your hometown forever is priceless. 

I certainly understand that point of view. But in my opinion, there is far too much thinking like that controlling how things work in Indiana high school sports. Your point of view is centered on what’s best for your particular school, because that’s the only way North Judson could ever have one of those games. If everyone is thinking that way, who is looking out for the big picture, the overall good for high school football in Indiana? Not enough people, and not the right people, in my opinion. Sure, the IHSAA makes policy. But in the end, it is just an instrument of the membership, most of whom probably feel like you do. It stifles progress.

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15 minutes ago, Bobref said:

I certainly understand that point of view. But in my opinion, there is far too much thinking like that controlling how things work in Indiana high school sports. Your point of view is centered on what’s best for your particular school, because that’s the only way North Judson could ever have one of those games. If everyone is thinking that way, who is looking out for the big picture, the overall good for high school football in Indiana? Not enough people, and not the right people, in my opinion. Sure, the IHSAA makes policy. But in the end, it is just an instrument of the membership, most of whom probably feel like you do. It stifles progress.

In the example, North Judson would have played LCC at Logansport.  It’s a nice field don’t get me wrong, but it ain’t the Brickie Bowl.  The facility at North Judson is significantly bigger with more space for additional seating.  The home and away stands are just as big.  When Judson hosts a regional they typically bring in additional stands for the endzones   Also, to drive to Logansport on a bus isn’t that much shorter of a distance than to just drive to Lafayette.  I would know I drive it all the time.  Hosting a regional or semi state also means an influx of revenue for your town for that evening.  Fast food, restaurants and bars all see the windfall of additional people in town for a few hours.  All that revenue should go to a bigger town and not help either school?  I might be a homer, but from an economic standpoint it’s a terrible idea.  Why should some other town receive the benefits of the success of some school 45 minutes away? 

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On 10/9/2020 at 10:29 PM, Basementbias said:

Definitely would have to have sites be schools that are out of the playoffs for it to work. Especially now with the state finals format not being determined until semi state matchups or even after. 

Basketball makes it work. Are all the regional and semistate hosts at schools which would feed into those rounds? For instance, Washington hosts a 3A basketball regional, but it's the same regional they would play in if they win sectional.

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29 minutes ago, Duke of Denham said:

In the example, North Judson would have played LCC at Logansport.  It’s a nice field don’t get me wrong, but it ain’t the Brickie Bowl.  The facility at North Judson is significantly bigger with more space for additional seating.  The home and away stands are just as big.  When Judson hosts a regional they typically bring in additional stands for the endzones   Also, to drive to Logansport on a bus isn’t that much shorter of a distance than to just drive to Lafayette.  I would know I drive it all the time.  Hosting a regional or semi state also means an influx of revenue for your town for that evening.  Fast food, restaurants and bars all see the windfall of additional people in town for a few hours.  All that revenue should go to a bigger town and not help either school?  I might be a homer, but from an economic standpoint it’s a terrible idea.  Why should some other town receive the benefits of the success of some school 45 minutes away? 

I'm with you 100% DoD.

One person's progress is another person's change for the sake of change.

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10 minutes ago, hhpatriot04 said:

Basketball makes it work. Are all the regional and semistate hosts at schools which would feed into those rounds? For instance, Washington hosts a 3A basketball regional, but it's the same regional they would play in if they win sectional.

I wonder if it's not happened yet where a school would host but have their team at another site. I'm guessing that the IHSAA made it so that the schools hosting are only hosting their class or their class and another.

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On 10/9/2020 at 2:29 PM, Basementbias said:

Definitely would have to have sites be schools that are out of the playoffs for it to work. Especially now with the state finals format not being determined until semi state matchups or even after. 

That is how it's done in the lone star state.

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