High School team forfeits due to size discrepancy

Submitted by UMfan21 on

As both an undersized Hs football player, and now a parent I found this interesting.  What is the collective MGOBlog take on this story?

I know, when I played, we always felt it was unfair going against the likes of the private schools who had 300 pound men that were recruited from around the area.  I got my butt handed to me plenty of times since I was a scrawny DE.  But, we played them.  Forfeiture was not an option.  Then again, concussions, etc were not much of a discussion when I played either.

Is this a valid concern by the parents, or is this something this kids should "suck up" and confront?

http://www.king5.com/sports/high-school/granite-falls-becomes-third-tea…

MGoBoard

WestSider

October 6th, 2016 at 1:24 PM ^

parity in scheduling programs. But I am left with suck it up and play until that happens. Forfeiting just seems so chicken shit to me, and I bet some of the players on the forfeiting team are embarrassed by that.

Joined: 02/04/2011

MGoPoints: 5979

Blue Durham

October 6th, 2016 at 2:15 PM ^

It worked out for the Republic of Texas, but for the guys at the Alamo, not so much. And the Alamo only worked out for Texas because of the Battle of San Jacinto, which was very much against the odds. Probably should have gone with tried and true David and Goliath.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 6082

reshp1

October 6th, 2016 at 1:44 PM ^

You have size mismatches at every level of football just in the different position groups. At some point your 170 lb DB has to take on a 300lb pulling lineman, or a little scat back type guy is going to get tackled by a DLmen. Even shitty teams have that one big fat dude and good teams will still have tiny speedsters. It's part of the game and as long as everyone follows the rules and plays clean, it's still relatively safe. I could see the case maybe for little kids leagues where there are kids who are at wildly different stages in their development, but this is varsity HS ball. These kids are all pretty much at their mature size already. 

Joined: 10/31/2011

MGoPoints: 34177

WestSider

October 6th, 2016 at 1:50 PM ^

scheduled, it is high school football where kids have reached certain physical maturation levels, and backing out and forfeiting after its scheduled is a bad move.. I understand some teams are bigger and stronger and quicker than others...that's how it goes. Its not high school versus pee wee league. I would want to play them if they were on the schedule, even if I were on the weaker team. Forfeiting is giving up without the chance, and I can see where that would be embarassing. I understand the risks inherent in playing football, but that's why they have significant protective padding. The scheduling issues should be fixed in any event. Should Rutgers forfeit to UM this weekend?

Joined: 02/04/2011

MGoPoints: 5979

Hail-Storm

October 6th, 2016 at 3:37 PM ^

The public school is not able to do so.  This is not an apples to apples comparison.  There can be a huge discrepancy between high school players as people hit growth spurts at much different times.  

I have to believe that most of the tough guys on here would not last a week, and probably not a day on Michigan's scout team getting crushed by Kalis and such. Yet feel no problem calling out some high schoolers. 

Joined: 06/07/2010

MGoPoints: 9749

grumbler

October 7th, 2016 at 8:19 AM ^

I don't think you should use random and unattributed photos from the internet as examples of a specific situation.

It is pretty clear that granite high School should not be fielding a football team; the school is so small that it has to start sophomores on the varsity.  This is a situation where the principal should be stepping in; the coach can't concede that he can't field a team, because he would lose money for being honest.

Joined: 08/17/2011

MGoPoints: 14092

mjv

October 6th, 2016 at 5:56 PM ^

Having been a lacrosse club organizer for multiple years, my guess is that most parents are using the player safety as a cover for the fact that they don't want to see their sons get humiliated.  

This is a slippery slope of having to have parity in order to play a game.  At what point is there some limit on the number or frequency of scoring plays because the game isn't fair?

It isn't fun being on a team that is almost certain to lose a game (our HS football team was terrible -- we were among the smallest Class A schools in Michigan and only had 26 kids on the varsity team).  But life is full of such situations and kids need to learn how to deal with it.

 

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 3655

East German Judge

October 6th, 2016 at 5:49 PM ^

My question is did they just get good and big just this last year?  If not, why the hell did the AD of the school schedule them in the first place.  

And of course they will make the lame comparison of my freshmen who weighs 117 soaking wet going against the 330 lb lineman, well is your 117 lb kid starting and why are you having him play football if you fear for their physical saftey, what about running cross country or tennis???

Sports are a great tool for teaching life lessons, what type of lesson does this forfeit teach.

Joined: 10/05/2014

MGoPoints: 190411

ST3

October 6th, 2016 at 3:19 PM ^

this is the third team that has forfeited. There is obviously something wrong. Competition is fine when both sides are playing by the same set of rules. Here, we have a private school recruiting kids from 50 miles away playing public schools limited to the kids within their districts.

The lesson this teaches the kids is that discretion is the better part of valor. A lot of this is being driven by the parents who don't want their kids getting injured. The lesson to the kids is that their health is more important than a silly friday night football game that no one is going to remember. That's a lesson I'm fine with.

Joined: 09/11/2010

MGoPoints: 52284

grumbler

October 7th, 2016 at 8:23 AM ^

The lesson this teaches is that the conference setup is poor, if the games are not competitive.

If the parents are so concerned about their kids getting injured that they'd rather the team forfeit than lose, they really shouldn't have let their kids sign up for a contact sport. 

Joined: 08/17/2011

MGoPoints: 14092

Double-D

October 6th, 2016 at 3:22 PM ^

I do think private schools should play in a private school division when it comes to tournament time. It's bullshit private schools get to recruit and hand pick their teams (They do period) and compete for State Titles against a bunch if kids who all grew up in the same neighborhood. They should just have their own division.

Joined: 12/21/2013

MGoPoints: 86797

Trump

October 6th, 2016 at 1:27 PM ^

I understand both sides. Don't schedule these teams if you're going to get your kids killed, if possible. Also, I can't imagine forfeiting a game to any team with kids the same age. I don't know.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 07/09/2012

MGoPoints: -9889109

dmac24

October 6th, 2016 at 3:11 PM ^

Personally I don't like the idea of people getting into the habit of finding a "Reason" to give up on something. You're essentially telling kids that if something is too hard, it's ok to quit. This is a problem in our culture.

Joined: 07/25/2009

MGoPoints: 1080

DPUblue

October 6th, 2016 at 1:32 PM ^

sounds like it's a collective league effort to tell them to move up...or tell the High School association that they should/have to...I don't know how that goes. 

1 forfeit is one team admitting defeat for safety, 3 teams is a campaign to get this team to play against like competition. 

Joined: 01/09/2009

MGoPoints: 1011

MGoStu

October 6th, 2016 at 1:44 PM ^

Eh, this isn't a normal year for them. It's a decent program but they don't do that well when they play outside their league. They're usually one of the top two or three in their league, but it's not a good league, and Granite Falls usually isn't very good.

Joined: 08/04/2009

MGoPoints: 9689

Sopwith

October 6th, 2016 at 3:32 PM ^

(a) join the better league against other private schools

(b) get their asses kicked, and

(c) then come preaching about "what values it sends to kids if they forfeit."

I'm guessing the idea of avoiding beatdowns will suddenly have some moral relevance to them at that point.

Joined: 06/29/2010

MGoPoints: 60903

reshp1

October 6th, 2016 at 1:29 PM ^

Unless the other school's coach has a reputation of being a jerk about it, this seems like a pretty weak move. Why even play football if you're that averse to contact? 

Joined: 10/31/2011

MGoPoints: 34177

stopthewnba

October 6th, 2016 at 1:29 PM ^

Clearly says the players came forward and decided to forfeit. As a parent, I can't imagine seeing my son go up against someone that much larger (article says 117lbs on the same field as a 6'5" 300+ linemen). HS ball is subjective - it's a big deal for some schools / regions and not so much elsewhere. I played in Jr high and high school and got destroyed more than a few times, and I wasn't small in high school. Some schools just have players that will do that. In 6th grade our coach had us scrimmage a HS freshman team and it was a nightmare. Boys between 14 and 18 make this more of an issue. I have no problem w the forfeit.

Joined: 06/07/2011

MGoPoints: 1327

Here2CWoodson

October 6th, 2016 at 1:39 PM ^

I think the 117 to 300 discrepancy is used for shock effect. I highly doubt that 117 pound kid is getting on the field much if at all. On any given HS football game field there can be 130lb wide receivers or defensive backs with 300 pound lineman. Those guys coming in contact is rare. I'm not one of those old school "kids these days are too babied" guys, but man this is a soft football team. I got my my ass handed to me by guys 50-100lbs heavier than me in HS on a regular basis, I don't regret playing in the games for a second. They played them the two years before, man up for 60 minutes and play them. Nobody is going to die.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 11/16/2011

MGoPoints: 2955