Johnie Logue
Sports Reporter
The Lincoln football program had just 13 players show up at football camp on Monday. Head coach Brad Drehle is still hopeful to have somewhere in the area of 16 by the start of the season. Two years ago, the Cardinals had seven players out with injuries at the same time. Do the math and you can see the potentially fateful dilemma.
It's too late to go to 8-Man football and Coach Drehle isn't quite ready to take that route just yet either. Add to that the fact that he has no seniors and it is the first time in his 33 years of coaching that he has been faced with such a problem. Remember, this is a team that has been in contention for a state title over the last several years.
The Lincoln girls basketball teams have played with as little as five girls and Warsaw girls basketball struggled to have enough players to even put a JV squad on the floor in recent seasons. Sports that share seasons with others find additional difficulty and some schools have combined their programs in cooperative efforts just in order to give student-athletes an opportunity and to field teams.
It is a problem that most larger schools and private schools never face, but here in rural Missouri, it is an issue that local schools face every year.
Our editor, Adam Howe and I reached out to the three Benton County schools and various coaches for their comments regarding the topic. They obviously had thoughts on the matter because we received an overwhelming response from several coaches; so much that we had to be selective in allowing comments.
Contributing coaches were:
*Ryan Boyer-WHS Athletic Director & Head Football Coach
*Johnny Eierman-WHS Baseball Coach
*Megan Daleske- WHS Softball Coach
*Justin Wisdom-WHS Wrestling Coach
*Matt Henderson-WHS Girls Basketball Coach
*Cody Morgan-WHS Track Coach
*Matt Brownsberger-WHS Boys Basketball Coach
*Brad Drehle-LHS Head Football Coach
*Brett Bryant-LHS Girls Basketball Coach
*Kevin Shearer-Cole Camp Athletic Director, Head Football Coach & Boys Basketball Coach
1. Approximately how many kids do you have going out this season or do you expect?
Boyer-30-40 kids.
Eierman-20-25.
Daleske-We generally have around 18 or 20 girls. Since moving softball season to the spring we are fortunate that we no longer have to compete with volleyball for athletes.
Wisdom-HS 10-12 boys and 8-10 girls; MS 30-35 total, boys and girls.
Henderson-12-14 players from grades 9-12.
Morgan-10 girls, 20 boys.
Brownsberger-15-20.
Shearer-30.
Bryant-15-17.
Drehle-13-16.
2. Do you think most people realize the numbers game and minor struggles that you face each year coaching at a smaller school?
Boyer-I think that most understand the challenges that small school sports face. However, there will always be some people that just don't understand it.
Eierman-No.
Shearer-No, they do not.
Morgan-No, even larger school's coaches don't understand.
3. Some rules seem to hurt the smaller schools, i.e. the pitch count in baseball. Care to comment?
Boyer-For fall sports it is difficult to get all kids out when practices start 2 1/2 weeks before school does.
Eierman-Pitch count can be tough. You have to manage your guys and be on top of it.
Morgan-Rules in track hurt us. You can't compete when you can't fill the spots.
Shearer-Yes, many rules are put in place for the larger schools. But just like our society, many rules are put in place for cities and don't take into consideration the rural communities.
4. Does having several sports at your school hurt your numbers?
Boyer-Too many can definitely pull kids in too many directions and in turn be detrimental to programs.
Daleske-Absolutely, when softball and volleyball were both in the fall, we were splitting the best athletes between two sports and having them to play both has helped both teams.
Morgan-Moving softball to spring really hurt the girls track team. We were winning before. Now we are lucky to finish in the middle of a 14-16 team meet.
Wisdom-Yes, having too many "options" can water down the pool of kids. However I am a strong advocate for kids doing something. Schools just need to be careful on how many and what "options" they provide.
Brownsberger-I think the kids who want to play will play.
5. Is there a solution to this ongoing problem?
Boyer-In my opinion, 'less is more'. We are allowed to play too many games in all sports. Because of this, playoffs run into the next season and as a result it makes it very difficult to keep kids in multiple sports.
Eierman-What I see and think personally is kids being pulled in every direction all year long as well as kids constantly playing travel ball. They don't ever get a break. Personally think a solution to this would be shortening some seasons and adjusting the sports calendar.
Wisdom-Recruit kids from the district to get involved. Youth programs are a must to not only get kids involved but the parent; make the parents and kids feel like there is something more to being involved than just playing the sport.
Bryant-At the end of the day, it comes down to the youth programs and the parents being active in teaching the kids the fundamentals of the game. The more you win, the more the kids are going to want to play.
Drehle-Getting the kids in the weight room cuts down on injuries. It goes in cycles in the smaller schools. We are in a cycle right now at Lincoln with very few juniors and seniors in almost every sport.
Henderson-Success draws interest, which is normal. Our athletes put a lot of effort into the sports they are successful in, and rightfully so. Kids get spread thin and with multiple sports being played by these athletes, time is put into the programs that win.
Morgan-Only solution is not offer too much, if you do you will water down the sports that are in existence now. Plus, trying to persuade athletes to play multiple sports instead of specializing. Play multiple sports/specialize in the summer.
6. Do private schools have an advantage?
Eierman-I don't know much about private schools numbers. To me, it seems the solution with private schools is for them to have their own playoffs, and own set of rules, leagues, etc; completely divide the state between public and private schools. They can play in regular season but not in playoffs.
Shearer-I believe so. Private schools can go select their student athletes. Also, most private institutions have a higher participation rate.
Henderson-Yes, those kids are there to play.
Well, there you have it; a strong topic indeed. We thank all of our coaches for their honest responses and we wish all of their programs the very best.
