Are more schools thinking of going to 6 man for football due to low numbers of participants? I have read about Elwood this year and I know of several other schools that are projecting a very low number of boys out for football in the next year or two. If a school only has 10-13 boys going out, is 6 man a better option than 8?
6 man football
- Thread starter skers4life21
- Start date
Co-oping is the best option if it's available. Elwood should try and co-op with Eustis-Farnam or Bertrand or Arapahoe. They have options.
Playing 6 man is fine if you have 15-16 players. A team shouldn't play if they can't even practice. It's not fair for the kids.
Playing 6 man is fine if you have 15-16 players. A team shouldn't play if they can't even practice. It's not fair for the kids.
There are rumbles out there about Harvard, Red Cloud, Franklin, Heartland Lutheran all considering a 6 man move
Franklin athletics are in bad shape. I feel bad for them, they've been bad in everything for quite some time.
I think the state needs to take a drastic move. Raise the 8 man cut (why the didn't do it when they had the chance I don't know) and sponser 6 man again with a cutoff somewhere around where we currently seperate d1 and d2. I just don't think we've seen anything done by the NSAA to deal with lower participation numbers and I think that's why we've seen seasons get cancelled time and again. And I don't mean to say Elwood if they were 6 Man should play with only 7 kids, I watched Lindsey Holy Family's last game with 7 kids and it wasn't a good thing. But I do believe that many teams choose to play 8 Man over 6 because of a lack of teams because the state does not sponser it. Most schools don't want a team on a bus all day when they can play a neighbor down the road.
While we're on the 6 man topic, Red Cloud voted last night at the board meeting to make the move to 6 man starting next year. Our lack of boys in the high school were the main reason, necessity.
Good for them. That part of the state makes it easier to make that choice. I live in the Northeast and having only 2 teams play up here kinda hurts the prospects of teams making that choice. I watched an 8 man game Friday night between two schools that suited up 13 and 15. And one kid got hurt that game. I find it funny that a state that is so proud about inventing Kool Aid doesn't share the same pride for inventing 6 Man. They (NSAA) could at least support it so schools see it as a viable option instead of a desperate one.
I agree in southern Nebraska there is a lot more options for 6 man. But yeah Walthill being 6 man is tough for road trips. I wish Walthill would co-op with Macy or Bago?
Who is the second team you are mentioning? Santee or St. Ed?
Santee. St Edward, Spalding Academy and Riverside could be considered in the Northeast I suppose but I think it's kind of pushing the definition in my opinion.
I agree. It's close enough, people (including me) consider Albion Northeast Nebraska. Pretty much Highway 14/39 and east is Northeast Nebraska.
It's sad what transpired between the Spalding schools. St. Edward and Cedar Rapids should be co-oping.
I always thought a Boone County High School could work, but too much pride in the other towns.
It's sad what transpired between the Spalding schools. St. Edward and Cedar Rapids should be co-oping.
I always thought a Boone County High School could work, but too much pride in the other towns.
I think the real problem with some of these schools having issues fielding 8 man teams is the rigidity of the NSAA's 2 year scheduling. Fluctuating class sizes (it's not usual to see a 25 person class replaced by a 15 person class at the Class D level), a rash of injuries or even a couple families moving out can make a 20+ player football team drop to a 12 player team in a year. I think 6 man has a little more flexibility for some schools because you only need 12 kids to scrimmage, everyone is an eligible receiver so you need as many big bodies, and they schedule yearly instead of every 2 years.
Totally agree. I really don't think there needs to be 2 year scheduling. Make your non district schedules out from December to February and organize the districts during that time too. You can do it once a year, instead of once every two years, just laziness by the NSAA.
In the past there were only 8 to 10 schools playing 6-man football, so the NSAA declined to sponsor football at that level for that few of schools. I believe they told those schools that if they ever got to 16 or more schools at that level, they would once again sanction the sport and a state championship.
Well a couple of years ago, the 6-man ranks did grow past 16, but that group elected to remain under their own organization (Six Man Football Coaches Association) rather than play back under the NSAA.
Well a couple of years ago, the 6-man ranks did grow past 16, but that group elected to remain under their own organization (Six Man Football Coaches Association) rather than play back under the NSAA.
northeastNebraska...yes it laziness by the NSAA but the reason they do that is for each time to get a chance to play that team at home..first year they are away then they get a chance to play that same team at home...NSAA is trying to get everyone to get a fair chance at playing at home against the team the previous year they played away. Just my opinion though
U hit the nail on the head, the 6 man coaches association voted not to go back to the NSAA, they like have the championship game in Kearney which I'm sure isn't a big deal to the NSAA don't really think they wanted the NSAA making their schedules. I would think like others have mentioned that traveling some of those distances would be agonizing. It hurts the players sitting that long and the fans that want to go would have to take the day off from work to get there in time for some of the start times.
I wonder why Nebraska doesn't play 9 man football? Drop the tackles and go. I'd say shift the cutoff up for D-2 and play 9 man football on a 100 yard field. I think that six man is going to continue to expand, and I think its a real challenge for the NSAA with declining enrollments in some small communities.
Totally agree. South Dakota has 9 man football, I think it would interesting to see in Nebraska.
Schools with 11 man numbers can get a waiver if they feel they won't be competitive in 11 man to play 8 man. They just aren't eligible for playoffs.
I would rather have a season to play than not have a season at all like poor Elwood has to deal with.
Feel bad for those seniors and if they wanted to play football they should be able to transfer without restrictions in my opinion.
Back in the 90's (maybe even earlier) they used to have the Gridiron playoffs for the type schools you mentioned above. Not sure how many schools there were in that situation in Nebraska, but there must have been a decent amount to have a 3 or 4 round playoff (from what I can remember).
Another reason 6 man coaches like it how they have it set up now is they vote on whether or not to let a team join the 6 man ranks. I know in the past couple years there have been teams try to join 6 man that were ineligible for the playoffs for 8 man. The coaches voted note to let them come to 6 man as that would be unfair advantage with the numbers that they had. I know one of the schools had around 26-28 kids out for football.
Last night, I overheard a young student talk about how they would be facing Scribner-Snyder on Monday for a junior high game and that Scribner-Snyder was both bringing up 6th graders and playing 6 man at the junior high level due to low numbers.
If you don't mind me asking, what teams were these?
If you don't mind me asking, what teams were these?
