Anaconda moving to Class B

[allcat]

I also heard on the news today that Bozeman is trying to buy 37 acres for a new high school.

[catamaran]

I also heard on the news today that Bozeman is trying to buy 37 acres for a new high school.

in addition to the land they already bought a few years ago....stockpiling

[KittieKop]

The Belgrade AD seems to think quite a bit of himself, and not so much of his Class A bretheren. Bless their hearts. Pretty obvious he thinks their current position is beneath them.

[kmax]

The Belgrade AD seems to think quite a bit of himself, and not so much of his Class A bretheren. Bless their hearts. Pretty obvious he thinks their current position is beneath them.

Really odd way of reading those quotes. It's basically inevitable based on upcoming class sizes that Belgrade will be forced to move to AA in the near future. All he said was that if they can't replace those A level tourneys for the golf squad in the same location it may be beneficial to start looking at AA tourneys to replace them and start preparing kids for the level of competition they will be facing soon anyway. Seems like a pretty common sense approach to me. I'm fairly certain nobody associated with Belgrade athletics particularly likes the idea of soon becoming the smallest school in AA, its not as if they are dominating A in all sports and they know that. It's going to be a tough road for Belgrade to make it in AA when that time comes, preparing for it in any way possible is an extremely smart thing to be considering and in no way proof of feeling the other A schools are beneath them.

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[catamaran]

The Belgrade AD seems to think quite a bit of himself, and not so much of his Class A bretheren. Bless their hearts. Pretty obvious he thinks their current position is beneath them.

To answer this, Rick is one of the most genuine people you'd ever meet and that's not at all what he espouses. He's always proud of that school and where they're at. I read it as more empathy towards the situation that's effecting other school districts.

[LTown Cat]

The Belgrade AD seems to think quite a bit of himself, and not so much of his Class A bretheren. Bless their hearts. Pretty obvious he thinks their current position is beneath them.

To answer this, Rick is one of the most genuine people you'd ever meet and that's not at all what he espouses. He's always proud of that school and where they're at. I read it as more empathy towards the situation that's effecting other school districts.

This.

Rick is a good guy. I think he'd be crazy to not do what he is talking about. His hand will be forced sooner or later anyway.

[Platinumcat]

The Belgrade AD seems to think quite a bit of himself, and not so much of his Class A bretheren. Bless their hearts. Pretty obvious he thinks their current position is beneath them.

To answer this, Rick is one of the most genuine people you'd ever meet and that's not at all what he espouses. He's always proud of that school and where they're at. I read it as more empathy towards the situation that's effecting other school districts.

This.

Rick is a good guy. I think he'd be crazy to not do what he is talking about. His hand will be forced sooner or later anyway.

Same here. Rick is a great guy and wonderful representative for Belgrade.

On a side note, a new Bozeman high school is projected for the fall of 2020.

[MSUcantouchus]

Belgrade is on course to be AA by 2019 due to enrollment, if I remember hearing correctly.

[JDoub]

My thoughts for years is that a 5th classification is needed to get all the classes to closer enrollment gaps. You could do something like this:
1,000+ is 5A
500-999 is 4A
250-399 is 3A
100-249 is 2A
0-99 is 1A--again co-ops would help here.

I haven't checked to see what kind of #'s you would have in each class so this is just a quick example.

Why use The A's?

Good question -- but might be worth some thought. Why? Because most other states have the "A" designation and it's a matter of tradition in Montana versus perceptions outside Montana. It's easier to relate to similar designations, especially for recruiting.

Anecdotal but true: Talking with a friend recently about recruiting -- he's coached at Utah and now high school, Utah 3A State Champs in football, his son recently signed with Idaho but saw interest from the U and others. My friend's perception is it was hard enough for his kid to get looks being from a 3A school, and many times was only recruited because of who he is (former all-pro NFL DE). I told him some of the best guys I played with in college were from class B or C. He did a double-take: "you mean no football team in high school?" After explaining the classifications in Montana, he made a comment like "we'd (Utah) probably never take a look at a kid from a "class B" high school in Montana." So I asked, what about a kid from a 3A high school in Montana? -yes if the numbers were there. interesting

Utah classification guideline:
1A below 150
2A 170-399
3A 400-999
4A 1000-1499
5A above 1500

FWIW -- I would have LOVED to see a game last year between Bozeman High and my son's school or any 5A schools in his division -- Brighton, Alta, Cottonwood, Bingham. It's only 7 hours to SLC -- most the 5A schools here play out of state competition every year and they are worth watching.

[John K]

My thoughts for years is that a 5th classification is needed to get all the classes to closer enrollment gaps. You could do something like this:
1,000+ is 5A
500-999 is 4A
250-399 is 3A
100-249 is 2A
0-99 is 1A--again co-ops would help here.

I haven't checked to see what kind of #'s you would have in each class so this is just a quick example.

Why use The A's?

Good question -- but might be worth some thought. Why? Because most other states have the "A" designation and it's a matter of tradition in Montana versus perceptions outside Montana. It's easier to relate to similar designations, especially for recruiting.

Anecdotal but true: Talking with a friend recently about recruiting -- he's coached at Utah and now high school, Utah 3A State Champs in football, his son recently signed with Idaho but saw interest from the U and others. My friend's perception is it was hard enough for his kid to get looks being from a 3A school, and many times was only recruited because of who he is (former all-pro NFL DE). I told him some of the best guys I played with in college were from class B or C. He did a double-take: "you mean no football team in high school?" After explaining the classifications in Montana, he made a comment like "we'd (Utah) probably never take a look at a kid from a "class B" high school in Montana." So I asked, what about a kid from a 3A high school in Montana? -yes if the numbers were there. interesting

Utah classification guideline:
1A below 150
2A 170-399
3A 400-999
4A 1000-1499
5A above 1500

FWIW -- I would have LOVED to see a game last year between Bozeman High and my son's school or any 5A schools in his division -- Brighton, Alta, Cottonwood, Bingham. It's only 7 hours to SLC -- most the 5A schools here play out of state competition every year and they are worth watching.

I get your point, but I have a hard time believing that some kid from a small Montana high school might get recruited if his school's classification was called Class 1A or 2A, but would be ignored if his school was instead classified as Class B or C. I would think most coaches are probably savvy enough to see beyond semantics.

[SonomaCat]

It seems kind of strange that the guy would assume that high school classifications were uniform across all states (or consistent with Utah). That (making that kind of assumption) would be a real disadvantage in the recruiting game.

[JDoub]

It seems kind of strange that the guy would assume that high school classifications were uniform across all states (or consistent with Utah). That (making that kind of assumption) would be a real disadvantage in the recruiting game.

I think his experience has been larger schools (3A and above in most states) tend to produce more refined football talent that requires less time position coaching and allows coaches to focus more on scheme and team (game plans etc.). These kinds of high schools (Mater Dei, Euless Trinity, etc) have football programs, not just football teams, with a pretty high level of coaching comparatively. The more "project" players a school like Utah takes in, the longer it takes to develop talent, and the more busts they get. It's not so much that he thought classifications were the same across states, I think it's perception/reality that not many Pac12 recruits come out of Montana, and then throw in the small school wrench and the odds are stacked against them.

He himself was a small school kid in Colorado and did not get recruited like he should have, and he was a "project" recruit and told that until he proved himself. Of course, he was 6'6" and 275 in high school and an absolute freak, so Utah 'took a chance' on him when no one else recruited him (not even any Big Sky teams), largely because he was from a 1A / C high school that did not win a lot of games. The same kid who played at Mater Dei or Euless Trinity is much less of a recruiting risk, even though he may be the same quality of player. Basketball has the advantage of summer leagues, AAU, etc., where small school talent can be evaluated against the big boys. HS football really doesn't have the equivalent.

At the same time, IF he can find a small school freak diamond in the rough, he gets real excited because it usually means less recruiting competition.

Honestly, how many 3 to 5 star recruits come out of 1A/2A/B/C high schools? Unfair? - maybe. but reality

[geogfather]

They could also just let schools move up to AA because they kicked ass in A or B and there is much more prestige available at the AA level.

Nevada does something similar to this with their largest classification. It's mostly for the southern schools where there are huge discrepancies in talent level in different parts of town despite similar school size. It's by entire athletic program though. You get so many points for each program that makes it to different performance goals. If you don't hit the standard you are moved down a class. Seems to be working here.


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