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MSB, explain the perennial lack of Alexandria football talent
Posted on 7/24/14 at 12:33 pm
Posted on 7/24/14 at 12:33 pm
For the 5th or 6th biggest city in LA, a major prospect coming out of there is a rarity. I'll hang up and listen.
Posted on 7/24/14 at 12:35 pm to Jim Rockford
They suck in all sports. ASH powerlifting and Peabody basketball are all they have.
Posted on 7/24/14 at 1:15 pm to Jim Rockford
I think ASH had a good baseball team this year.Other than that and Pebody hoops I really cant explain why they are bad at football.
Posted on 7/24/14 at 1:44 pm to BayouBandit24
Too many large high schools in town. The talent is spread too thin. Same with most sports, except Peabody bball
Posted on 7/24/14 at 1:45 pm to JJ27
quote:
They suck in all sports. ASH powerlifting and Peabody basketball are all they have.
Posted on 7/24/14 at 2:59 pm to Jim Rockford
Good question, without an easy answer that I can think of.
I used to think Alexandria lagged way behind places like Lake Charles/BR/River Parishes because a more industrial environment found in those places tends to produce tougher kids. Alexandria has little if any heavy industry that I know of.
This argument loses a lot of steam when you bring Monroe into the picture, though. No industry up there either. And when you look at the population bases of just West Monroe by itself vs Alexandria, and then look at the number of HS ballas they've produced, all you can do is
I used to think Alexandria lagged way behind places like Lake Charles/BR/River Parishes because a more industrial environment found in those places tends to produce tougher kids. Alexandria has little if any heavy industry that I know of.
This argument loses a lot of steam when you bring Monroe into the picture, though. No industry up there either. And when you look at the population bases of just West Monroe by itself vs Alexandria, and then look at the number of HS ballas they've produced, all you can do is
This post was edited on 7/24/14 at 3:01 pm
Posted on 7/24/14 at 3:16 pm to Jim Rockford
The lack of big athletes coming out of Alec surprises me as well. I graduated from ASH and the year before I graduated Juan Pierre graduated and two years after I graduated Craig Nall graduated. So in a three to four year span we had two professional athletes come out of Alexandria. There were a few more guys that graduated within a few years of me that went on to play on professional practice squads somewhere but that's it.
Posted on 7/24/14 at 3:24 pm to Tigerfan29
For a while the area was putting out some really good baseball players. Then all of a sudden it stopped.
Posted on 7/24/14 at 3:29 pm to Marciano1
We still have a few here and there that go on to play at major colleges but I agree that has fallen off as well. I played with a few guys that probably could have played at a big school had they not gotten into trouble.
Posted on 7/24/14 at 3:31 pm to Tigerfan29
Too many high schools for such a small area.
Posted on 7/24/14 at 3:36 pm to Marciano1
they're not 5th or 6th biggest, they're 8th biggest with like 3.5% of our population with no dominant program that carries their banner statewide (a la West Monroe or Acadiana or Barbe).
It could have been ASH had they remained as a big fish in 4A. i wouldn't say they have too many schools bc that also helps get kids out there to play that wouldn't have made a team twice their size.
It could have been ASH had they remained as a big fish in 4A. i wouldn't say they have too many schools bc that also helps get kids out there to play that wouldn't have made a team twice their size.
Posted on 7/24/14 at 4:16 pm to Jim Rockford
Central Louisiana as a whole is pretty weak.
Posted on 7/27/14 at 6:04 am to RiverParishLegend
Simply put, it is too many high schools, the talent and money is spread too thin to let the programs thrive. Most don't realize there are 11 public high schools and 3 private high schools, and a 4th on its way. Of those 11 public, 8 are 1A or higher (football eligible) and 7 field a football program, 2 of the 3 privates do.
For the Alex/Pineville metro area to be as small as it is, and the remainder of the parish to be relatively uninhabited, that is wayyyy too many schools. Smaller team sports thrive for this reason. Its why funding and improvements have lagged. ASH remains a swimming, baseball, golf, and track power. Peabody continues at Basketball and has won the last 2 4A titles in powerlifting. Tioga was the runner up for the last 2 powerlifting titles and won the one before that and has been near the top of 4A in baseball and basketball recently. Pineville has gotten better and better on the 5A football level, but are strongest in softball, and so on and so on. Each school has been strong at some small team sport, makes picking out what the problem with football is obvious.
For the Alex/Pineville metro area to be as small as it is, and the remainder of the parish to be relatively uninhabited, that is wayyyy too many schools. Smaller team sports thrive for this reason. Its why funding and improvements have lagged. ASH remains a swimming, baseball, golf, and track power. Peabody continues at Basketball and has won the last 2 4A titles in powerlifting. Tioga was the runner up for the last 2 powerlifting titles and won the one before that and has been near the top of 4A in baseball and basketball recently. Pineville has gotten better and better on the 5A football level, but are strongest in softball, and so on and so on. Each school has been strong at some small team sport, makes picking out what the problem with football is obvious.
Posted on 7/27/14 at 7:25 am to LABred08
quote:
ASH remains a swimming, baseball, golf, and track power.
You can scratch track off that list. Been that way for a while.
Peabody is also in trouble in basketball going forward. They are starting to miss out on the better young prospects.
People are also right when they say it is too big. Too many schools for such a small area. Way too many. Another thing I have noticed since being down here are lack of youth developmental leagues.
No money invested in football and basketball facilities or leagues.
On the other hand you cannot walk 10 feet without tripping over a baseball/softball field/facility.
This post was edited on 7/27/14 at 7:30 am
Posted on 7/27/14 at 7:43 am to bigpetedatiga
More schools doesn't mean less talent. You probably hit the nail on the head with the youth sports point though.
Posted on 7/27/14 at 7:57 am to BigEdLSU
More schools doesn't mean less talent, but there is not enough talent to spread out throughout all these schools.
Basketball ant football is not very well developed here. It's actually pretty bad.
So now what little talent there is, they are spread out.
Without a doubt the school with the most athletes and talent is Peabody, but outside of powerlifting and basketball it's not even close to being developed.
Which is also another point. There is no program stability here. Very limited. Schools here change coaches like women change clothes.
ASH alone has had, what four different football staffs in the last four years. Same with their track program.
Basketball ant football is not very well developed here. It's actually pretty bad.
So now what little talent there is, they are spread out.
Without a doubt the school with the most athletes and talent is Peabody, but outside of powerlifting and basketball it's not even close to being developed.
Which is also another point. There is no program stability here. Very limited. Schools here change coaches like women change clothes.
ASH alone has had, what four different football staffs in the last four years. Same with their track program.
Posted on 7/27/14 at 8:01 am to bigpetedatiga
Maybe I misunderstood the op
I thought he meant why are there few d1 major prospects and pro players from that area.
Number of schools would have zero bearing on those numbers.
If he was asking why they don't compete more within lhsaa, sure, too many schools is valid.
I thought he meant why are there few d1 major prospects and pro players from that area.
Number of schools would have zero bearing on those numbers.
If he was asking why they don't compete more within lhsaa, sure, too many schools is valid.
This post was edited on 7/27/14 at 8:03 am
Posted on 7/27/14 at 8:10 am to BigEdLSU
Maybe I misunderstood.
If it is simply why there are not a lot of kids going to college then I would say lack of development k-12.
Lot of schools here aren't backing their sports anymore, see Bolton.
Also a lot of high school coaches around here ain't interested in helping get their kids to the next level. I've seen a lot of paycheck grab coaches here, in a lot of sports.
I remember when the Washington kid from Ash agreed to go to A&M, I was asking some of the coaches about it and they couldn't tell me shite. One even asked me, "did he really"
If it is simply why there are not a lot of kids going to college then I would say lack of development k-12.
Lot of schools here aren't backing their sports anymore, see Bolton.
Also a lot of high school coaches around here ain't interested in helping get their kids to the next level. I've seen a lot of paycheck grab coaches here, in a lot of sports.
I remember when the Washington kid from Ash agreed to go to A&M, I was asking some of the coaches about it and they couldn't tell me shite. One even asked me, "did he really"
Posted on 7/27/14 at 9:20 am to Tigerfan29
quote:
The lack of big athletes coming out of Alec surprises me as well. I graduated from ASH and the year before I graduated Juan Pierre graduated and two years after I graduated Craig Nall graduated. So in a three to four year span we had two professional athletes come out of Alexandria. There were a few more guys that graduated within a few years of me that went on to play on professional practice squads somewhere but that's it.
During that time they also had a major basketball prospect at Peabody (I forget his name, went to NC State or UNC Charlotte or something IIRC, but got Leukemia.) Then you had Chris Boniol kicking for the Cowboys at that time. But we pretty much owned all Alexandria area teams during my years in Leesville from the mid to late 90's. I always felt like we had way superior talent in all sports considering our pool was about 1/8th the size.
ETA: and not so much just winning on a team vs team level because I realize they have too many schools for the population size to be talent dense, but I mean Leesville has had more professional athletes in the last few decades than the Alec metro area.
This post was edited on 7/27/14 at 9:30 am
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