Polytech to leave Henlopen Conference after 2020-21 school year
- Thread starter Titanium Shadow
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D2 teams will be lining up for those 6 points...They should start working on that relationship now.. lol
I understand leaving or moving down to the southern division for football but the truth is that Polytech administration does not support athletics and want to de-emphasize sports. You tell me that they can't be competitive in sports outside of football? The other Tech's are Howard, Sussex Tech and Hodgson. Plus downstate doesn't have nearly the charter schools that schools up north have to compete with. Mark my words kid's will start leaving and going back to CR, Dover or Smyrna. Athletes already stop going there.
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I am sure they would. Not certain but if they add one more they may have enough for an automatic bid to playoffs for winning the conference. That would an interesting scenario.
Who makes the call for an auto bid?
Who makes the call for an auto bid?
Polytech is competitive in other sports other than football. Why wouldn't Polytech drop football from one of their extra-curricular activities? To me that path would be easier than to remove all sports from the Henny Conference.
Pathetic administration. Maybe Seaford should drop out of the Henlopen South and go play in Diamond State or just go non-conference. No they’re administration isn’t scared to get their ass beat. They’ve been doing it in football for 20+ years or as long as I can remember and they have a lot more to deal with with the likes of Woodbridge, Laurel, STech, and Delmar taking kids from the Seaford area. Polytech takes kids from the Lake, CR, Dover, Smyrna, etc. school districts and still can’t be competitive in football. Pathetic
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They can't get an autobid for football with D1 teams in the conference..They already had enough teams and tried..
I would imagine all 3 dont like the decision. It gave them an easy D1 win 6 points. How they have to try a schedule something else.
Lake will probably still play Poly next season unless Poly just decides to not have a football team next season and I can’t see that being the case. After that, if Lake were smart they’d find another weak D1 school that pretty much is a guaranteed win. They’re schedule is already tough with Woodbridge, Delmar, and Friends next year. I hope they keep doing H&Hs with Friends and maybe even Newark. Drop Tatnall all together after next season.
Are the 3 schools excited because baseball is leaving the conference? Does it not matter to other schools in the Conference?
Can a high school drop a sport like football altogether and keep all other sports in the Henlopen Conference?
Saw this coming a mile away. Comparing what Seaford has to compete against to that of Poly is a joke. Charter, Poly, who will be next? Because if you think this is the end of it, you're mistaken. There is no way Poly belonged in D-1 and everyone knows it. It was the same way with Charter. It's not just about the number of students. 20 years ago this model was workable, but now it's failing.
It's not just D-I, there are D-II teams that probably shouldn't be fielding a team. With worries about concussions, participation numbers are only going to go down. In the next 10 years, the composition of Delaware football will change drastically IMHO.
It's not just D-I, there are D-II teams that probably shouldn't be fielding a team. With worries about concussions, participation numbers are only going to go down. In the next 10 years, the composition of Delaware football will change drastically IMHO.
There’s only 1 D1 team in the Diamond State Conference currently - Charter of Wilmington. Doubt having 2 D2 teams would make for an auto bid
Yes an individual sport can drop out of conference play. William Penn did it in wrestling and Poly did it years back in football if I’m not mistaken.
Yes, Poly did it but they were told by DIAA and the conference that they had to do one or the other with all sports. I'm quite sure if football were allowed to be independent they would have done it already.
That said, very sad day for PT! This seems like a overreaction to a singular problem...football. It's sad that wrestlers and others won't be able to compete for a conference championship. Also parents seemed to be caught by surprise, they should have had more of an open discussion before they made this decision IMHO.
You can drop the sport. but if you have a team it has to be in the conference.. You can't be independent or play in a different conference with different sports.. They would have to drop football altogether if they want the other sports to remain in Henlopen..
It will be interesting to see if they field a football team next season being they would have to play 1 more year in Henny North..I am guessing it will be a decision made once they see the football turnout.. Which would suck if they fold and teams have them contracted to play. The other teams would then have the choice to try and schedule someone else or just take the FFT points
It will be interesting to see if they field a football team next season being they would have to play 1 more year in Henny North..I am guessing it will be a decision made once they see the football turnout.. Which would suck if they fold and teams have them contracted to play. The other teams would then have the choice to try and schedule someone else or just take the FFT points
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So what happens next fall for football -since Polytech has a schedule? Will those be considered forfeits if they don't field a team. Or will PolyTech field a team one more time in the conference? That would seem silly - sort of like "I'll quit smoking after I finish this pack"
Like I said above.. Poly will likely make that decision when they see what they have next fall. The teams on the schedule will have the option to schedule someone else or take the FFT points. If Poly were to do the right thing they should make that decision now so those teams they have contracted can get crackin on a replacement or deciding whether they want a 6 point bye week.
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IMHO drop the varsity football program and poly can field JV and F teams to improve the teams. Not sure if Mason is the person to improve such as school. Mason destroyed ECHS football program before leaving. There is an eerie pattern of Mason coaching high school programs.
Poly could move field hockey and soccer to under the lights and play on the main field. The band could perform for both of sports.
Poly could move field hockey and soccer to under the lights and play on the main field. The band could perform for both of sports.
Who is ECHS?
geez Poly already has a full schedule done for next year? Lake, IR and Laurel are the OOC games.
https://www.pantherssports.com/page13946
geez Poly already has a full schedule done for next year? Lake, IR and Laurel are the OOC games.
https://www.pantherssports.com/page13946
ECHS@DSU that I know of but I didn't know they ever had a football team.. when was this?
They started up a program last season went 0-5 and I dont believe scored more than 20 points total, canceled their last two games and folded this whole season
Yet another solid reason for poly to drop the football program.
Poly doesn't have a "football community." Poly's sporting identity is not football. Poly will not lose incoming athletes from their home school if poly were to drop football from the athletic department.
https://www.wdel.com/news/football-...cle_15273d9a-06ae-11ea-a822-5733ac382e80.html
"Polytech’s school board considered three options before Tuesday’s vote. Staying in the Henlopen North, attempting to petition the Henlopen North to let them opt-out for football only, or exiting the conference entirely.
Getting the opt-out requires 75% of the conference members (12 of 16) to agree. Hammond said his last attempt only netted 3 "yes" votes, and he vented his frustration at the other downstate public schools, as they felt forced to take the leave-entirely option."
"Polytech’s school board considered three options before Tuesday’s vote. Staying in the Henlopen North, attempting to petition the Henlopen North to let them opt-out for football only, or exiting the conference entirely.
Getting the opt-out requires 75% of the conference members (12 of 16) to agree. Hammond said his last attempt only netted 3 "yes" votes, and he vented his frustration at the other downstate public schools, as they felt forced to take the leave-entirely option."
Love this line as to why the conference members won't vote to let them pull just football....
" Polytech football has been a playoff points ATM for opponents."
Probably some truth to that..sad but true
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This may be an opportunity for some of the remaining HN teams to schedule BHA teams or Salesianum.
Perhaps if they went back to emphasizing vocational education like they are supposed to be people would be more supportive of them. Feel bad for the kids in the program but they need to get back to being a Vo-Tech option for students in Kent County.
With all due respect, I'm blessed to have what I believe is the best coaching gig in the state! I love being able to provide the opportunity to play this great game to young men who otherwise wouldn't have an option unless they enrolled in a public school.
As I've said, I feel like PT is overreacting to a singular issue...football. There are a couple of dozen other sports to think about! Not to mention all the activity that goes with having a football team, band, cheerleading, etc..
As for the program I love this quote in the article I posted...
Diana Stubbs is an English Teacher at Polytech, and the mother of the team’s center, Dylan.
“He started Polytech a shy and assuming kid, lacking confidence, and he’s going to graduate a strong, resilient, dedicated young man who isn’t afraid of hard work, and confident in his abilities, and that’s because of football.”
For me that's why we coach! I don't think you have to focus on winning at the HS level, if you do you're going to be miserable. Focus on all the good that the sport of football can teach and allow winning to be a byproduct of that. Poly is not that far removed from a 6 win season...so the argument that they can't compete is mute IMHO! My son was part of a 4 win season as well as a 1 win season and he learned some valuable life lessons during both!
I know Coach Mason, he's a good guy, who I know wants what's best for the players. I will be praying for him and the team going forward as I believe PT is better with football!
Just out of curiosity FCA if Poly did drop football for a year or two would Poly kids then be eligible to play for FCABucks? I think by your league rules they would? I also think that would be a good option while Poly tries to build back..
No, while a lot of these "club teams" would allow them to play the conference we participate in doesn't allow it. I run the Bucks as a legit HS program. Also I don't ever want the DIAA/DIFCA to think we recruit public school players (we have turned down many public school kids over the past few year). One reason why is we've tried since I started coaching here to get one of our players into the Blue/Gold game...sadly we keep getting turned down.
OIC.. I always thought teams like what were the Maryland Christian Saints not only catered to home school kids but also kids who went to schools that didn't offer football.. but yeah those schools were like Perry Hall Christian, New Covenant etc.. They were not public and small Christian schools so I can see that distinction.. I wasn't thinking when I posed this question.. its a Christian league duh!
Right, we do allow private school players that don't have a football team to play on...Saints are in our conference.
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