Hwy17

I hope it grows too. To about 500 members! Some of the SSAA teams were or would be playoff teams in FHSAA.  You are correct, they have zero chance of winning a championship in FHSAA.  Some are figured that out. About 400 or so need to come to the same conclusion. 

The game was on Thursday night, not Friday.  Auburndale beat Fort Meade 38-0.

The game was on Thursday night, not Friday.  Auburndale beat Fort Meade 38-0.

North Fort Myers to Miami Northwestern appears to me like the family actually moved.  The 2 schools are over 100 miles away.  I don't take issue with a real bona fide move. What I take issue with is when multiple transfers end up at one school. Especially when you see multiple transfers from school A  now at school B. 

No, nothing new that I've heard.  That said,  the Heartland Conference won't start until 2026 season and with redistricting after this season,  I get why some programs might be waiting.  SSAA announced Clewiston joined a few days after they announced Hardee joined. I can see Clewiston in the Heartland Conference.   Moore Haven is on Hardee's schedule this season.  We've never played them before.  Could this mean they are looking at joining too?

FHSAA is so inconsistent in their enforcement of rules and policies it makes me think somebody is accepting bribes.  

I did. The first time. Apparently it was unprovable that there was any wrongdoing or recruiting from the accused party. I gave up after that. I saw the texts with my own eyes. 
 
I don't really care what bridges I burn here. I have nothing to lose. If I could get anyone in trouble for their wrongdoings I would. I try to do things the right way because it is the right thing to do. Unfortunately the FHSAA has no backbone. I was truly surprised they did what they did to MC and others. Maybe they are finally heading in the right direction. Hopeful but doubtful. 

Good point about the start times. When we go out to the games, we always eat somewhere first, but being retired enables us to get out a little early. When we go to a game from Palm Beach Co on southward to Dade Co, we leave The Fort a LOT early to avoid the rush hour traffic. I can't imagine what its like to live there, get off work at 5, have to battle the traffic, then get to a game. I remember going to a game at Boca Raton a couple of years ago to watch Westwood at Boca. It took us two hours and 45 minutes to get to Boca Raton HS. When we were walking towards the gate, Westwood's bus was just pulling into the parking lot. That delayed the game by 45 minutes. Going home? After we got up on I-95, it took an hour and eight minutes to get back to The Fort. 

I think they should only be allowed to play JV for the first year but we all know that such a rule won't be made. 
FHSAA is beyond being fixed. 

It is not always the case. It is the case 90% of the time. You'll defend those schools to death because it is who you are associated with and that is fine. And even IF (and it is not the case most of the time) the kids who "know who the hot hand is"  they are still checking to make sure they're going to have a spot in that school. Those types of kids aren't just thinking "man MNW is really good this year, I'm going to head over there." You bet the mortgage that they reached out to the coaches over there and the coaches say come on....which is still illegal. And that isn't even the case most of the time. Coaches recruit. Even at the smaller schools, they recruit. I've seen it with my own eyes at multiple schools now. The FHSAA and recruiting in Florida is a joke. It is bad in other states, but it is awful here and no one can say otherwise. I had one of my star players this past season get a text from another coach during the season to transfer over. And it was a traditional power school. I have had smaller schools do the same to other players. I am on my way out of FL to head to the Carolinas next year for a bigger job, and I am glad to be leaving. It won't be perfect where I am going, but at least these other associations have some sense. 

When push comes to shove, people who are fans of the Metro/Traditional Power schools are okay with recruiting when it is those schools because "everybody does it," but when it is a rural school it is NOT okay. It is what it is. You can argue against it all you want and deny, deny, deny. We all know it is true. And this isn't about any one person or school in particular (though some of you will surely take it that way...), it is just the way that it is. The rules don't apply to me, but they apply to everyone else!

Either way,  why is it "funny business " as Nolebull put it, when we all know Cocoa has been doing that for years?

Did Gadsden do any more than any others? Seems to be OK for certain schools to load up on transfers but God forbid if others do it. 

Yeah. The crazy thing is coaches in Georgia are accusing them of recruiting. You might see something come out at some point before the season and you’ll remember ole Nolebull was the first on top of it. Lol. 

This is how it was when I was growing up! 
Reading through this thread, many arguments that are generally made for decentralized government apply here. Independent school districts get to keep their money and use it as they see fit rather than sending to a central government that creates a bureaucracy that decides.  Why is it every decision FHSAA makes seemed centered on how much revenue it brings in? Tell me why they need more money? To pay overpaid executives? I digress. 
This ties into what I was saying in the other thread.  I believe a longer regular season,  but a shorter  harder to qualify for, post season would be better. When I was in high school the season didn't start until after labor day.  We also had later, 8:30 start times. The later start times gave people a chance to get off work, maybe go downtown and visit a local restaurant with the family,  then go to the game. Nowadays we have 7 or 7:30 start time when it's still 100 degrees out or a thunderstorm so the game gets canceled or postponed. 

Either way,  why is it "funny business " as Nolebull put it, when we all know Cocoa has been doing that for years?

Either way,  why is it "funny business " as Nolebull put it, when we all know Cocoa has been doing that for years?

Looks to me like Gadsden just so happened to have a good team this year.  Most rural towns tend to follow a natural path of down years followed by great years. 

Did Gadsden do any more than any others? Seems to be OK for certain schools to load up on transfers but God forbid if others do it. 

SSAA posted on X that Clewiston will be joining next year and playing in the Atlantic Division. 
Franklin County also. 

I don't know that there's anything anyone can do. Florida has a large transient population and people have very little ties to the community. Back where I grew up in Virginia, every town had a high school, and on Friday nights, football was King. It wasn't uncommon to see crowds of 5K or more for the big games, and even the teams who were struggling mostly filled their stands. I had a friend who was a teacher at Pound, VA high school. He described Pound as a town of 1800 people, and on Friday nights, 1200 of them would show up to watch a team that was going to finish 1-9 or 2-8. Today, there are less schools due to consolidation, but the crowds haven't changed much. 
In Florida (at least in my experience over the years), you don't have that sense of community. The closest thing I've seen in Florida to it has been at Vero (and it's starting to dwindle there), at Sebring (had a blast there a couple of years ago when they played Lake Wales), Venice, Miami NW (love their fans and plan to go back to Traz for another game next year), and the Muck Bowl was a great experience this year. 

That's what I take issue with.  At 2-8, the season should be over. Post season is supposed to be an award, not a gimmick. 

See that Orlando Conference vs the Miami Conference would be more ideal.  However I doubt any of the Heartland schools would be opposed to playing either.  And we have to start somewhere.  Ideally I would hope to see some of the small town schools in Central/ North Florida form a league because of similarities in tradition, fan base, ect. 
Something I'd like to point out: Hardee, Desoto,  and Okeechobee might have larger enrollment numbers but we also have a large migrant population that inflates those numbers.  If you look at our roster size, usually we only have 35-40 on the team, similar to a lot of 1A schools. 

Orlando had an independent conference as well. 
 
Windermere
University 
Colonial  
East River
Cypress Creek  
Lake Buena Vista 
Oak Ridge 
Innovation 
 
This was the Orlando Independent Conference 

That could be a start! Ultimately I'd like to see more conferences form and match-ups between similar but I suppose it doesn't matter.  I also would like to see a team with a winning season but say was 3rd place,  play another team with a winning record in a bowl, not a playoff with 1-9 teams.