Hwy17

There use to be before it was ruined by the transfer rules

I know some. Here in the Heartland area fans from neighboring communities will support another school when they make the playoffs or have a big game.

TC has one of the Top 10 defenses in the state, and I'm told LW held out at least 6 starters.

They haven't had anything worth shooting, er, fighting for over a decade. 
Let's see how FIGHT they have at Stuart Martin, at Lakeland, Golden Gate, Lake Wales, Sebring

Bartow up to their old senanigans again. They do that once every decade when they have a pretty good team
Fights, alumni refs, drunk fans cussing and trying to intimidate opposing fans.
Let's see what happens when they have to play on the road. 

Fights in the stands according to The Ledger.
Fans cause Bartow-Fort Meade to play just 1st half; Kathleen grabs dramatic win (paywall)

My screw up. It was 27
http://www.usa.com/rank/florida-state--land-area--county-rank.htm
 

Some small counties, like Gadsden or Glades for example can't grow much because the government owns large portions of land that is off limits for development.

How does that NIL work?  We getting a lot of money from Mosaic. Need to buy us some players. 

I really like that new RB you just got. But you already have a 4-star junior and now you bring in a 3-star soph?
Man what's poppin in SoHo these days? I haven't spent time in that area in a minute. Maybe it's time to get back over that way.
We got NIL over here. 
Ft Meade is ready for a deep run this season and Lake Wales can certainly get back to FT Lauderdale, either school just need one of those stud backs.
Can we borrow one for 2023 and then return him for 2024? #LetsMakeADeal 

Back in 1991, I had a job offer in Naples that paid over 20% more than my job in Central Florida. I visited, looked at the housing market, and stayed put ... I have never regretted that decision. 

If the shoe fits...

I've been saying this for years, why do a population report for classification when multiple transfers aren't factored in? I said it back when Cocoa was 4A that they really should have been in 6a or 7a

Depends on who is doing it

If limits are not going to be placed on transfers, or a rule isn't going to be made to require them sit out a year, then I think the only other fair option would be an adjustment to classification. 

I've been saying this for years, why do a population report for classification when multiple transfers aren't factored in? I said it back when Cocoa was 4A that they really should have been in 6a or 7a

And yet traveling a long distance is a reality for some regardless if those games are district games or non district. Likewise a former athletic director told me we had a problem years ago because we were in a 4 team district while some of the neighboring schools were in a 5 team district.  That meant they had a district game and we had to either find a long distance game to fill that week or play a 9 game schedule. 

Yes, Florida's geography offers some unique challenges.  Welcome to life in the Panhandle - do you know how far it is from Niceville to Tallahassee for a district game?  In some cases, it would be as simple as combing adjacent districts, particularly in metro areas.  Often times, teams are already playing teams in adjacent districts in non-district games.  In other cases, the solution may be a little more complex.  But you're basically talking about adding one or two 1-to-3 hour round trips every year.  I know, traffic can be bad on a Friday night in Tampa (or Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami).  Maybe start the games at 6:30 or 7:00 like they do in some parts of the state.  And I think you can work around one Thursday night game per year.  Ironic that on another thread we see that Lakewood has FIVE cross-state games on their schedule.  Is that because no one locally will play them, or do they just want the competitive challenge?  In some cases, larger districts would cut down on travel; in other cases, it would increase some.  It is a good topic for debate, but in reality, change seems unlikely.  A more relevant question is whether the Metro-Suburban divide survives the next reclassification cycle in 2024 and/or whether a 5th Metro class will be added.

Was done once before and it worked.  In fact, was probably the best format fhsaa ever used: 1999-2000 district cycle. Six classes,  3 districts per region; most districts had 6-8 teams. Travel wasn't really an issue.  District Champs and runner-ups automatically got in with 2 wildcard spots.  Obviously it would need some tweaks since we now have 9 (or 10) classes. Then again the smaller classes don't need districts as fhsaa has gone that route before and it seemed to work. 

The question I always come back to is would an out-of-zone student who wants to transfer in for a particular high school's Advanced Placement classes be treated the same as a stud athlete under the same circumstances.  I suspect there is a "waiver" process at many schools that would apply to a high-skilled athlete, but not to your ordinary student.  As a fan of the team, that may be great; but as a parent and taxpayer, I would be very upset.  

Not to mention that Venice High School (like many high schools on this board; not singling them out) is AT CAPACITY for enrollment.  So, an out-of-zone student cannot just roll into the office and enroll.  Theoretically, you would have to first establish residency within the school-zoned boundaries, then enroll in the school, and then be cleared for participation in athletics.  All without any "undue influence or special inducement" that would "encourage" a prospective student to attend that school (see FHSAA Operational Bylaw 6.3).  And perhaps that is exactly what happened in this case and the many other transfers which fall into this category.  Theoretically...

My goal is to avoid a partisan discussion as I enjoy my interactions with most on this board (even those I disagree with) and would like to keep it this way rather than get thrown off.  Sometimes you have to respond to nonsense and that was the extent of my post and want to avoid getting dragged into more of the same with you.  I was guilty once before of committing a foul responding to a foul and like in football, I was the only one penalized.  Much can be found wrong on either side of the aisle, thus I have a healthy distrust of any politician sort of like I feel about lawyers.  Hope this clears it up for you. 

Yet all we hear everyday is that right-winged BS, "We want our freedom"

My own take on the education system: too much centralized power in Tallahassee and Washington.  There is no local say or control anymore.  Your local school board has very little authority at at all. Too much emphasis on standardized tests and over emphasis on STEM at the expense of language arts and humanities.

My own take on the education system: too much centralized power in Tallahassee and Washington.  There is no local say or control anymore.  Your local school board has very little authority at at all. Too much emphasis on standardized tests and over emphasis on STEM at the expense of language arts and humanities.