Perspective

Translation:  Now that I have kids, Friday night is date night.  And my wife has made it clear that if I want to have any shot at getting a little nooky, I best not spend my Friday nights out watching high school football games. 

Translation:  Now that I have kids, Friday night is date night.  And my wife has made it clear that if I want to have any shot at getting a little nooky, I best not spend my Friday nights out watching high school football games. 

Dude (I'm assuming), you're on a roll this morning.   But, as I have suggested in other threads, I truly believe that the FHSAA's hands are tied on this right now.  They opposed the law that went into effect 3-4 years ago that essentially legalized open/free transfers.  They knew what would happen (i.e., what is now happening).  But, if the FHSAA tries to regulate the transfer of student/athletes in a way that contradicts the law, they run the risk of getting legislated out of existence. 

Actually on the contrary my wife usually works a 12 on Fridays (since she is in school Tuesday through Thursday now) and by the time she gets home at around 8 She is too tired to go out anywhere and the kids have worn me out so I am tired and by that time I can only make it to a Plant game and have it still be in the 1st half  and since Plant Sucks this year I just stay home or go catch the 2nd half of one of the close by teams (CCC, Clearwater, Largo, PPark). 
For me to travel to Lake City I would essentially have to abandon my kids to fend for themselves for about 4 hours while they wait for mommy to get home... The 2 year old would probably be okay but not so sure about the 4 year old LOL.... I won't be traveling much if at all this season or next season for any game.

Translation:  Now that I have kids, Friday night is date night.  And my wife has made it clear that if I want to have any shot at getting a little nooky, I best not spend my Friday nights out watching high school football games. 

I don't know how much state money, if any, IMG has received over the last couple of years, but if you expand out to five years, the number is close to $10 million.   One state legislator (State Rep Jim Boyd) justified it this way:  IMG has "become an international sports juggernaut that is attracting 12,000 athletes a year to train in the region." That in turn is "pulling in tourists and growing Florida's fledgling sports tourism industry."
Sources: 
https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2015/06/18/Facilities/IMG-Academy.aspx

 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/sports-juggernaut-img-academy-a-big-surprising-winner-in-state-budget/2234120/

 
In short, IMG is getting state assistance because it's a business that is generating income to the state in the form of tourist tax dollars.  Now, we can debate the pros and cons of this strategy all day long.  Same for whether any business, much less one masquerading as a school, deserves tax dollars.  But the thing that I think most of us can agree on is that IMG is not just another high school.  In fact, it's not just another private school.  If anything, when it comes to their athletic programs, it is, as someone noted above, more akin to a prep school.   
Therein lies the problem.   Prep schools exists primarily in the northeast.  Prep schools often include kids who have graduated from high school, but who have not yet gone on to college.   Because of this, prep schools tend to play other prep schools . . . which you can do if there is a group of them in a particular geographic area.  There are no other prep schools for IMG to play down here (and by "down here," I basically mean from the Mason-Dixon line south).  So, IMG has two choices:  play a national schedule (which involves 4-5 travel games a year) or play a couple of "national" games and then fill out the schedule with whatever in-state teams are willing to play you.  They are neither fish nor fowl. 

I don't know how much state money, if any, IMG has received over the last couple of years, but if you expand out to five years, the number is close to $10 million.   One state legislator (State Rep Jim Boyd) justified it this way:  IMG has "become an international sports juggernaut that is attracting 12,000 athletes a year to train in the region." That in turn is "pulling in tourists and growing Florida's fledgling sports tourism industry."
Sources: 
https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2015/06/18/Facilities/IMG-Academy.aspx

 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/sports-juggernaut-img-academy-a-big-surprising-winner-in-state-budget/2234120/

 
In short, IMG is getting state assistance because it's a business that is generating income to the state in the form of tourist tax dollars.  Now, we can debate the pros and cons of this strategy all day long.  Same for whether any business, much less one masquerading as a school, deserves tax dollars.  But the thing that I think most of us can agree on is that IMG is not just another high school.  In fact, it's not just another private school.  If anything, when it comes to their athletic programs, it is, as someone noted above, more akin to a prep school.   
Therein lies the problem.   Prep schools exists primarily in the northeast.  Prep schools often include kids who have graduated from high school, but who have not yet gone on to college.   Because of this, prep schools tend to play other prep schools . . . which you can do if there is a group of them in a particular geographic area.  There are no other prep schools for IMG to play down here (and by "down here," I basically mean from the Mason-Dixon line south).  So, IMG has two choices:  play a national schedule (which involves 4-5 travel games a year) or play a couple of "national" games and then fill out the schedule with whatever in-state teams are willing to play you.  They are neither fish nor fowl. 

The biggest issue is that the districts cancelled school. When they do that, they cancel all activities associated with the district (including practices). I’m in Central Florida and it’s not bad here at all but it’s a tall order to get back to school on Thursday (at the earliest) and try to play a game Friday or Saturday. It becomes a bigger headache if there’s a team from another county who can’t play when you can. No coach likes the Monday game (especially with District games getting ready to start). It sucks for the kids most of all because they lose out on a game if the one they miss isn’t rescheduled. 

And strangely, none of them had the same last name as the homeowner.

Welcome to the club.   I'd send you a membership card, but we ran out about 500 members ago. 

I'm guessing the 5 kids weren't quintuplets. 

I'm guessing the 5 kids weren't quintuplets. 

I'll try. Suppose you are a fan, possibly an alumni, of a school that is in the same county as Lakeland or Cocoa and you have to play them each year. You have kids come up through the youth football leagues in your town and expect them to go to the local high school. Cocoa or Lakeland come raiding your programs and recruiting your best players. Your team become non-competitive, fan support disappears, and soon you may have trouble even fielding a team. Several schools in our Central Florida no longer have full programs (Freshmen, JV, and varsity), others have depleted varsity rosters. Then, you have the added chance that teams with smaller rosters are risking injury to their kids because the kids have to play more, growing tired, adding to their injury chances, especially when they have to play the teams that have loaded up on recruits. Simply stated, the competitive balance has been destroyed.

There are about 15 HS teams in Baltimore area; six are very good; all recruit, but not to same level as St Francis. Starting last season and continuing now, none of the high schools in Baltimore area will play football against St Francis because they are considered an all-star school similar to IMG. St Francis has to play a national schedule. This is what is happening in Florida with the free transfer policy of state legislature passed.

It would have been before 2004.  2004 was Coach Weiner's first year and Plant went 3-7 (and they won their second game of the season). 
The Gonzaga game is the last weekend of September (9/27), but Plant has two games before then:  a home game against a very good Tampa Bay Tech team (9/13) and a home game against Bloomingdale (9/20). 

10 teens injured last night in shooting at AL hs game
https://abcnews.go.com/US/10-teens-shot-high-school-football-game-alabama/story?id=65309106

I agree with you 100%, but I have always enjoyed HS football in its purest form. We're not seeing that now, and I'm afraid it will result in HS football's eventual demise. And, yes it is dude.

I had heard the number of incoming transfers was pretty high, but I had no idea the number was that high.  By my count, 20 new players, most from other Polk County schools, transferred in.  Wow!  The state Senator and state rep from that area must be very happy with what they accomplished a few years back. 
And I agree that Castle is not out there actively recruiting players . . . he's smarter than that.   That's what assistant coaches are for.  Just ask STA.  

But arguably, that would defeat both the letter of the law (i.e., to allow free transfer) and the purpose of the law (to allow football players from neighboring Polk County schools to transfer to Lakeland and immediately play). 

365 years?  Damn, that's a little harsh, don't you think?

But arguably, that would defeat both the letter of the law (i.e., to allow free transfer) and the purpose of the law (to allow football players from neighboring Polk County schools to transfer to Lakeland and immediately play). 

Now, to be fair, I think similar lists need to be compiled for several other schools as well. Armwood, Edgewater, the Dade county powers etc. The acquisition of a lot of transfers is not unique to Lakeland. It is part of a trend (not a good one, IMO) that is pervasive across the country. The trend, most everywhere it seems, is for star players to merge and super teams to be built. Lakeland appears to have done arguably the "best" job of it this year. But, this kind of thing has been happening, in Dade especially, for several years.  It's a bit easier to track now with hudl and twitter accounts that update on such matters. 

And just for kicks, we'll call it the Premier League. 

I had heard the number of incoming transfers was pretty high, but I had no idea the number was that high.  By my count, 20 new players, most from other Polk County schools, transferred in.  Wow!  The state Senator and state rep from that area must be very happy with what they accomplished a few years back. 
And I agree that Castle is not out there actively recruiting players . . . he's smarter than that.   That's what assistant coaches are for.  Just ask STA.  

Good question, and I looking forward to seeing the answer. 
In the meantime, remember that transfers can impact programs in a number of ways:  (1) obviously, some transfers are better than others; I would argue that picking up a one or two 3-star players has more significance than picking up five no-star transfers, even if all five were to become starters; (2) one or two quality transfers, who do become starters, often times allows a coach to move the 'original starter' to a position that is better suited for his skill/talent level; and (3) along those same lines, a couple of good transfers and the inevitable shifting of players could knock a team's glaring weakness right to the bench.    Also, keep in mind the positions that the transfers play.  If the player transferring in is a quality kicker, for example, and his new team doesn't have a returning or rising place kicker, the transfer could make a 5-point per game difference on average.    Finally, transfers at the high school level can add much-needed depth to a team, perhaps giving key personnel critical breaks in big games. 
Oh (in the spirit of Steve Jobs), one last thing:  just because the transfer isn't named a starter over the son of Booster Joe really doesn't mean a whole lot if the transfer ends up playing most of the game and all of the critical downs.