Ray Icaza

Guess who was an assistant coach on that staff at Winter Park. Heres a few hints...He runs the 7 on 7 team 24K. He left Winter Park last year and took the Head job at Leesburg. He then left Leesburg after 1 season and became the associate Head Coach at TFA. Im sure its just a coincidence though.

The possibility of adding an "open" or "championship" bracket with the 8 highest ranked teams will be discussed at the upcoming FHSAA Board of Directors meeting.  The twist here is the proposal includes a double-elimination component.  Seems overly complicated to me, although it does open up the possibility for additional revenue from additional games.  The item is listed as a "discussion" item (as opposed to an "action" item), but it will be interesting to see where this leads.  The entire item can be reviewed here:
https://fhsaa.com/documents/2024/4/12/76_78.pdf

"Choosing to break the rules is not a coach philosophy; it's cheating." 
/s/ Annoyed and retired

Attracting talent and helping kids gets a better education and athletic experience 

There's a lot more to it, but if everything TFA has been accused of is true, what they have done is truly inexcusable.  

Some old coaches don’t want to get with the times. No issue there. Things change. The dynamics and landscapes change. You can’t coach kids the same as you could in the 80’s. You couldn’t coach kids in the 80’s the same as you did in the 50’s. Perfectly fine. 
 
You either adjust and update your coaching philosophy or you get annoyed and retire. Again no issue there. 
 
But just because a coach realizes job security can hinge on how well you attract talent, doesn’t mean he lacks morals and values. I call bullshit on that 

Or maybe he left because he values his integrity. 

Only thing I know is that they basically have Leesburg HC from this past season as an assistant/co-HC and made it to where it was a package deal with him and his staff from Leesburg to come over with him. And apparently they were allotted a tremendous amount of funds for athletics.

No doubt they are working to "GET" kids to transfer in as we lost a couple of very good players to them in the last couple of months.  The change came when they brought the 1 year HC down from Leesburg where he put them on the map and into the playoffs somehow managing to "GET" players from some of the surrounding schools.  No doubt it is happening. 

The quarterback is on his 3rd school in 3 years (Wekiva, Leesburg, TFA). Oh, and so is the asst. coach that brings in all of the kids.

No doubt they are working to "GET" kids to transfer in as we lost a couple of very good players to them in the last couple of months.  The change came when they brought the 1 year HC down from Leesburg where he put them on the map and into the playoffs somehow managing to "GET" players from some of the surrounding schools.  No doubt it is happening. 

The difference that I see is that colleges and universities can recruit (in fact, they have to in order to be competitive). More importantly, the local car dealership can be loyal to a particular college or university and under new NIL rules, it can pay a student-athlete.     As it stands now, that same car dealership can be loyal to a particular high school football team, but as soon as they start providing payments to players, they run afoul of the FHSAA rules prohibiting "impermissible benefits."  This whole section would have to be changed:
"37.2 IMPERMISSIBLE BENEFIT
37.2.1 General Regulation. No school employee, athletic department staff member, representative of the school’s athletic
interests or third parties, such as an independent person, business, or organization, may be involved, directly or indirectly, in giving
an impermissible benefit to any student or any member of his/her family for the purpose of participating in interscholastic athletics,
or to any student-athlete who already attends a school.
37.2.2 Specific Prohibitions. Specifically prohibited arrangements, assistance or benefits include, but are not limited to,
the following:
37.2.2.1 School-based financial assistance of any kind that exceeds the amount for which a student has been approved
by an independent financial needs assessment company that is recognized by the FHSAA or otherwise is in excess of any supplemental
assistance provided by a school to each and every student who qualifies for financial assistance.
37.2.2.2 Cash or like items, such as credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, gift certificates, coupons, or vouchers. . . .."
 
What's wrong with keeping high school sports purely amateur?  Unlike colleges and universities, no one (including/especially the high schools) is really 'profiting' from the name, image or likeness of a high school athletes, are they?   My kids played with some pretty high-profile guys, but I don't recall Dick's selling jerseys with their names printed on the back.  Are high school football players from Florida going to start fleeing to other states to pick up a few grand?   Perhaps a kid from the panhandle or Jacksonville might get pulled north to Georgia or Alabama for a few bucks, but I can't see any south Florida kids making the move north unless the money was huge (like a once-in-a-generation kid).    Let NIL screw up the college game, but keep the high school game as pure as possible. 

We can look to the college game for ideas on how to work around rules. A little creativity, along with clever use of euphemisms, goes a long way.
Businesses like car dealerships have long been free to enter into sponsorship deals with local football programs. The businesses can choose who to sponsor or not. Then, with such an agreement in place, commercials and promotions can be held featuring players from the sponsored program, which can be called an "NIL" deal.
Of course there is ample room for debates around the "spirit" vs. "the letter" of the law. You're not wrong; there are just ways around the issues you raise. (None of which are for the betterment of the game.)

Unless and until the FHSAA changes the rules regarding recruiting, I don't see how you can possibly reconcile "allowing NIL deals" with "no recruiting."   The only way that I can see it happening is if companies offering NIL deals offer the deals to players at multiple high schools.   But, if you've got, let's say, a car dealership in Venice or Lakeland that only offers NIL deals to kids who attend Venice or Lakeland, that constitutes recruiting. 

And if that same newsletter asked the Osceola County Sheriff Department, what do you think the response would be?
If you asked, members of the Chamber of Commerce? (Essentially a union of businesses)
If you asked a group of nurses?
If you asked a group of lawyers?
Also a union cares about the working conditions of their members, but the working conditions of teachers are the learning conditions of students as well.

People are attracted to careers because of the values that come with those careers.
Political Parties attract people based on their values.
So it shouldn't be surprising that certain professions attract certain people in certain careers. You act as if the principal's first question when we have a 5,000+ teachers shortage in this state is "who do you vote for? And are you a member of the union?"

As a general rule, I am not a big supporter of unions in the public sector in particular.  They certainly had a place in the private sector during the industrialization of our nation, but today not so much.  I have no first-hand experience with unions representing our local law enforcement or firefighters but my interaction with the teachers union over several years in that profession is the basis of my opinion.  

Brutal schedule. At least the district games are easy. 

OSCEOLA KOWBOY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Kowboy Football (@Kowboy_Football) / X (twitter.com)

Even back in the mid 70's when they took hold in our county I resisted joining due to the political nature of the organization rather than as you rightly point out the lack of focus on the betterment of the students.

Teachers' unions should be vehemently opposed until if/when they demonstrate that their purpose is to benefit and push forward education. Has any teachers' union pushed back against the sort of bullshit pushed by, for example, the Chicago teacher's union? CTA said that the push to reopen schools was an example of white supremacy. If you can't call that out for the complete and utter bullshit that it is, you deserve to be opposed. (For the record, I left my union this school year).

I as well as the majority of parents are happy our state legislature isn't pushed around by unions like other states otherwise our school aged kids wouldn't have even been back in the classroom for almost an entire year.  So you have a right to bash our lawmakers while I have the right to cheer them on.  

I as well as the majority of parents are happy our state legislature isn't pushed around by unions like other states otherwise our school aged kids wouldn't have even been back in the classroom for almost an entire year.  So you have a right to bash our lawmakers while I have the right to cheer them on.  

Unions aren't about the teachers and working tirelessly for their compensation but most importantly the dues they collect, control and power, just my own opinion.  Extracurricular activities whether band, athletics, debate teams, etc.. have a profound impact on the overall development of students thru relationship building, discipline, work ethic and other traits not learned in the classroom and should be compensated as such.  Here is a quote I recently saw posted by our HC (football and track) on his FB page who by the way doesn't fit neatly in your PE example as he teaches Special ED but helps support the idea of that value. 
HIGH SCHOOLS?
  *Miss a homework assignment?  Late is okey.
  *Fail a test? Just retake it. 
  *Tardy to class?  Here is a warning.
  *Playing on your phone in class?  Just put it away. 
  *Didn't make the deadline?  It was extended.
  *Actually get an F?  Have your parent call in to take care of it.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL:
  *Out of shape from not training?  Everybody sees it on the field, IF you get on the field.
  *Don't know your assignment?  Everybody sees the defender fly by you and blow up the play.
  *Fumble the ball?  Instant feedback from everybody and it is often a bit harsh.
 
The high school football field sheds light on the "real" world in so many ways that the general high school experience does not.  "Talking the Talk" does not work out there.  You must "Walk the Walk" or get punched in the mouth.
                                                             I LOVE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
 
These were his words not mine.
 
 
 

Teachers are sometimes their own worst enemies.

This is a bit of an incoherent mess. The matter of parents' rights is separate from teacher/coaches pay and teacher certification. All are valid, but distinct, concerns.