JOURNAL SPORTS
It’s Fall Break week for a lot of Louisiana school systems, now or very soon. There is no break for high school football.
It’s tough enough for the football players and coaches watching classmates and teaching colleagues getting time to rest, recharge, or take a quick vacation trip. For the football guys, getting a break from classwork or lesson plans is a nice trade off.
The longstanding LHSAA schedule provides for 10 weeks to play the regular season. College and pro teams have longer seasons and open dates before starting their push toward postseason. This week’s Shreveport-Bossier Journal Coaches’ Roundtable question asked if a midseason open date had merit – and if it’s even feasible.
Lots of variables were raised in these thoughtful responses. It will be interesting to see if any proposed LHSAA legislation develops, sooner or later, regarding a midseason open date. As our coaches pointed out, there are plenty of elements to consider.
GARY COOPER, Booker T. Washington: “I don’t think it would be a bad idea; especially if everyone has the same week off. The NFL and NCAA have bye weeks. A bye week would be really good for recovery for the student athletes.”
CHASE THOMPSON, North Caddo: “I would be very much a supporter of an open date. Many players go on family vacations during
fall break leaving us with a very small number of players.”
COY BROTHERTON, Parkway: “Being at the halfway point, I’d love to see us get a bye week. I wish we had 11 weeks to play 10 games like other states do, but with only 10 weeks I would never want to miss out on opportunity to play a game. Our kids work so long to only get to play 10 games a year. I’d never want to take that from them by having a bye week.”
RODNEY GUIN, Calvary: “Would not be in favor of adding a week, especially if it made the season longer in December. A longer season hurts the multi-sport guys, especially basketball players, wrestlers and soccer players whose seasons get going during the football playoffs.”
STEPHEN DENNIS, Benton: “There are always pros and cons. The pro of having a bye right now is it would allow the kids and the coaches to get a physical and mental break from the grind of the season. Neither party truly gets a ‘Fall Break.’
“Texas has a true bye week built into their season, so there is a model to follow.
“The con is that it would extend an already long season and directly impacts other sports for kids that participate in multiple sports and coaches that coach multiple sports.
“You weigh the pros and cons and see if the consensus is there to support a bye week. But our reality is right now, we work to be 1-0 when everybody else at school is on fall break!”
AUSTIN BROWN, Northwood: “I would like an open date in midseason, but with the current laws we can’t EVER practice in the afternoon in August. So we’d be playing one more early game in 100+ degrees even though we cannot practice in it.”
DENNY DURON, Evangel: “Love the idea of an ‘optional’ open date — with the possibility of adding an 11th game. I also like the idea, a lot, of starting a week earlier.”
MATTHEW SEWELL, Haughton: “If we could start the season a week earlier, like they do in Texas, I’d like to have an open date in midseason for everybody.”
JEREMY WILBURN, Captain Shreve: “I think there would be some benefit to adding the open week during first 9-weeks final exams. We have those next week in Caddo but that would require the entire state setting a uniform exam week across the board. I don’t foresee that coming to fruition before I retire!
“Kicking the season up a week in August would add more of a headache than a benefit with all of the wet bulb (temperature) regulations we already battle. There aren’t too many programs around NWLA that have an indoor facility that they can use to continue to practice during the August heat.
“If anything, kicking the season back a week or two would be a big help in my opinion. Texas does that.”