A Valley all-star football game? Goodness, gracious yes!
Ideas? I loves ‘em. (And yes, I meant to type “loves” instead of “love.“)
Ideas are where all good things start and, even if said idea is still just a Word document sent as an e-mail attachment one night last week, it’s the step in the right direction. And this idea, straight from the mind, onto the computer and sent in an e-mail from R.E. Lee defensive coordinator Mike Roark, is a doozy.
It sounds fun. It sounds neat. And, with a few tweaks here and there, it’s an idea that can work and, ultimately, make the whole Valley the state’s one-stop shop for high school football fanatics.
Roark would love to see a Valley All-Star football game.
So would I.
Admit it, so would you.
His plan is simple on paper. Get all the schools in the Southern Valley, Massanutten and Shenandoah districts involved and split the schools into two teams — North and South.
The North would feature all the Massanutten teams along with Stonewall Jackson, Page County and Luray from the Shenandoah. The South would have all the Southern Valley along with Riverheads and Buffalo Gap from the Shenandoah. (Of course you and I both know Wilson Memorial will be in the Southern Valley come next season).
I’ll let Roark’s e-mail take it from here:
48 Man Roster:
04 Players from each school guaranteed. (32 Players South) (28 Players North)
10 Players voted on by Head Coaches of South participating teams.
14 Players voted on by Head Coaches of North participating teams.
06 Players selected by the coaching staff of the All Star Team
Number of players for positions are mandatory and must be stated before practice begins. If a player quits, the alternate will be selected from the pool for that position.
Maximum number of players from any 1 team is 8. No exceptions
If a player is selected for post season honors of All Region or higher, he will be automatically put on the roster. If there are the same number of players at the same position, the players whose teams advanced the furthest will be selected.
Every Player will either start the 1st Half or the 2nd Half. Players are guaranteed the quarter they start. After that, playing time will be left to the coach’s discretion. Players will not be allowed to play on both sides of the ball.
Head Coaches: Any coach winning a state title will automatically selected as the Head Coach. Any Coach with over 20 years of coaching and retiring will also be considered before nominations. If there are no state titles or coaches retiring. Coaches can be nominated by their peers and voted on by the coaches in their group. The Head Coach and his coaching staff will choose to coach one side of the ball. The Head Coach with the second most votes will be selected as the “Assistant Head Coach” He and his coaching staff will coach the other side of the ball.
Is it perfect? Goodness gracious no. There are some unanswered questions like where the game will played, when it will be played and what impact will it have on basketball season. But I see those as “stumbling” blocks that can easily be avoided with some good old fashioned “It’s-good-for-the-kids” mentality.
No other sport’s regional dominance it talked about more on Virginiapreps.com than football where, as the season comes to a close, faceless fans hiding behind made-up handles argue if the Seminole is better than the Valley or if Tidewater is still king.
So, what do you fans think? Because if enough of the fans think it’s a good idea, then we know it’s something that can happen. Right?
Heck, someone’s already done the hard work. Now all Roark’s plan needs is a some fans.
He’s got one here. Any other takers?
And another thing: The Pooch Punt is taking a break for the holidays and will return Dec. 30. Have a safe and fun holiday to both my readers. (Thanks again, Mom and Dad.)
Posted by Jim Sacco at 06:42 PM. Filed under: Prep Football •
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