Is it time?
By Rodney Young
Hello sports fans. This column is not meant to throw shade at any coach or at any kid.
Pulaski County High School is in the River Ridge District. Is it time for the Cougars to look at requesting to move into another district?
Enrollment has dropped over the last few years and in fact, the Cougars have dropped from a Class 4 school to Class 3 due to declining enrollment.
The Cougars, however, are still facing Class 4 and even Class 5 schools in the River Ridge.
The fact is Pulaski County High School has less students and less talent than what they have had in past years. Some people may disagree with that statement, but the days of 1,800 – 2,000 students are gone.
The Three Rivers District is more suitable for the Pulaski County Cougars. That district consists of Carroll County, Alleghany County, Floyd County, Patrick County, James River, Glenvar and Radford.
Now you may be thinking we don’t need to be in that district.
Look at it this way, Pulaski County is rural and spread out for the students to attend the high school. Carroll, Alleghany, Floyd, Patrick and James River are all in the same boat – they are rural schools.
Yes, Glenvar and Radford are more urban, but enrollment is different than say Salem, Patrick Henry and Blacksburg.
Carroll and Alleghany are both Class 3 schools. Patrick, Floyd, James River, Glenvar and Radford are Class 2 schools. So that would be seven games in football.
And you could fill out a football schedule with the likes of Class 3 Christiansburg, Class 3 Abingdon and one other school – hopefully a Class 2 school.
As it is now, Pulaski County kids have to travel just to get to practice, while Salem, Roanoke County and Roanoke City schools have a whole lot less travel just to get to practices.
While some travel would be involved in playing Alleghany and Patrick, Pulaski County plays neighbors Carroll, Floyd and Radford in a lot of their athletics now.
Look at football. The Cougars had 42 kids out for football last season. Lots of the Three Rivers teams had just as many kids out for football if not more than Pulaski County.
It just seems to be a better fit to move to the Three Rivers.
Is it time to look into it? Yes. There would be lots of hoops to jump through moving from one district to another. But is it time to consider it for the kids of this county? I think so.
Is it time to not look back and think we still have 1,800 – 2,000 kids to choose from or is it time to look and see what the enrollment is and how it has gone down. Is it time to realize how difficult it is to play Class 4 teams and a Class 5 team every year? Is it time to look at how the River Ridge favors Salem and the Roanoke schools?
When was the last time football had a winning record? That would be 2019. Last time boys basketball had a winning record? Yes, I know the baseball team finished 14-11 this season. They were 9-10 in their regular season and last year they were … what … 10-11?
Now moving to a new district doesn’t mean you are going to have winning records, but you would be facing teams that are facing some of the same factors as Pulaski County.
It’s no longer the 1980’s or 1990’s. It’s almost like the River Ridge has outgrown the Cougars. The Cougars are getting smaller and smaller. Heard there was a football players/parents meeting and less than 35 showed up. I’d say that is less than any other team in the River Ridge. And yes, I’d say that would be less than some of the Three Rivers schools.
The basketball program seems to change coaches every three to four years. It’s not fun to go on the road and get beat by 25-30 points and face a Class 5 team that likes and wants to run up the score on you. Then you hear rumblings like, “oh Pulaski County needs a new coach.” Well maybe, just maybe, it’s time to change districts instead.
So the question remains, is it time? Just something to ponder before a new school sports season begins!
July 15, 2024 @ 5:49 am
You raised a good point . Hope whoever makes these calls looks into it. And I live in Radford …
July 15, 2024 @ 9:13 am
100% agree…. PC needs to be Class 3 to be competitive, enrollment says that.
July 15, 2024 @ 9:56 am
This is a very interesting article to say the least. I am a die hard Cougar fan… Hard core Cardinal and Gold. I will ALWAYS be a Cougar. This article raises some very interesting points. I graduated in the 90’s and I remember having 70 plus kids on the sidelines. Those days are behind us, I do believe in Pulaski County and I DO believe if we support our kids, coaches, Schools, and athletic departments from the recreation level up, we can see a shift toward the positive. It starts at the Rec league level. That is just my humble opinion. There are GREAT kids in this county and in our community. The kids will learn what we teach them, and what we show them. If we show them how to work hard toward a goal from a young age, and be consistent then they will be better in LIFE, not just better in sports. We have to love our kids, and come together as a community. I believe some discussions should be had about our enrollment and where it falls on the scale. No-one wants to see our kids compete against schools whose enrollment is almost double ours. That is simply not right. It demoralizes our kids, and breeds discouragement. That is why at the end of the day, our kids deserve to have our unwavering support! It goes WAY beyond sports. I pray this message finds you all well… God Bless!
July 15, 2024 @ 12:40 pm
I heard there are respect issues with the coach in relationship to the players. This is why some of the players are not showing up or quitting. This is something to ponder. I think the above article is spot on in changing districts.
July 15, 2024 @ 4:43 pm
Well Said Rodney Young!!!!
July 16, 2024 @ 6:52 pm
Rodney is absolutely right. I have wondered about this for some time. It appears to me that it is time for the school to begin the process of transferring to the Three Rivers District. Start now so hopefully things will be ready by next year. It is demoralizing to the players , coaches and fans for Cougar teams to go up against larger schools with which they are not competitive due to their lack of players. Time to get the ball rolling!
July 18, 2024 @ 3:41 pm
I contemplated this for several days before I responded. 1st Pulaski Co has always been a prideful community and School, We never asked anyone to give us anything we have always worked for what we have gotten and never asked for anything. Why would we now? Sure numbers are down as well as TALENT but not to the level that we need to be playing schools as Small as 3 River District schools just to chase wins. PH and Salem are larger schools but Cave , HV , CB are 3A schools and Blacksburgs is an awful excuse for a 4A program. When we (Pulaski Co) were much larger than those schools they never complained about that. 2nd travel has always been a issue for county Kids to get to practices Coach Johnson and Coach Hickman would load us up and transport us back and forth to practice and we made it work. Heck we even walked to practice from Pulaski . Do they not have activity buses anymore? 3rd the VHSL made it equitable for all schools with the playoff system the way it’s currently structured all teams practically make the playoffs and you only compete against like size schools meaning district play means NOTHING other than bragging rights. 4th if you want to tweak the district and move PC , Cave and HV to the Blue Ridge and swap FC and WF to the River Ridge then you would have all 3A schools in 1 district and 4A and 5A schools in another. I know CB is currently 3A size but soon to be 4A with in the next few years. I feel our pain but let’s not take the easy way out, our coaches deserve more respect and would never ask to drop to the 3 Rivers district and beat up on smaller schools just to say they won a district title.