Rio Grande or Shawnee football? Why Not?

[Gobigblacks]

gobigblacks-I would be willing to bet that if the article was written and emailed in the paper would run it if it was from a reliable source.

If only it were that easy my friend!

[FarAwayFalcon]

IRONFALCON, if you are refering to the Rio Soccer team they were 19-4-1 this year alone.

I think Rio getting football is a bad idea. Shawnee on the other hand it would be a great idea. Think about it, this part of Southern Ohio loves their football, especially the Portsmouth area. I dont see why they wouldnt start one up, if they are going to blow money on a soccer field for a team that wins maybe 10 games a year.... :122249

The past seven years the soccer program is 20-112-7, no reason why they haven't given football a shot yet.

I don't know how much more clear I can be about things then that, read the whole thread before you comment next time.

[GAHS7462]

Bryan Walters right now is covering three counties all by himself. So he is trying to cover 10 high schools by himself. That is an almost impossible job to do!

If they don't start doing a better job at everything. Bryan won't have to worry covering 3 counties. The paper won't be around!!!!!!

[Raiderball]

Bryan is in tough situation right now. It was difficult when there were 3 (Bryan, Larry and Brad) of them at the tribune. Three counties, 10 high schools. Many times they would try and get to 2 basketball games in the same night. Sometimes they got reports from coaches or writers from other newspapers. I can't imagine what it's like for Bryan being there by himself now.
Maybe I am wrong but wouldn't press releases fall under responsibilities of an SID? Maybe that is why we didn't read much about URG years ago.
Don't get me wrong, I like being able to pick up a tribune and read about URG but... if it comes down to URG or local high schools I would much rather read about the local kids.
As for Rio and football... I've heard that talk since I was there in late 70's early 80's. Like someone else mentioned, with the financial problems they are experiencing now I don't see football in the picture in the near future.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

I'D LOVE TO SEE THEM START A PROGRAM , IN PORTSMOUTH. I THINK THAT WOULD GO OVER VERY WELL.

[PIGSKIN JUNKIE]

URG is having some BIG money problems right now. Any money that was given to start a football program would not go over well and frankly it shouldnt happen. I am a URG grad and I would love to see football there but based on the financial situation they are in right now, I would rather see funding going to academics.

Although if it ever did happen.....they gotta name the field after BRUCE GABRIEL!

[battlecats]

I think SSU would be better off starting a football program then Rio would.

[alabama mike]

IMO, football is not needed at either place, Rio or SSU. Lets face facts, the vast majority of people do not care about sports at either place. Why? A variety of reasons:
1. Buckeye or UK fans
2. OU or Marshall fans
3. Dont know kids playing
4. $$$$$
5. Lack of community support (overall)
6. Committment from the colleges

Give Coach's Tom (SSU) & Warnimount (URG) credit, they at least are recruiting local kids to play baseball for their programs. If I were to attend a sporting event at either place, it would be in baseball or softball to see local kids play.

[PIGSKIN JUNKIE]

I agree. Rios baseball, soccer and basketball programs are respectable. Football is an expensive sport.

[FarAwayFalcon]

IMO, football is not needed at either place, Rio or SSU. Lets face facts, the vast majority of people do not care about sports at either place. Why? A variety of reasons:
1. Buckeye or UK fans
2. OU or Marshall fans
3. Dont know kids playing
4. $$$$$
5. Lack of community support (overall)
6. Committment from the colleges

Give Coach's Tom (SSU) & Warnimount (URG) credit, they at least are recruiting local kids to play baseball for their programs. If I were to attend a sporting event at either place, it would be in baseball or softball to see local kids play.

Okay I think your missing the point here.
1. If someone is a Buckeye fan, I'm pretty sure they would still root for SSU being a small local team. The same goes for OU and Marshall and UK fans.
2. The talent pool in southern ohio is pretty rich for small college football, the teams could be comprised almost completely of local kids and they would still compete with the other small ohio teams.
3. Money, I'll give you this, except that as already stated Shawnee is building a soccer field for a terrible program, we know that a field turf field is aroung $750,000, and if this money were put into Spartan Stadium a lot could be done.
4. I think the people down here love football, and would absolutely support a program that recruited local kids.
5. School committment, this is where the problem is, schools would much rather not take a chance. I don't see a good reason why football has not caught on yet, yes it would cost money up front but the money that would be made would eventually pay for itself. I'm not sure what it will take for one of thse schools to finally do it.

[california kid]

if ssu wre to pick up football they would also have to pick up another girls sport

[Tigercannon71]

Number one reason is money. I went to Walsh University and they started the football program in 1994 and our first season was in 1995. There was extensive surveys done to see about the feasability of football at Walsh. Then you gotta get the right coaches, find room to practice, find a place to play, and find a locker room. I know at Walsh we used N. Canton Hoovers field our first 2 years then we moved to our Fawcett Stadium after they got turf. We shared the practice field with the soccer team for a year then they moved to another field and we got that field. Now thanks to the church and generous contributions from alumni we got a turf practice field.
All this talk about recruiting you need to recruit more than just kids from the area schools if you want to be competitive in NAIA. We had a huge base to recruit from considering we are located in Canton. We had players from Cleveland, Canton, and all the small towns within a 200 mile radius. Then we started recruiting players form Pennsylvania, Florida, and some Juco colleges.
There is a lot of things that need to be considered before they start a team. like I said Money is the number one thing that needs to be considered. Can the school sustain the program after they start it.

[sleepy floyd]

SSU doesn't have the Dorm space to get 100 or more players on campus plus all the players from scioto county already comeback to SSU so they really wouldn't gain that many new students. But it would be nice to go watch local kids play on Sat. Afternoons.

[Tartanblue]

if ssu wre to pick up football they would also have to pick up another girls sport

Or drop a boys sport....like soccer or another failing sport

[california kid]

if ssu wre to pick up football they would also have to pick up another girls sport

Or drop a boys sport....like soccer or another failing sport

true who needs soccer any way

[Fun in the Sun]

What would it cost to start Football at Rio Grande ?

Maybe they could go in with GAHS and get a stadium built.

[hbk2016]

Have you been to Shawnee lately, they have new dorms all over the place.

[OVCfan32]

shawnee is doing some serious upgradage. . so yeah. . they should go in with ND and do work on the facilities and just local kids could def do damage in div2 and NAIA football. . . and we would all love it

[WitnessProtection]

I could see Shawnee adding football and doing it right ... but Rio? Aaaaaaaaaaah, no.

[battlecats]

shawnee is GROWING.