IMG To field a High School Football team

[harcohorns]

I never knew that RL were going to kick these students out. In my mind this does change my opinion about leaving. I also was not happy to hear these kids were banned from playing in their own State. That too changes my thoughts. When I am wrong I will admit it. Regarding the Move I am wrong! Its not the first or the last(just ask my wife)LOL As far as the education, In my mind a mix sounds like a good thing.Sure Mom and Dad can help, But that happens in every school. The proof is in the SAT ACT scores. If any Students do well in those test it tells the world that the students have learned. Which should be a teacher and students Goal.

Blue Sky I appreciate that and really all we want is a chance.. A chance for our kids to do what they do.. We aren't trying to say were better than anyone or have all the answers.. Our kids are ready to represent Md with pride and will gladly go out and represent the state hopefully to you alls satisfaction.. We just ask for an open mind about our kids and school.. And as you say schools are judged by outcomes.. So lets approach this with an open mind and reserve judgement until we have some outcomes..

I really don't need to be on here trying to defend things it just break my heart as a father when I am at a 7on7 and hear parents from the other teams making rude comments about our kids and hearing stuff like I heard at UMD " These kids don't even go to school , they just practice 7on7 all day, that is why they are good" I mean damn that isn't even logical.. but it still hurts to hear it... unfortunately I can't do anything about it but maybe try and clear some misunderstandings up on these boards being that is where many of those rumors get perpetuated..

Sure we have an uphill battle, sure we have some preconceived notions to over come and we have a school to try and get off the ground... Its hard work but we believe in what we are doing.. so I just pray that someday these kids can get some respect and recognition for their hard work...

I probably worry alot more about it than the kids do though.. they have been through alot together over the last couple years,, They are pretty night nit group who are always there for each other..I doubt this stuff bothers them much anymore.. They actually kind of feed off the negativity...and will work harder to prove folks wrong...

[92 Card]

AS for the football academy thing well that is fine ..If that means the school is producing kids that are academically and physically ready to play and perform at the collegiate level acamedically that I am good with that... to me that is what a football academy is.. I have read many people claiming DeMatha is just a football factory when they were winning and sending kids to collage on scholarship.. I have heard Good Cousel being called a football factory as well... people use that term to put others down but to me its a compliment.. thanks..

It is what it is. I never judged it or said it was a bad thing per se. We have had a good dialogue and you were honest with me when it was going down this past winter. However, I think it's unfair to accuse regular schools of ducking a 365 day/year football team that spends more time together than D1 and NFL teams. Do I think it's bad that they spend that much time together? Not necessarily. However, I think it's extremely unfair to judge other programs if they do not want to play you due to unfair competitive advantages. I did take exception to the comments you posted that were made by a fellow ECA parent. Especially the one about coaches spending more time with their kids. That may be the case in some instances. However, Calvert Hall's HC is a 9th grade English teacher at the school he coaches, which happens to be his alma mater. The coach whom the CHC locker room is named after has been a math teacher at CHC for 50 years, literally! Dunbar's HC is a school Police Officer and the girl's softball coach. The rest of the letter read like a scripted advertisement I have kept things on the field as far as my comments have been concerned. I hope ECA is successful as a school. RLCA and ECA's tuition is roughly 1/2 that of Calvert Hall, MSJ and Spalding and 1/4 that of Gilman and McDonogh. I am sure that will be a great help, along with Sills' foundation.

This is not very complicated in my eyes. Sills and Day built up the program Dwayne Thomas took over when Day was forced out. Their goal in building the RLCA program was to compete on a national scale ala Bishop Gorman, ect. The new administration decided they wanted to scale down the program and keep it local. Thus killing the idea of a regional league you frequently mention. The new admin did not want to field a team that traveled across the country or be labeled as a football factory. That's within their rights, as RLCA was a football afterthought before Sills' arrived. Cutting back on football scholarships was probably a way for them to scale back and clean up the school's image, right or wrong. I do not want to get it twisted because I am not saying it's right. The new administration took a stand, and it was in direct conflict of interest with the goals of the men who built up the program to compete on a national level. In my opinion moving was a logical step for you guys and within your rights. All of the players would have left with or without ECA. Sills' and Bigelow were headed to a Christian School in Orange County, CA and the other players looked into schools in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania & Maryland. There is no way the two parties (RLCA & The Sills contingent) could or would be willing to exist together. Thus, ECA was born.

I know it must be tough on you to hear the banter, but it comes with the territory. DeMatha, Good Counsel & Red Lion for that matter were not founded because of football.

[RM7]

Found this to be an interesting read on RLC and Sills.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcook/...-to-stay-open/

[eaglesinsider]

I'm not trying to jump into this heated subject, but I'll just say that anyone who thinks that ECA is done after Sills graduates will be mistaken. The amount of money they have already expended makes me think that they are trying to do everything the right way. They aren't just operating on the cheap as a school and focusing solely on their football program. In fact, they've sunk much more money on their future academic building than their athletic facilities, which they probably won't even have open this year.

Now, I'm not saying ECA isn't facing an uphill climb, they are. The Baltimore-area private schools are among the oldest in the country, many have been around for over 100 years. It's hard for start up schools to gain momentum when they have to catch up to some of the most prestigious schools in the country. McD/Gilman/CHC/Loyola/MSJ each have over a century of name recognition and reputation behind them. ECA has name recognition among the high school football community, but not yet in the general community. It's not impossible though, and if they have a good plan and solid investors committed for years (which I'm confident that they do) they have a good chance to succeed.

[GREYHOUND ALUM]

I never knew that RL were going to kick these students out. In my mind this does change my opinion about leaving. I also was not happy to hear these kids were banned from playing in their own State. That too changes my thoughts. When I am wrong I will admit it. Regarding the Move I am wrong! Its not the first or the last(just ask my wife)LOL As far as the education, In my mind a mix sounds like a good thing.Sure Mom and Dad can help, But that happens in every school. The proof is in the SAT ACT scores. If any Students do well in those test it tells the world that the students have learned. Which should be a teacher and students Goal.

I knew that the administration wasn't going to give any aide to the kids but saying that the kids could not play at any other school in DE if they received aid? That makes no sense to me. How is that legal? I'm not a lawyer but it seems to be clearly against the kids rights. Who actually told these kids they couldn't play in DR any longer? Was it Red Lion or the state of DE? Gilly would be able to speak better on this matter, as he was a lawyer for some time in the Philly area. If this is true, this is completely outrageous.

[92 Card]

I knew that the administration wasn't going to give any aide to the kids but saying that the kids could not play at any other school in DE if they received aid? That makes no sense to me. How is that legal? I'm not a lawyer but it seems to be clearly against the kids rights. Who actually told these kids they couldn't play in DR any longer? Was it Red Lion or the state of DE? Gilly would be able to speak better on this matter, as he was a lawyer for some time in the Philly area. If this is true, this is completely outrageous.

The kids were not getting kicked out or disallowed to play in other DE schools. Their goals was to treat football players like other students, thus eliminating Sills' FOCUS football scholarship, according to the Forbes article. The players who stayed would now have to follow the same protocol as every other student in terms of financial aid/tuition. RLCA scaled back from a national to a local program. They are playing in the DIAA this season. They had to cut back on athletic scholarships in order to become a full member of the DIAA. I think I did a good job of articulating what happened in the 2nd (long. LOL) paragraph in my most recent comment and the Forbes article confirmed my comments.

[harcohorns]

Except for one problem... There is and never was any football scholarships.. I don't care what DIAA says or the new RLCA owners say.. that is BS and politics.

Here is the exact process I went through to get aide .. and its same process every other parent I talked to went though.. Maybe the lawyers can tell me how this is a football scholarship..


First I had to apply to the school and my kids had to test and bring transcripts, behavior reports, testament of faith and a recommendation from our pastor.. After accepted then you could apply for aide through the FACTs company.. This is the same company most privates use... With that application I had to give them tax returns, bank statements, W2.s . bills etc...

FACTs then determines need and give a percentage of aide you qualify for... The school then awards an amount based on what they have available usually about 1000 or 2000.. If that is not enough then you could apply for aide from FOCAS which was a private non profit separate from the school. This was available for all students.. The school sends them all the FACTS data, I send them more testaments of faith and reasons why we want our kids to get a Christian education.. FOCAS then does an interview.. AT no time during any of this process was athletics even brought up.. In the interview I had to give a bunch of personal information as to why my finances were what they were We discussed what we could afford to pay.....

In my case I was awarded an amount that made my payment 200 more a month than we felt we could afford but sucked it up and made it happen... what is funny is the school I transfered from New Covanent Christian in Abingdon had the same process and we recived the same percetage of aide and they have no football teams.. go figure


SO tell me how is this any different then any other school financial aide process?? I am telling you the crap in the paper and DIAA calling it football scholarships is BS..

The AD of RLCA sent a list to the DIAA of all kids who received FOCAS and played Football and those kids are ineligible to play at a DIAA school. My kid is on that list. NOW yes if I wanted to go to a DIAA school I am sure I can get a lawyer and fight them and win but that could take months..

Funny thing is what kind of scholarship are the kids on who received FOCAS who didn't play sports?? What happens to those kids?? There were about 100 students receiving FOCAS aide (k-12) and only about half (50) were football players (including middle school ) Many of those kids have to leave as well.. I think Wilmington Christian took or is taking many of them this year... That is what they dont talk about... That FORBES artucle is a one sided PR peice.. It was done when GCA was running a fundraising camping to raise money so they could aquire RLCA...