Albemarle Bulldogs outlook

[Doppleganger#]

They have been way down for the past 10 years. What do have this season? Will they have a winning season this year? I am not Albemarle fan, but i miss their glory years. And i miss the grudge match ups they had with Thomasville. Will Albemarle ever return to glory?

 

[Chute Boxe Hero]

I'm very interested in how their opener with Asheboro turns out.

 

[Doppleganger#]

I never thought i would say this, but i miss Albemarle glory years and the grudge match up vs Thomasville from the decade of the 2000s

 

[new_dawg]

They have been way down for the past 10 years. What do have this season? Will they have a winning season this year? I am not Albemarle fan, but i miss their glory years. And i miss the grudge match ups they had with Thomasville. Will Albemarle ever return to glory?

Albemarle High School 2023 is far from the AHS of the early 2000's. The biggest problem? AHS's enrollment has plummeted. The school was typically graduating anywhere from 125 to 150 seniors every year back then. This past spring, the AHS graduating class, as listed in the local newspaper, was only 61 students. In recent years, the school has been unable to field teams in a number of sports, such as golf, baseball, and softball.

What's the cause? I can think of a couple.

• Failure of the local BOE to re-district schools in the county as a whole. High School districts in the county are the same as they were in 1962, when the county's 10 high schools merged. As a result, West Stanly (which is quickly becoming East Charlotte) is overcrowded, while Albemarle and South Stanly have space to spare. Re-districting (and having the guts to stick with it when the inevitable public outcry occurs) could even attendance out in the county's four traditional high schools.
• Gray Stone Day opened on the Pfeiffer campus in the early 2000's. GS's focus is on academics, but they have attracted many of the "academic stars" from all the county's high schools, as well as schools in Montgomery, Cabarrus, Rowan, and Davidson counties.

AHS will likely be competitive this year in football, provided the injury bug can be kept at bay. There is very little depth on the roster, and it's questionable as to whether they can field a JV team. The athletes are there, just not as many of them.

 

[BK13T-$]

I hope they figure it out. Seems like it's more than numbers though. Albemarle has ove 500 kids. Seems odd that a class would only have 61.

 

[bigtime_87]

Albemarle and Thomasville had been playing one another again lately with the Red Dogs dominating. The two programs are not scheduled anymore as Thomasville has gotten back to winning ways and the Blue Dogs continue to struggle. Back in the early to mid 2000's both of those teams were a hard game and very well coached. For many seasons whoever won between the two was the state champ. The new guy has been at Albemarle for a while now and no major gains. What is going on down there with the kids and the football program?

 

[ocdavis31]

Albemarle and Thomasville had been playing one another again lately with the Red Dogs dominating. The two programs are not scheduled anymore as Thomasville has gotten back to winning ways and the Blue Dogs continue to struggle. Back in the early to mid 2000's both of those teams were a hard game and very well coached. For many seasons whoever won between the two was the state champ. The new guy has been at Albemarle for a while now and no major gains. What is going on down there with the kids and the football program?

You may remember that, not many years ago, it was announced that the school was closing. That in itself could explain the downward spiral.

 

[ref4e]

I hope they figure it out. Seems like it's more than numbers though. Albemarle has ove 500 kids. Seems odd that a class would only have 61.

I believe the Early College and STEM Academy are included in the AHS numbers. They are housed in the same building, but very few if any of those kids play football.

 

[sway1532]

Albemarle High School 2023 is far from the AHS of the early 2000's. The biggest problem? AHS's enrollment has plummeted. The school was typically graduating anywhere from 125 to 150 seniors every year back then. This past spring, the AHS graduating class, as listed in the local newspaper, was only 61 students. In recent years, the school has been unable to field teams in a number of sports, such as golf, baseball, and softball.

What's the cause? I can think of a couple.

• Failure of the local BOE to re-district schools in the county as a whole. High School districts in the county are the same as they were in 1962, when the county's 10 high schools merged. As a result, West Stanly (which is quickly becoming East Charlotte) is overcrowded, while Albemarle and South Stanly have space to spare. Re-districting (and having the guts to stick with it when the inevitable public outcry occurs) could even attendance out in the county's four traditional high schools.
• Gray Stone Day opened on the Pfeiffer campus in the early 2000's. GS's focus is on academics, but they have attracted many of the "academic stars" from all the county's high schools, as well as schools in Montgomery, Cabarrus, Rowan, and Davidson counties.

AHS will likely be competitive this year in football, provided the injury bug can be kept at bay. There is very little depth on the roster, and it's questionable as to whether they can field a JV team. The athletes are there, just not as many of them.

I said years ago they should consolidate those high schools, but division in Stanly county won’t let it happen… same ole same ole

Albemarle wins 2 games, go dogs.

 

[btango]

I hope they figure it out. Seems like it's more than numbers though. Albemarle has ove 500 kids. Seems odd that a class would only have 61.

They went below 400 before they started an early college program on campus plus some growth in the area.

South Stanly is closer to 600 than 500 now. North Stanly 650. West Stanly probably 850.
Albemarle 500 with magnet programs. Actual number in the regular school is probably 420.

 

[steady99]

Albemarle's problems have been well-documented on here and new_dawg does a good job summarizing them. Bottom line, as new_dawg says, politics and population shifts have made AHS a very different place now than it was 25 years ago. Agree that Gray Stone Day has had a major impact by drawing off top students and teachers from other schools, especially AHS. I think it's more likely that AHS is closed or merged with another school than that it contends for a state title in football again.

Hoping some strong leaders emerge in the future who can get AHS, and/or the system overall, on a better footing. Could be wrong, but there seems to be a petty desire on the part of some people to "stick it" to AHS as payback for having been the big kid on the block for many years. I would like to see the four public schools consolidated because that would seem to provide the best academic and overall experience for the young people in the county. They are what matter most.

 

[bulldog nation2014]

I think the consolidation talk needs to be put where it belongs and that is the trash. You have 13-15% growth in Albemarle right now and 20-22% plus on the western part of the county. The pressure needs to be put on local leadership to redistrict and get the lines right and make investments into the western end of the county and then Albemarle to better accommodate the growth coming.

As far as football goes definitely competitive this season hurts we don’t have our starting qb #17 out there. Not sure when we will get him back but I think we may have him by the end of the season.

 

[steady99]

What is driving the growth? New jobs or just spillover with Charlotte/Concord people who are now WFH and want more space? I agree that if there's real growth then just moving the lines is better. But running four high schools when two are so small they can barely field sports teams doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

 

[btango]

I think the consolidation talk needs to be put where it belongs and that is the trash. You have 13-15% growth in Albemarle right now and 20-22% plus on the western part of the county. The pressure needs to be put on local leadership to redistrict and get the lines right and make investments into the western end of the county and then Albemarle to better accommodate the growth coming.

As long as the South Stanly district splits Oakboro down main street and runs to Rock Creek Park and Highway 24/27 (Troy Road) there is more to it than district lines. If the lines were drawn geographically sensible South would drop drastically and North would feel a bite which both would help AHS plus increase West ADM (Oakboro). The majority of the population is closest to Albemarle and West Stanly high schools.