South Davidson
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Coach Hill worked very hard and loves that community. I hope he stays part of the program as he has been around a long time. Hopefully South will find a coach that is experienced and understands the true challenges they face with low numbers, limited staff positions and scheduling issues (that conference has 3 top notch teams) in it. The kids deserve the best opportunity to be coached up and compete as much as any other school does. Hopefully admin finds a solid candidate, supports them in the process and makes a good hire.
Playing against South Davidson for four years now, you could see major improvements with Coach Hill. Great Guy and Great leader! Wish he could be on my staff. The solution isn't in the coach or the kids. There is a bigger problem in Denton
In my opinion- I think it’s all of the above: SD can’t keep people there and most people who teach there have coach multiple sports and also I don’t think sports is a priority at SD. They have had some awesome people there but They don’t seem stay there like Coach Hill
Also Most of the talented kids go to Central or West Davison and SD doesn’t have much talent being rural and other stuff that hurts them
Biggest challenges seem to be a small population of kids wanting to play sports, mentality of just showing up instead of winning and being bordered by 5-6 schools and 2-3 charters. The job is advertised as HC for football with TBD teaching responsibilities (that will limit the pool) of applicants. Positives are nice facilities, good boosters club and overall the community will rally around the kids and support them.
Even tho SD stadium is small it is a very nice looking stadium from pictures n all I have seen
It’s a great stadium. The community raised the money and built something to be proud of. The biggest problem at South is internal. Yes, the school is small. The area does struggle economically. But... there are athletes walking the halls that aren't playing football. South can have an average program with a flash of excitement every so often. The problem with Denton/Silver Valley is that they feel like the rest of the county is out to get them. Robbinsville is of a very similar enrollment and they manage to be very good.
The pool of people wanting to teach and coach is rapidly shrinking. The culture at many other area schools is in place. It has to continuously be built at South.
What has to stop at South is the mindset that administration (in building and at county office level) is against them. It isn't. Sell the program. Get people excited about the program. Work hard year in and year out like all successful programs do.
I don't know what Coach Hill was doing. I'm sure he was excellent and putting things in motion the right way. I hope that they can find someone that will continue his progress.
#NoExcuses
Side note: The one thing that I could understand complaining about is loss of students to the two semi-local charter schools. Uwharrie and GrayStone Day have taken their share of students. But neither offer football.
PrepFanNC or Wow71, both of you have some familiarity with South and Davidson County Schools. It’s my impression that the system’s emphasis on attending a school within your own district applies to athletics too. Is that accurate, in your opinion, or is this just another wink and look the other way scenario? Seems like that would keep any athletes at South unless there is a physical move or the old “using grandma’s address” situation.
It really does not matter on how many students you have. What matters is the culture of the athletic program and school. There are several 1a schools with similar numbers who are very competitive, but they do what it takes to compete. Developing that kind of culture is not done overnight, nor by just one individual. However, it does take the right person to light the fire.
Hire someone OUTSIDE the South Davidson community. Get some new blood in that school
I'm sure there are some exceptions to every rule... Is it 100% perfect in Davidson County when it comes to kids playing outside of the district that they are domiciled in? Heck no. I know of a senior wrestler who lives in Forsyth County and is competing at a school in Davidson Co. He moved fairly recently and the system isn't really set up to discover that unless someone tells on you, or if the mail send out gets returned to sender.
When it comes to students who live in Davidson County, attending a school outside of their attendance zone... Kids know who lives where. The coaches know who lives where. Honestly, with the few kids who tweak the system, the admins ought to fuss and make a stink. It isn't allowed.
Some situations, although I can't point to one that I am aware of, could be a living situation that falls under the McKinney-Vento act... Which allows for students who are, by definition, considered homeless, to attend the a certain school based on where they went prior to their homelessness.
I may be daydreaming.. but I feel like South Davidson was allowed by the school board to be the only traditional "school of choice" in the county. So if my kid wanted to attend there, they could, as long as I provided the transportation. Hardly anyone is taking advantage of this designation.
Long story short.. There are paper trails. If I am a coach, I personally fill out eligibility forms that I have to sign off on. The AD has to sign off on them as well. If I have a kid out of district, I have to justify it. If I knowingly falsify a document, that's a big deal. If I catch a kid who doesn't live where they say they live, that's to be corrected, or there are penalties.
It everything on the full on "up and up". I won't say that it is.
But here is what I'd bet on: South kids aren't playing at Central or West
Last thought and I will shut up. There is a local family who has a daughter who plays a sport. The house they live in is districted at a northern Davidson County school. They got busted in middle school. The student was to report to their actual middle school, also in northern Davidson County. Those parents had the means to purchase another house in the other district. They own two houses of similar value. They only live in one. Both houses are inhabited by them from time to time, although they never truly moved into the second home. This is a situation that you absolutely can't fight. The district doesn't have the time or resources to play games with someone who is hell bent on going this far to get what they want.
The district however did put all their resources into investigating one you man from the CDHS football team. Seemed like a witch-hunt and info from northern daco led to investigation. Funny how some schools constantly get new players from city schools, and live in interesting rental properties owned by interesting people. Blind eyes…
I know who you are referring to. Both the CD and the city school players. Be careful with the pluralization though. I don't think that it is multiple schools who are robbing from Lexington. I can think of only one.
I can't answer the CD situation. But I kind of suspect its a situation from the federal act that I referred to in my previous post. Central is a neat story. I don't know what happened as far as "turning them in". Central is far from being a juggernaut. They'll win one every now and then when ND, OG and Ledford have an off night.
I get the situation with the kids classified as homeless. Almost every system has those, and I guess somebody could find a way to take advantage of that. But I doubt it’s widespread. The issue is certainly complicated in Davidson County with two city school systems as well. There are hundreds of kids assigned to a particular school district who live much closer to another school. I really doubt that will change in my lifetime.
Northern and Southern Davidson County are like night and day, IMO.
The northern area (Ledford, N Davidson and Oak Grove) has more financial resources, better community support, closer to larger cities, just to name a few benefits. Also, having those financial resources allows the kids to play travel ball in many sports. Those schools typically score higher on testing than South, Central and West.
I believe most that live in Denton are proud of their community. However, they lack resources and a community sense of winning. They will occasionally have winning competitive teams, but it’s often rare. But like mentioned above their situation is similar to many small town schools.
I can’t say I’m familiar or have heard of students in Denton/Silver Valley that transfer out.
With all that said, Davidson County still has the “good ol boy” mentality in their hirings, that includes in the northern area as well.
The northern area (Ledford, N Davidson and Oak Grove) has more financial resources, better community support, closer to larger cities, just to name a few benefits. Also, having those financial resources allows the kids to play travel ball in many sports. Those schools typically score higher on testing than South, Central and West.
I believe most that live in Denton are proud of their community. However, they lack resources and a community sense of winning. They will occasionally have winning competitive teams, but it’s often rare. But like mentioned above their situation is similar to many small town schools.
I can’t say I’m familiar or have heard of students in Denton/Silver Valley that transfer out.
With all that said, Davidson County still has the “good ol boy” mentality in their hirings, that includes in the northern area as well.
I think of the neighborhood back behind Pickett School in Lexington. I've never seen the actual boundary lines there, but they must look strange. There are a few kids who aren't in Lexington City limits that are districted for LCS. But all of that development is much much closer to Lexington High School.
As I’ve mentioned before, there are homes inside the Thomasville city limits which share a property line with Thomasville Primary School. You could literally straddle the property line with a foot on each property. Quite a few kids on and around Albertson Road that ride past THS and TMS to ride another nine miles to the Ledford schools. Davidson County is a mess.
At least in Lexington, if you’re in the city limits, you’re in the Lexington school district.
At least in Lexington, if you’re in the city limits, you’re in the Lexington school district.
I know you have told in the past why it is that way , but please refresh my old mind.
In 1983, the Davidson County Superintendent convinced the three local legislators to introduce a local bill that froze the boundary lines of the Thomasville City Schools. Local bills always pass as a courtesy among legislators. So, effectively four men made a decision that would have a dramatic negative effect on TCS for decades and generations. Though Thomasville has increased in population by 150% since then, the school boundaries have stayed the same.
White flight had a big effect too. In 1970, the student body was at 1,000 students, with seventy five percent white population and twenty five percent black. Today it’s at 640, with probably around thirty eight percent each for black and Latino students and the remainder white. More importantly, only a small number of students of all races come from two parent families and most are living below the poverty line. That affects so many things that make it much more difficult to provide an equitable quality education.
To my knowledge, Thomasville is the only city school system with frozen boundary lines.
Good afternoon everyone! Tim Hill loves SDHS and our kids love him. However, he is not a teacher and Davidson County Schools wants a Head Football Coach that is a teacher in the halls with our kids. We get it and completely understand. Whoever we hire, we hope Tim will still be a part of the program.
As for our struggles in some team sports, we have 350 kids in the school. Call us complainers if you want, but we are too small. We have great athletes, Conference Champions, and State Champions, but team wise our numbers are low. We had only 1 female Cross Country runner this year even with a strong XC program. Nearby CD has 950 kids just in their middle school compared to our 250.
In 2018, Dr. Phil Rapp was hired to complete a population study for DCS. The results included his recommendation to REDISTRICT the SD, CD, and ED districts to provide equity in enrollment, academic programs, and extra-curricular opportunities. DCS and the school board have not acted on his recommendations as it will be political suicide in the CD and ED areas for some. Are they going to act and do the right thing as recommended? We shall see soon. In the meantime, we will continue to love our communities, our schools, our kids, work and play hard even when it means competing in football with our 25 kids (4 grades) against the 2A State Champion Salisbury. Take care and God bless friends!
As for our struggles in some team sports, we have 350 kids in the school. Call us complainers if you want, but we are too small. We have great athletes, Conference Champions, and State Champions, but team wise our numbers are low. We had only 1 female Cross Country runner this year even with a strong XC program. Nearby CD has 950 kids just in their middle school compared to our 250.
In 2018, Dr. Phil Rapp was hired to complete a population study for DCS. The results included his recommendation to REDISTRICT the SD, CD, and ED districts to provide equity in enrollment, academic programs, and extra-curricular opportunities. DCS and the school board have not acted on his recommendations as it will be political suicide in the CD and ED areas for some. Are they going to act and do the right thing as recommended? We shall see soon. In the meantime, we will continue to love our communities, our schools, our kids, work and play hard even when it means competing in football with our 25 kids (4 grades) against the 2A State Champion Salisbury. Take care and God bless friends!
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You need a PE job to hire a FB coach. Then let him build the weight room program, develop the youth and middle school teams, and give it time to grow. Maybe that will create some stability.
Elkin won 4 state titles in football with around 350-370 kids including 1 with I believe 17 kids on the team. Of course numbers can help but making it an excuse doesn't fix the problem. It starts in the community and in the youth and middle school leagues.
I live near Elkin and am pretty familiar with their program. Not so near South Davidson but I have seen them play more than once through the years. You are talking about 2 totally different programs and dynamics. Some of those Elkin teams were LOADED with athletes ( I believe that 1 team won it all with 19 but you may be right with 17 - that's been a while back) and unlike what it sounds like at South there were out of district kids coming to Elkin to play that contributed greatly to their success. A legendary coach that graduated from Elkin and had been the coach for decades. And keep in mind that all those championships were small 1A and currently that doesn't exist.
It doesn't matter if they were small or what, it's still in the record books.
Elkin had a rough patch before finally hitting that run. They've been a roller coaster since but they had a major culture change in the late 90s into the 2000s which is what it will take at South and as I said it starts in the youth and middle school ages and supporting a coach.
To me it seems that community probably is stuck in yesterday and things won't change without progress.
Elkin had a rough patch before finally hitting that run. They've been a roller coaster since but they had a major culture change in the late 90s into the 2000s which is what it will take at South and as I said it starts in the youth and middle school ages and supporting a coach.
To me it seems that community probably is stuck in yesterday and things won't change without progress.
New coach needs to sit down with a few mountain school HC's and find out what makes their programs click. Smash mouth football with misdirection chewing up yardage and eating the clock. The best defense they will have based on current conference alignment is to keep the ball like CD does. They may not become a state caliber team, but could learn to compete and gain yearly as they progress, Winning breeds success, which gets more kids' out, which gets more parents involved, which raises expectations.
No one expects SD to become a state powerhouse. That isn't in the cards.
Elkin doesn't lose 90% of their games, year in and year out. Neither does Robbinsville. Neither do most any of the schools in the 350 student sized schools.
The best expectation for South is having a 4 or 5 win season with the occasional 6 or 7 win season.
Denton didn't win when it existed. South didn't win back in the early 90s when it was a little larger AND was given an extra elementary school (albeit a small one in Silver Valley).
Winners don't make excuses. They are going to have to find a person who can come in and overcome all of the excuses being made in the community and the hallways of the school.
Elkin doesn't lose 90% of their games, year in and year out. Neither does Robbinsville. Neither do most any of the schools in the 350 student sized schools.
The best expectation for South is having a 4 or 5 win season with the occasional 6 or 7 win season.
Denton didn't win when it existed. South didn't win back in the early 90s when it was a little larger AND was given an extra elementary school (albeit a small one in Silver Valley).
Winners don't make excuses. They are going to have to find a person who can come in and overcome all of the excuses being made in the community and the hallways of the school.
A coach goes to SD and wins 4-5 games he will be a hero and gone within a few seasons to a bigger school. SD had a few seasons back in the earlier 90's where they were like 6-6 a few times. That was under John Shelton and have had some coaches that failed there but won elsewhere. Which shows it can be about the Jimmies and Joes and less about the X's and O's.
The last coach to win 5-6 games in a season at Denton High School (now South Davidson) was Howard Hayes. That particular year he had a running back named Chris Dobbins who was just like John Riggins when he ran the ball. He easily got 4-6 yards every time he touched the ball. I to believe that South Davidson can be successful over time, they just have to be patient and hire the best coach available. With that being said, the community has to buy in to what the coach is trying to set up as well.
There are 3-4 boys on the basketball team that are real big and tall that do not play football. They are like 6'3-6'4 230-240 pounds.
That is probably true... But, that is the case in a lot of places. There aren't as many coaches looking to spend 30 years in one place if its a constant uphill battle.
They are going to have to love Denton a lot and Denton is going to have to love them back.
I'm glad that you pointed out that this lack of competitiveness is not just a recent trend. If I remember correctly, they have only one or two winning seasons in the history of Denton/South Davidson football. It's not like they somehow lost the spark. The spark has never existed.
They have tried that also they coach a season or so, one never coached at all left right before season started, Coach Hill lives and breathes SD, he has been there 19 years in all and seen numerous Coaches come and go he is the only one that stayed dedicated to SD, silly rule to be a teacher when you have someone committed, hopefully he continues to be a part of that staff
Teacher or not, Coach Hill is a class act. Lots of school districts require head coaches to be faculty members, but I'll be surprised if SD can find anyone who will put more effort into the job or who will carry more respect from the players than he has.
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