As we mentioned two weeks ago, talk of a possible move out of the Bay State Conference for Dedham High have heated up recently. This Wednesday night there will be an information meeting run by DHS principal Jake Santamaria at the high school to discuss the feasibility of such a move and for interested parties to share their views on whether or not switching leagues would be in the best interests of the athletic program.
Transcript Land has talked proponents for both sides, each of which makes a compelling case for their points of view on what is a complicated issue. For those that are in the dark on the subject, here are the hot button issues that shape the argument and the questions to ask yourself before you make the decision, should I stay or a should I go.
NUMBERS – An objective look at raw numbers point to a simple fact that Dedham does not belong the BSC. The full data is available on miaa.net, but all it takes is quick overview to paint a grim picture. Enrollment figures for the most recent MIAA alignment cycle put Dedham at 771 students, nearly 200 behind the next smallest school in the BSC, Milton (953). The other four Herget Division schools are all over 1000. The numbers are staggering on the other side as four of the six Carey Division schools are at over 1900. Those gaps only widen in the next cycle.
For a contrast, the league most mentioned as a possible landing spot for Dedham, the Tri-Valley League, has much more comparable figures as Dedham would settle somewhere in the middle of the largest Holliston (855) and smallest Millis (285) schools. Those who worry about the growth rates of the TVL towns will note that a look at K-12 figures would put them sixth of 11 teams.
But numbers don’t always tell the whole story. One of the things that has to be considered are the participation rates of each school. No matter how the numbers match up, if Dedham has a lower rate of students choosing to play sports, which its has compared to both the BSC and the TVL, a disadvantage will remain. There are many possible reason for the lack of participation, whether it be the weakening of youth programs, economic factor causing student to opt for work over sports after school, the failure of the program or coaches to stir up interest in their team or a lack of success causing apathy, but it may be something that needs to be explored before a decision to move is made.
COMPETITIVENESS – You can talk about character building all you want, but when teams do not have the ability to compete fairly it does the athletes little good. Is that the case in Dedham? Some recent trends seem to support that. As we have stated previously, only one boys team – wrestling – recorded a winning record last school year. Many of them had just a handful of wins and frequently went into contests with virtually no chance of being competitive. That’s not a healthy atmosphere. A switch to the TVL would instantly make a number of programs viable again.
But is a switch the only solution? Many of the girls teams have not only been highly competitive in the BSC recently, but excelled. How do they do it? Is it necessary to take a look at why some teams succeed and some teams fail? There have been recent boys team that have been highly successful. Sometimes sports are cyclical. Is more patience needed? Is everything being done to put the athletes in the best situations by their coaches? Are teams getting enough support from the administration? Is there a reason that Dedham loses a large number of talented athletes to Catholic and private schools and what can be done to keep them home? All of these are questions that need to be asked.
Not to mention the benefits that the strength of the BSC brings to Dedham teams. A Marauders squad that survives the rigors of a BSC schedule is usually one that is prepared to compete in the tournament, where Dedham always has a fair shot against similar-sized competition and always has fair access to because of the Sullivan rule, which allows team that compete against mostly higher division schools to gain entrance to the postseason on the strength of their record against teams in their division or lower. I think most coaches would agree that a BSC title would mean for more to them than TVL title. And what kind of a message does it send to kids to just pack up and leave when you are losing instead of striving to improve?
TRAVEL – One of the benefits of Dedham being the BSC is that it is nestled snugly in the geographic center of the league, which stretches from Framingham to Weymouth. In a league such as the TVL, Dedham would the most northern and eastern member of the league, whose towns are primarily dotted along Route 109 heading south. Supporters of a move cite that the current average one-way road trip for Dedham in BSC is approximately 13 miles, while the average TVL trip would be around 21 miles, which would not be enough of detriment to offset the benefits of a move. But certainly the increased distance would be an added expense to the school as well as an additional burden to parents and fans.
RIVALRIES – Clearly the strongest argument for the pro-BSC side is the athletic history that Dedham High has between the many of the other schools. Start with the fact that a move would almost certainly spell the end of one of the state’s oldest Thanksgiving Day football series. But it would also destroy the rivalries in countless other sports over the years. There is something to be said for one generation being able to say to another, “I remember the year we played Walpole and….” Dedham-Bellingham doesn’t have same feel to its as Dedham-Norwood, does it. Kids in the BSC have grown up playing against each other, their brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers grew up playing against each. Some BSC coaches in the have been butting heads for two or three decades. Is it worth spoiling that? Certainly Dedham is not the first team to switch leagues and all it takes is a few years of jostling with the same folks to start stoking up some new flames. With its proximity as the only bordering town, I can guarantee you that it would not take long for the sparks to start flying between Dedham and Westwood, and if they don’t then the Transcript will do its best to ignite them. And in most cases some of the traditional rivalries that exist now could be continued through non-league scheduling.
FOOTBALL – One of the major questions to the argument is how much of it is football driven? If the Marauders were 4-1 right now would the drum be beaten so loudly? What there is no question about is that football has been the catalyst for recent trend of league realignments and league scrambles to try and bump their membership to 12 teams and split into division in hopes of securing a second playoff berth, which would presumably be the motivation for a TVL expansion. There’s is little doubt that move out of the powerful BSC would be a tremendous benefit to a Marauders program that has struggled for success in recent years, but what if it comes at cost to the rest of the athletic program.
SAFETY – Is Dedham putting its athletes at risk by going up against larger schools on a regular basis. Proponents would say that the fact that Dedham has more football players going both ways than most teams leads to greater possibility of injury, or that the smaller baseball program playing nine-inning games in the BSC puts more stress on less arms, or that the lack of depth in many of the Dedham program forces younger player to play sooner against more physically mature athletes. All points that merit discussion, but would those concerns be alleviated against TVL teams? Won’t the same athletes be competing no matter who is on the other side?
EIGHTH GRADERS – It’s highly unlikely that the issue of eighth-graders being allowed to compete in varsity sports will be revisited but the subject still has bearing on the issue at hand. When the new middle school cut off that source of athletes, not only did it deliver a blow to some teams such as track and swimming that needed those kids to stay competitive, but also severely limited the ability of Dedham to field lower level teams in many sports, a major liability for programs. The reliance on eighth-graders may have been a band-aid to an athletic program that has now started to bleed. On the other hand, those who dismissed the negative effect it would have on the program should not be surprised now to see the consequences.
Since the arduous task of straddling the fence for the previous 40 inches has left us out of breath, we are just going to go straight to Poll:
5. Nobles girls soccer/Nobles field hockey (5-0/7-0) – Yeah, split votes are always a cop out, but one team has racked up a 23-1 margin while actively trying to keep some scores down while the other has six straight shutouts. Pick your poison. That unbeaten football team ain’t too shabby either.
4. Norwood football (4-1) – The road here hasn’t been easy. The Mustangs’ five opponents currently sport a 15-10 mark.
3. Ursuline volleyball (12-0) – In case you were wondering, the Bears have surrendered just two games since their opener, with nine 3-0 sweeps.
2. Walpole field hockey (10-0-1) – For the second straight week, the cartoon curse strikes.
1. Walpole football (5-0) – The offense may get the headlines but on the other side of the ball the Rebel first-teamers haven’t been scored on in the last three games.
WILD CARD: Dedham field hockey (6-3-3) – Got to admit, I didn’t see that one coming. The Marauders may be the one team in the league that doesn’t get intimidated when the Porkers take the field. I would not hate to be from Dedham when the Porkers take the field.
(Tom Fargo is Sports Editor of the Daily News Transcript. He can be reached at (781) 433-8372 or tfargo@cnc.com)
