All Things 2022 Minnesota High School Football Thread

Lamker was a good coach but moved around until he went back to Augsburg.
Won a state title at osseo in the 6a era

IMO he might be the best Minnesota high school coach of the last 20 years for that feat. But he left because of how much work it is to be successful at a place like osseo.
Went to Edina and now Augsburg
 

It is not an accident that a lot of programs drop off after top coaches leave and that’s because coaches know the talent is drying up. George Thole knew when Stillwater was running short on talent.
 

It is not an accident that a lot of programs drop off after top coaches leave and that’s because coaches know the talent is drying up. George Thole knew when Stillwater was running short on talent.
Yep. I played for Mike Grant at Forest Lake. Our team lost in the section final (to Anoka - eventual state champs) and the year after I graduated they went to State - I think the only time FL went to state. Grant left for EP the next year.
 

On the flip side look at a coach like Lambert Brown who went from Fridley for a few years, Chaka for a few years, Maple Grove as AD for a few years and now Wayzata for about 5. History isn’t on his side for staying til retirement or getting bored with a said job
I like Coach Brown. He seems like a really nice guy the several times I've met him. Wayzata however, is not that good this season.
 

It’s all pretty predictable.

Hopkins, Burnsville, osseo are the new park center, Richfield, Bloomington

You can still win at some of these places but due to demographics it is going to be extremely difficult to be consistent. And for that same reason it is going to be harder to attract and keep assistant coaches

I really wonder what's going to happen with the Osseo district. Obviously the growth in the district is in Maple Grove, but eventually, to keep the high school population balanced, they'll have to shift intra-district attendance areas. You're going to have some pissed off people who moved there thinking their kids will go to MG and now will go to Osseo. Or thought their kids would go to Osseo and now will go to PC.
 


I really wonder what's going to happen with the Osseo district. Obviously the growth in the district is in Maple Grove, but eventually, to keep the high school population balanced, they'll have to shift intra-district attendance areas. You're going to have some pissed off people who moved there thinking their kids will go to MG and now will go to Osseo. Or thought their kids would go to Osseo and now will go to PC.
That’s the case in a lot of multi high school districts.
When half the district is an inner ring suburb and half is an outer ring…there are going to be some equity issues
 

I thought it was said earlier in this topic that schools can't play outside their enrollment class. Which is it?
100% they can and do. Like I said earlier, we have teams in our district ranging from AA to AAAA. It's not a good look when they make these teams travel 1-2 hours for games that basically are a mis-match when we had conferences with evenly matched teams all within a half hour of one another before.
 

Won a state title at osseo in the 6a era

IMO he might be the best Minnesota high school coach of the last 20 years for that feat. But he left because of how much work it is to be successful at a place like osseo.
Went to Edina and now Augsburg
I agree what he did at Osseo was amazing. Osseo and Maple Grove split the youth football programs and they did not help Osseo at all.
 

That’s the case in a lot of multi high school districts.
When half the district is an inner ring suburb and half is an outer ring…there are going to be some equity issues
You're seeing this in South Washington County as well. Look at how they are gerry-mandering the Woodbury High School boundary so that it gets some of the "new development" south of Bailey Road. Logistically it would just make sense to send them to East Ridge and send kids from Newport to Woodbury HS but they want to balance the high schools by upper/lower middle class areas. But there are a lot of people in these new Woodbury developments annoyed their kids aren't going to East Ridge when they can literally see the high school from their backyard.

South Washington County - New HS boundary maps
 



I agree what he did at Osseo was amazing. Osseo and Maple Grove split the youth football programs and they did not help Osseo at all.
I hadn't thought about that, but yes, Maple Grove plays in the LMAA, and Osseo in the TCN.
There's a huge disparity in the number of teams per school in the two leagues and I suspect this will play out as these kids go to high school.

Maple Grove has four 5th grade teams (Wayzata has six, Minnetonka has 7, Edina has 5). Osseo has just two, as does Anoka. Brooklyn Park has one. I wouldn't be surprised at some point that Osseo and Park Center will have to combine football teams.
 

Minnetonka's open enrollment is about that high as well.
Well right ... it makes sense. All those people living in the city of Minnetonka who get some mailer from Hopkins school district and go "wtf??? LOL no we live in Minnetonka, so we're in Minnetonka school district. Of course. .... right? Wait ... what????"
 

Most GV kids go to Armstrong. Some go to Hopkins, but most do not.
Thanks for correcting me -- indeed I was wrong. Looks like most of GV north of Hwy 55 is Robbinsdale district.

Seems odd -- even silly -- that southern GV reaches over into Hopkins instead of just being entirely covered by Robbinsdale (and/)or just going down to SLP.
 

It’s all pretty predictable.

Hopkins, Burnsville, osseo are the new park center, Richfield, Bloomington

You can still win at some of these places but due to demographics it is going to be extremely difficult to be consistent. And for that same reason it is going to be harder to attract and keep assistant coaches
These should be 5A teams.

6A should be reserved for the biggest, newest, fastest growing (so mainly the outer-most ring, upper middle class) suburbs, plus the most competitive private programs.

My opinion
 



I really wonder what's going to happen with the Osseo district. Obviously the growth in the district is in Maple Grove, but eventually, to keep the high school population balanced, they'll have to shift intra-district attendance areas. You're going to have some pissed off people who moved there thinking their kids will go to MG and now will go to Osseo. Or thought their kids would go to Osseo and now will go to PC.
MG and Park Center could not be more different. Like Wayzata vs Brooklyn Center.

It makes no sense to try to have these schools be in the same district.
 

You're seeing this in South Washington County as well. Look at how they are gerry-mandering the Woodbury High School boundary so that it gets some of the "new development" south of Bailey Road. Logistically it would just make sense to send them to East Ridge and send kids from Newport to Woodbury HS but they want to balance the high schools by upper/lower middle class areas. But there are a lot of people in these new Woodbury developments annoyed their kids aren't going to East Ridge when they can literally see the high school from their backyard.

South Washington County - New HS boundary maps
If their kids are good enough athletes or all-star students destined for top universities, I would guess they'll get to open-enroll to the fancier school (East Ridge).
 

Thanks for correcting me -- indeed I was wrong. Looks like most of GV north of Hwy 55 is Robbinsdale district.

Seems odd -- even silly -- that southern GV reaches over into Hopkins instead of just being entirely covered by Robbinsdale (and/)or just going down to SLP.
When GV high school went away, the rich, white parents, especially those in Tyrol Hills, didn't want their kids going to a diverse school like Robbinsdale High School. So, they got their borders drawn for Hopkins instead.
 

When GV high school went away, the rich, white parents, especially those in Tyrol Hills, didn't want their kids going to a diverse school like Robbinsdale High School. So, they got their borders drawn for Hopkins instead.
Ah. Or SLP.

That would do it!
 

These should be 5A teams.

6A should be reserved for the biggest, newest, fastest growing (so mainly the outer-most ring, upper middle class) suburbs, plus the most competitive private programs.

My opinion
Hard for me to support that. Because you’re arbitrarily giving some teams an easier path.

Which is why I think the real solution is to change the regular season where you can sell some regular season success to the community. Right now it is US Bank stadium or bad season as the only two options when selling to the community.
 

Hard for me to support that. Because you’re arbitrarily giving some teams an easier path.

Which is why I think the real solution is to change the regular season where you can sell some regular season success to the community. Right now it is US Bank stadium or bad season as the only two options when selling to the community.
I'm just saying I don't see how it can make sense for Osseo, Hopkins, and Burnsville to be playing Wayzata, Eden Prairie, Lakeville South.

They're not even close to the same things.
 

He was the head coach at Osseo for 11 years, before that the OC(don’t really count assistant coaching stops as they move around a ton). 3 stops in 20 years
Many were expecting Lamker to get the HC job at Armstrong years ago. The school went in another direction, which is definitely a sliding doors moment for the program. Good to see they’re playing better as of late.
 

I hadn't thought about that, but yes, Maple Grove plays in the LMAA, and Osseo in the TCN.
There's a huge disparity in the number of teams per school in the two leagues and I suspect this will play out as these kids go to high school.

Maple Grove has four 5th grade teams (Wayzata has six, Minnetonka has 7, Edina has 5). Osseo has just two, as does Anoka. Brooklyn Park has one. I wouldn't be surprised at some point that Osseo and Park Center will have to combine football teams.
Osseo and Park Center are already combined for Hockey.
 

I'm just saying I don't see how it can make sense for Osseo, Hopkins, and Burnsville to be playing Wayzata, Eden Prairie, Lakeville South.

They're not even close to the same things.
Agreed. There needs to be more variance in regular season scheduling.
 

Thanks for correcting me -- indeed I was wrong. Looks like most of GV north of Hwy 55 is Robbinsdale district.

Seems odd -- even silly -- that southern GV reaches over into Hopkins instead of just being entirely covered by Robbinsdale (and/)or just going down to SLP.
Wait till you see where kids from Blaine high school live and where people who live in Blaine go to high school.
 

Wait till you see where kids from Blaine high school live and where people who live in Blaine go to high school.
Or that people that live in Mounds View don't go to Mounds View High School.
 

Well right ... it makes sense. All those people living in the city of Minnetonka who get some mailer from Hopkins school district and go "wtf??? LOL no we live in Minnetonka, so we're in Minnetonka school district. Of course. .... right? Wait ... what????"
I live in Minnetonka, but we are in the Wayzata district. We get mailers from Hopkins, Wayzata and Minnetonka.
 

MG and Park Center could not be more different. Like Wayzata vs Brooklyn Center.

It makes no sense to try to have these schools be in the same district.

If you mean district as in district football, they aren't.

If you mean school district..sigh...I have to repeat myself again...

School districts are units of government. They have borders, elected officials, and the ability to tax the citizens in the district. They are not tied to city boundaries or demographics. MG, Park Center and Osseo are all in ISD 279. At one point, everyone in the district went to Osseo, whether you lived in town in Osseo, or on a farm in Maple Grove or Brooklyn Park.

Then Park Center was built (and at one time had a fairly affluent population and was an athletic powerhouse), then Maple Grove was built. Whether or not Park Center is poor, and Maple Grove is wealthy, has no bearing whatsoever on whether they should be in the same school district. I don't know why this is so hard for people to understand.
 

I live in Minnetonka, but we are in the Wayzata district. We get mailers from Hopkins, Wayzata and Minnetonka.
I guess advertising to open enroll into Mtka and Hopkins? No other valid reason to send mailers to addresses not in the district.
 

Ah. Or SLP.

That would do it!
Here's an interesting piece that details the history of the GV school district. It was really small. I wonder how Brooklyn Center and St. Anthony have managed to stay as standalone districts.

 

I guess advertising to open enroll into Mtka and Hopkins? No other valid reason to send mailers to addresses not in the district.
My guess is they just pull the zip codes. I'm in 55391, which means I have a Wayzata address, even though I live in Minnetonka. That zip code covers parts of all three districts.
 

Whether or not Park Center is poor, and Maple Grove is wealthy, has no bearing whatsoever on whether they should be in the same school district.
First of all, I said what I said because it is absolutely correct.

The demographics of present day MG high school and PC high school (attendance areas) are as different as those of the respective attendance areas of Wayzata and Brooklyn Center high schools.


The question of "should" has no relation whatsoever to the history of how districts came to be what they are today.

100% disagree that schools of such different demographics ought to be governed by the same district.
 
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