Ladies and Gentleman, I am going to make an argument of which many of you will disagree. Suffice it to say that there has recently been a power shift in Group A football as a result of schools in the east and north east whose student populations are growing and growing. These numbers will eventually make it impossible for us (Smaller swva schools) to compete with on a regular basis, and so I think that we need to commit more resources, more money, and our better athletes toward the development of more competitive basketball programs.

Gate City's debacle at the state title this year reinforces the idea that we can play relatively good football all year only to run into schools at the state level whose athletics programs have more money and more depth in terms of student athletes. Whereas football require 22 skilled players and a host of additional substitutes, it is becoming more and more difficult for us to field competitive teams against powerhouse institutions. Since basketball only requires 5 to 7 (minimum) good players to win, it seems that we should retool our student bodies towards winning state championships in basketball which I think is still a realistic goal. If we can reestablish good feeder programs which seek to develop basketball players on a year round basis, then I believe that the LPD and Region D will ultimately be in the business of winning championships again.