'There's no place to go after eight-man': Small towns seek to preserve football

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Ummm, six-man.

Sports

‘There’s no place to go after eight-man’: Small towns seek to preserve football

By Jacob Bogage November 6 at 11:53 AM

FELCH, Mich. — Teachers, timber truck drivers and lumber salesmen gather before sunrise at the Nordic Trading Post to sip black coffee and eat fried eggs alongside former miners who call themselves “semiretired,” given that the mine was shuttered more than three decades ago. They wear Carhartt jackets and worn-in jeans, work boots and camouflage hats. Old lumber saws hang on the walls. “Fox & Friends” plays on a small television in the corner.

And because rifle season for white-tailed deer doesn’t open for another month, the main topic of conversation is high school football. It’s Senior Night, when North Dickinson County School will honor the team’s four seniors, and while the ceremonial flourishes may distract from the central attraction of the game, these fathers and uncles — some grandfathers, too — promise to be there to watch it all, even if this season is a bit different.

North Dickinson County School, 254 students combined in grades K through 12 in one building, held on to football as most of the country knows it for years. But thanks to declining participation in an aging town, the Nordics will soon finish their first season of eight-player football in decades. ... As the game of football faces challenges nationally — head injury concerns, rising costs, sport specialization — the effects are being felt first and most acutely in small towns such as this outpost in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

“Your football team is really on life support when you’re on eight-man, because there’s no place to go after eight-man,” North Dickinson Athletic Director Michael Roell says. “We’re hoping we can still have a football team for school pride, for homecoming, for all the things that should stay in high school.”

Jacob Bogage writes about sports for The Washington Post, where he's worked since 2015. He's previously covered the automotive and manufacturing industries for the Business section. Follow @jacobbogage

[DURHAM D]

1. They can play six man. nt

[gibraltar72]

2. Once proud

teams around my neck of the woods South Central Michigan have had to resort to 8 man. It seems they have to go a very long ways to find other 8 man teams to play. It has eliminated once fierce rivalries with other schools who still can field 11 man squads. Time marches on stuff changes.

[Skittles]

3. sad what concerns them