HOL In-State Anonymous Feedback: Best talent pool, high school attendance
HuskerOnline hosted its annual In-State Tour in Omaha and Lincoln and had 22 coaches and 136 players from across Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa fill out anonymous questionnaires.
The questions varied between coaches and players and ranged from the number of multi-sport athletes to which coach got the most out of his team and the best players.
Not all of the coaches and players submitted a questionnaire but HuskerOnline will be running several features based on their responses.
In this installment, we'll dive into what schools coaches think have the best talent pool and where that talent goes, whether that's in their district or somewhere else.
Take coaching out of it, what school has the best talent pool to draw from in the state right now?
Bellevue West had the most votes with 10 and Omaha Westside was close behind with eight. Westside has been in the Class A championship game for the last three seasons and won in 2020. Bellevue West beat the Warriors 35-0 in the 2019 championship game.
Bennington received four votes and Elkhorn's school district received two along with a vote for Elkhorn South.
Schools that received one vote: Gretna, Ashland, Millard South and Creighton Prep
Do you attend the high school in your attendance district, or do you opt into another school district?
All but one of the athletes answered:
*98 attend school in the district
*36 opted into another school district
Depending on the town, students don't have many options for schools to attend. For example, Omaha, Elkhorn, Millard, Bellevue, Lincoln and others have many schools to choose from.
Schools like Pierce, Scottsbluff, Aurora, Grand Island Northwest and others attended HuskerOnline's In-State tour. There are very limited options, if any, in these places.
How much of an impact did football/sports programs play in the high school you chose to attend?
| Impact level | # of responses |
|---|---|
|
A lot |
66 (51%) |
|
Some |
10 (8%) |
|
None |
53 (41%) |
Just as the town impacted if the student-athletes went to the school in their district or opted into another school, location impacts their degree of choice also.
Many of the players who replied that sports didn't have an impact on their decision mentioned that they were born where they still live and had always planned to go to the school in their district.
These players can either go to one of the only schools in their town or their family can move to another town, not many options.