<p>Things may have changed in the eight years since we looked at Deerfield.</p>
<p>No Saturday classes at Deerfield. Not a rotating, bi-weekly or any other system…just none.</p>
<p>Blair is a terrific school, nurturing environment, great academics and a great football program with new turf field, student center and gym upgrades the facilities are top notch). The coaches are experienced, knowledgeable and run a fine football program (undefeated this year with MAPL title). College matriculations are also successful and impressive - the counseling department is also very helpful and professional.</p>
<p>ISTG, I will give a gold dabloon to the first Blair supporter who doesn’t use the word “nurturing” to describe the school.</p>
<p>Blair creates an environment that is extremely conducive to spiritual, emotion, social, and intellectual growth. The students flourish under the guidance of dedicated and caring teachers.</p>
<p>I’ll PM you my address for the gold. Make sure you insure the package. :)</p>
<p>Nice!, but I had my fingers crossed while I was typing…</p>
<p>The Salisbury School football program is by far the most consistent program in the D1 Erickson league in the past 10-15 years. They had a less than average year in 2008 due to the school not grooming or procuring a PG QB as talented as the rest of the team. This happens on occasion at all great schools, and one has to give Salisbury credit for allowing a boy to play QB that had been with the Salisbury program for all 4 years.</p>
<p>To FIF and all other knowledgeable posters - I need help & advice. My son is a 2 time All State QB and State Champion and is also a pretty decent student. He is graduating from his HS in May and is ready to move on to college athletically and academically, but he has a unique situation. He has already been admitted into an Ivy for football, but because they could not figure out our financial aid circumstances, he has been requested by the college to defer his admission until fall 2010. That works for us, but I want to make sure he stays sharp in the classroom and on the football field and I thought a PG spot at a prep school might fulfill that need. A couple of questions - since finances are impossibly tight, are there scholarships at prep school based on athletic skill, or is all aid need based? How would playing football as a PG affect collegiate eligibility? Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.</p>
<p>I’m not FIF…but, I do have some thoughts. A PG year at a strong “football” school would keep him sharp, but I have heard from other posters on here that most PG’s don’t get much aid. You might check with some of the more “monied” schools (Exeter, Andover, Deerfield). If they know he is already admitted to an Ivy, they might have some creative way of helping out. You might fit their need criteria. A year at a strong community college where football is strong (anything in Texas, for instance?) is also good, but that uses up a year of eligiblity. I know the NCAA DI rules give you 5 years of college compete 4 years of your sport, so his Ivy might not like the idea that he has already used up a competition year.<br>
I would definitely be in contact with the coach at the Ivy school to act as a liason and give you some ideas in this situation.</p>
<p>If I were you I would send your son to Hotchkiss. They have the best football program out of all of the prep schools and they are a “monied” school that also has an academic program on par with andover and exeter. Hotchkiss also competes in the best league (Erickson) where your son will actually be challenged. So out of the HADES school Hotchkiss, in my opinion is the best choice/fit for your son. Having already been admitted into an ivy will certainly help :). Good luck !</p>
<p>Hotchkiss has had a terrific year (2008) 9-0, but are not the best football program in the Erikson League like Kaf has claimed.
2007 5-2-1
2006 4-4
2005 4-4</p>
<p>Need I go on?</p>
<p>You know where I would PG your son:)</p>
<p>That’s an incredibly weak argument. All that proves is that Hotchkiss WAS not the best team in the Erickson league. And sure i agree that is true. But anyone who actually knows a thing or two about football knows that Hotchkiss currently IS the best team in the Erickson league and has the best program. The coach was even featured in Sports Illustrated as were some of the players. [The</a> Hotchkiss School coach Danny Smith - Kevin Armstrong - SI.com](<a href=“http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/kevin_armstrong/11/06/danny.smith/index.html]The”>http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/kevin_armstrong/11/06/danny.smith/index.html) It is an indisputable fact that no prep school team out there can beat Hotchkiss. So I was correct to say that Hotchkiss has the best prepschool football team out there. Furthermore all of the star players on the HOtchkiss team are not PGs. The main star player is a sophomore and he is already in SI. Now that is saying something.</p>
<p>Hotchkiss is indeed a great school. And they did have a great year LAST year. My brother is a graduate. Class of 1976.
Actually , as kafkareborn wrote previously on CC, the FOUNDER of Sports Illustrated is a Hotchkiss grad. It makes sense to me when they have the first undefeated season in Football in over a decade that SI would do an article on them. Hotchkiss grads, my brother included were never at a loss when it comes to trumpeting their horn for their school’s triumphs.</p>
<p>The main thing I would look for in a PG school for your son SPORTSFAN, is a program that actually needs a PG Quarterback next season. I can’t tell you of Hotchkiss’s needs maybe kafkareborn has that information for you.</p>
<p>It looks like we have a final visit list. T-P, Salisbury, AOF, Blair and NMH. May also check out Kimball Union and Suffield Academy. I need to go back and look at football stats for several years. </p>
<p>It seems like I was just going through this process and now I’ll be starting it all again.</p>
<p>sportsfan22,</p>
<p>If financial aid is an issue, then this could be a tough problem. If your income is under $75k, then you would qualify for Exeter’s full scholarship, and since he was already accepted at an Ivy, I’m sure they would take him. But the problem is if your income is higher. They give less financial aid for PG kids—so on a $40,000 tuition bill, you would be lucky to get a 50% scholarship at a top school, but $20k is still a lot to pay.</p>
<p>Fork Union has the best PG football program. Many NFL players went there, so it is a different type of prep school, but it might interest you. The skill level at Fork Union is a huge jump ahead of the Hotchkiss or Exeter’s of the world, but the academic level is way behind. It might be a good experience for your son, and is cheaper—maybe $25k.</p>
<p>I work with some pg’s so if you want to pm me I’d be glad to help. Oh there is also a football gap year program where they travel around the world playing football, but that is expensive too.</p>
<p>Your son could probably also get a full scholarship as a Hotchkiss Scholar - I know numerous people here on full rides so i doubt it shall be a problem for your son to get one- particularly since he is so talented at Football. Furthermore Hotchkiss’ primarily needs a quater back so i amsure they would be glad to have your son join them. Out of prep schools of its caliber Hotchkiss would probably be the most ideal for your son.</p>
<p>Exeter’s PG QB graduated this year.</p>
<p>[Longmeadow’s</a> Donnelly takes success to Phillips Exeter - Varsity Voice - MassLive.com](<a href=“http://blog.masslive.com/varsityvoice/2008/09/longmeadows_donnelly_takes_suc.html]Longmeadow’s”>Longmeadow's Donnelly takes success to Phillips Exeter - masslive.com)</p>
<p>According to the Max preps (which is perhaps the authority on High school spots) Hotchkiss is way better than even Fork Union currently - despite their past history.</p>
<p>Hotchkiss is ranked 1125th nationally and 1st in Connecticut by Max Preps. Fork Union is ranked 3331 nationally. Almost two thousand spots separate the two teams… clearly their is no comparison. Hotchkiss (this year at least and probably in future years since all the stars of its team are young players)</p>
<p>That just goes to show how good Hotchkiss Football is, particularly this year if they can take out titans like Fork Union. </p>
<p>PS: </p>
<p>Andover is ranked 5849th nationally.</p>
<p>Exeter is ranked 5969 nationally. </p>
<p>Deerfield fares somewhat better ranking 4190 nationally. </p>
<p>Clearly completely out of Hotchkiss’ league. </p>
<p>The Erickson league is that Hotchkiss plays in is the best league so your son will get challenged against great schools like Salisbury as well as being part of the best prep school team around. Getting a full scholarship should not be an obstacle for your son at all at Hotchkiss … they have very deep pockets (more than Andover per student). Furthermore the educational experience at Hotchkiss is equal to Exeter Andover and the like overall and probably beats the said schools in some areas and vice versa. If your son is serious about Football look no further than Hotchkiss. You will certainly not regret it. I hoped this helps. Private message me if you want more info I can get you in touch with Hotchkiss’ captain no problem.</p>
<p>kafkaboom, the rankings you were looking at are for the varsity at Fork Union, but it has its own PG football team which has had over 70 guys go to the NFL. Examples are Plaxico Buress, Vinny testeverde…they are the only high school to have 2 heisman trophy winnners… but really, it is a different situation. Fork Union offers a PG program for NFL prospects and top players who usually can’t get the SAT score they need to accept the college scholarships offered to them, so that is why they do PG.</p>
<p>I’m sure Hotchkiss has a great football team, but they aren’t in the same league as Fork Union. But I think sports fan doesn’t need to find the best football team anyway, he just needs a place where his son can play and get the most financial aid. Hotchkiss requires it students to have documented financial need for aid.</p>
<p>Remember your risking him getting hurt btw.</p>