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It's not uncommon to hear county high school coaches and players talk about what could have been after their teams are eliminated from the playoffs.

In football and basketball, Prince George's County's rich landscape of competitive youth programs has groomed players for many state high school championship teams. But in baseball, softball, soccer and volleyball, early exits from the postseason have become commonplace.

Some coaches in those sports say their teams could be better prepared for the playoffs if the Prince George's Schools Athletic Office altered its scheduling procedures, allowing the flexibility to play more games against stronger opponents from other counties. The current Prince George's scheduling procedures lock teams into playing virtually all of their regular season games within the county.

The playoffs are the first time many county teams face a high-level opponent. Even the county's better teams often struggle in the playoffs after spending the regular season winning lopsided games against county foes.

"In my experiences, when you get into big games, the kids are not used to those big games and they play tight," said Gwynn Park baseball coach Matt Cooke, whose team has won 12 of the past 13 County 3A/2A/1A League titles, but has gone 2-13 in the playoffs in that span. "There can be intimidation when you see teams outside of the county, the way they warm up and the accuracy of their throws."

Changing the schedules is not an easy matter. Schools are divided by the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association into classifications, based on student enrollment. The County Athletic Office makes the schedules based on which schools are in which classifications. Currently there are two county leagues, one for the 12 schools in the 4A classification, which includes the largest schools in the state, and another league for the 10 schools that are in the 3A, 2A and 1A classifications.

"We keep the teams in divisions and we want to make sure no team falls short with the number of games on their schedule," said County Athletic Director O'Shay Watson. "We don't want to risk dwindling numbers. If we allow teams to schedule their own games, then we are sending the wrong message."

Watson said the smaller schools – especially those in the 2A and 1A – would have difficulty replacing league games wiped out by opponents seeking stronger competition because most coaches are reluctant to schedule games against small schools.

"You have to be exposed to teams throughout the state to see their style of play," said Bowie boys' soccer coach Richard Kirkland, who guided his team to the Class 4A state title last fall. "We're required to play [county] 4A teams, which we do. But how good can you be if there are only a few good teams that you can play? You want to play teams out of the county so you can see different styles and different approaches to the game."

Weighing alternatives

"There has been talk of change [in how games are scheduled] for at least the last 25 years, but not much has changed," said Frederick Douglass High Athletic Director Bill Hay, a longtime baseball and softball coach in the county. "We have talked about perhaps having the top 10 teams in a particular sport in our leagues playing one another, then having another league with the struggling teams, and let them play one another.

"The [3A/2A/1A League] teams could play each other one time, then have everything else open. They can make their own schedule after that. [The good teams] want to play full speed ahead, but they're bunting and stealing and able to put 20 runs on the board in the first inning [against a weaker opponent]."

Cooke offered a similar alternative.

"You could have the top 4A and top 3A/2A/1A teams play, then you play your regular conference schedule," said Cooke. "That way, you can still play every team once from your conference, and also have the teams that have been 1-2-3 the past five years making up another conference. No two teams in the same conference should ever be undefeated or winless."

While such changes don't seem likely, scrimmage games are one way for county teams to face different brands of competition. Each team is allowed to schedule two road scrimmages prior to the start of regular season play.

The Charles H. Flowers High volleyball team played in a preseason tournament last year at North Caroline High in Caroline County, and plans to do so again this year, said coach Jeff Ware. He added that creating a viable feeder system would be a critical step.

"We need to get feeder programs at the middle schools," he said. "In volleyball, you get a lot of kids who have never played before. When I get them as ninth graders, if they have not played club ball or in middle schools, then those kids are years of experience behind the competition they will face, especially when they play teams out-of-county."

E-mail Adam Rubenstein at arubenstein@gazette.net.