This is getting good...
1) Coaches don't vote for their own players.
2) DI schools receive NO financial aide. GP is D1 so their students receive no financial aide.
3) DII athletes can receive financial aide dependent upon their FASFA application and I beleive if they receive over a certain amount (50%) they cannot particiapate in varsity athletics.
Here is an excerpt from the TSSAA constitution:
"Section 3. For tournament competition there shall be two categories. Division I shall be schools whose student athletes competing at the varsity level do not receive need–based financial aid. Division II shall be those schools whose student-athletes competing at the varsity level may be the recipients of need-based financial aid."
Now that the facts are on the table maybee this thread will wither a bit. The truth is Goodpasture is a DI AA school that offers a quality education and has a strong reputation built on athletic excellence. This attracts players, they don't have to recruit. The same can be said of Beech, parents simply pay the out of county taxes and their kid can play for a school that has a strong reputation in softball. It's absurd to say or even imply that GP pays it's players for a non-revenue sport nonetheless. I'm laughing at the thought as I know several of the GP parents through travel ball, most of which are bleeding, making heavy financial scarifices to keep their kid in a moral, ethical, christ centered program with an outstanding reputation.
Look parents who put alot of time and effort into this sport move, pay, do whatever it takes to make it happen so their child's in a quality program. That's the bottom line. It does not matter if it's a private or public program. Cripes you have parents up-rooting to go to Beech and Riverdale all the time. Posts like these are made out of inexperience and anger. Let it go, look in the mirror and assign the resposiblity where it belongs. It takes alot of hard work, a dedicated team of parents, coaches and administrators to make quality happen. Having a quality pitcher is only one piece of a 9 plus piece set.