CSense

If it would benefit a school system to enroll students from outside the county enough to fight for because other schools do it then the other schools are most certainly NOT similar to yours. By wanting enrollment boundaries to change you are absolutely saying your boundaries (rules) are different than someone elses, hence THE SCHOOLS ARE NOT SIMILAR and this is what I have said all along. Thanks gov.

On most high school softball teams, yes, one girl pitches every game. Silverpie is right. The throwing motion of a softball pitcher is a natural movement that produces relatively little stress on the shoulder and elbow. They can throw every day if necessary. Consequently, one stud pitcher on a high school squad equals one very competitive team. It is a team sport in theory, but the success of any fast pitch team is totally dependent on the quality of their ace hurler. Softball is not a very good point of reference for this discussion. Dang gobigred, Soddy-Daisy (5A enrollment) has had at least two ace pitchers at the same time over the past 4 years and still could only beat Boyd (1A enrollment) about half the time. There must be a little more to it than one player.

Not sure if someone can come from Rhea County and attend SD. I do know that according to Hamilton County/Chattanooga City Dept. of Education rules my daughter must attend Soddy-Daisy or a magnet school (open zones), or a private shool, or home school. Schools like Ooltewah, Red Bank, Hixson, Central, Lookout Valley, East Ridge, Sale Creek are not an option.

The point here? I see another case where a private school beat a public school with the public school as having possibly the best team in school history. We seem to still be a little off topic. I still honestly do not understand how Boyd can be so dominant in 1A softball to the point of being able to compete with ANY school in the southeast regardless of classification (words from a Boyd person) by being able to take who just so happens to show up at the school in the 6th grade or whatever.

First to sportsguy, "it makes sense that some of these girls' families are moving into that area so they can go there and play softball." That could be true, but the key is THEY HAVE TO MOVE INTO THE AREA TO BE ZONED FOR SD. Any parent anywhere anytime can send their child to a private school. By simply stating the fact that some may be moving into another area says that there must be some sort of zoning, otherwise like gov is trying to say just enroll them there regardless of where you live. So which is it? Are there zones or not? If I lived in Ooltewah, North Georgia, or Marion County and wanted my child to attend SD couldn't I just enroll them there?

Again, until we get to where ALL school districts state wide opens it's zones, there will be unfair advantages. How can I make that word ALL bold and flashing?

On most high school softball teams, yes, one girl pitches every game. Did you mean to say 1A or all?

And until we get to where ALL school districts state wide opens it's zones, there will be unfair advantages.

Soddy-Daisy is zoned. Yes there may be exceptions as mentioned earlier in other posts, but SD's (even if it is a 5A school) drawing pool is by far smaller than Boyd's. Don't tell me about SD's zone, I know all about it. I live there.

I still haven't seen a clear answer as to how Boyd by being a school who has no more advantages because of drawing pool can get so lucky and have the luxury of such fine pitching over the past several years. This one pitcher does not pitch every game does she? You are correct in that this is not a softball thread, but it is a public/private thread and I still say we may be onto something here. Either Boyd must be the luckiest 1A school in the country by being able to compete with ANY school in the state or southeast in softball or there is really something to this "drawing pool" or open/closed zone thing. Again, I will make a similar statement about softball as I did in football against Lookout Valley. Soddy-Daisy's student body must come from a defined area around Soddy-Daisy and Boyd can get students from all over Hamilton County, North Georgia, North Alabama, Marion County, Bradley County, Sequatchie County, etc EVEN RIGHT OUT OF SODDY-DAISY and somehow it all works out to being even. I hate to even think about public 1A schools who have to compete against Boyd in softball.

So much for enrollment numbers making a big difference. So how did Boyd get so good in girls softball? How many students are enrolled at Boyd? I think we need to explore this a little more.

I thought the score I saw of a SD - BB game was 2-1 SD. I saw it on SD's website, but I can't get to the softball link at this time. Considering this past year was one of SD's best team ever and the AAA state championship, I would not have necessarily thought 10-0, but maybe somewhere between 5 to 8 runs for SD and 0 or 1 for Boyd. Now you have to understand I am going on the premise that enrollment size means more than drawing pool and Boyd doesn't really have any better chances of getting players any good than anyone else. So, one might conclude that since SD has an enrollment of around 1700 students and has one of the best if not the best girls softball coaches in the state and Boyd has a 1A enrollment (sorry don't know an approximate number) and only can take who qualifies and who comes knocking on the door (even if the coach is a great one) that the score would be slightly more than the 2-1 margin I thought I saw. How long has Boyd been a softball powerhouse?

Baldcoach, thanks for your reply. We shall continue to disagree on potential of athletes and "drawing pool" and that is ok. I still say private schools have a better chance of getting above average athletes than most publics especially when they have established themselves in a certain sport(s). I will predict that Boyd, as long as they are in the region they are now, will win that region on an average of 4 out of 5 years in football. Boyd must be doing some good things in girls softball as well. I did not expect the outcome I saw in the Boyd vs. Soddy-Daisy game last year. The name of the individual associated (indirectly) with Boyd football (athletics) who I heard was approaching certain athletes has escaped me at this time. If and when I remember the name I will email you and give you details as I know them.

"although they have the same talent pool to draw from as the other schools mentioned, they may not offer the same opportunities" Gov, LV absolutely does not have the same talent pool to draw from. I think even Baldcoach would agree with this statement, but I'm not sure. "When a perspective student is searching for a school to improve their talent, there are a number of factors that may play into their decision" Gov, a perspective student cannot necessarily "search" for EVERY school in every school district and choose it. I live in Hamilton County. My child(or I for my child) can choose 1) the true public school where zoned or 2)one of the magnet schools in the downtown Chattanooga area or 3)any private school, but we cannot by school district rules choose another true public school in Hamilton County. Now, someone may post on here that there are certain circumstances where someone can be enrolled in a different public school and that is true and an exception. I can't send my child to another public school in Hamilton County other than where she is zoned simply because I feel like it or I think there are better teachers, coaches, or because it was cloudy one day and sunny the next. But then again I could sell my house and move into the other school zone, but that would cost me much more than the $6,000 tuition to a private school, so that is impractical.

Would there be an "enrollment" limit on who could field a 6 or 8 man team?

Baldcoach, I may have misread your second quote (at least I will admit it), but I did not misread your first quote of which I noticed you said nothing about. That's fine if you want to take my ego quote which was after your "miserable" quote and try to tell me I am attacking you and all your private school coaching buddies personally that is fine. If we are still on halfway reasonable talking terms I would like to ask a question. Do you honestly think that Lookout Valley High School has the same opportunities to field as good a football team as Boyd? How about Boyd and McCallie or Baylor? Lookout Valley and McCallie or Baylor? Boyd and Soddy-Daisy or Bradley Central? Lookout Valley and Soddy-Daisy or Bradley Central? Soddy-Daisy or Bradley Central and Baylor or McCallie? Why or why not? These questions are open to anyone, by the way. I would like to see responses.

Supersteve, good point. So why do we have 5 classes of DI schools for football?

You are the one claiming not to get any better athletes than any one else and you went from the cellar to state champions I am not. If this is your statement then you are automatically saying it has everything to do with coaching. Me attacking? A baldcoach quote: "Your life must be miserable - always assuming the worst" Another baldcoach quote: "A narrow but deep river has as much water as a wide but shallow one grasshopper" Valley had about 13 or 14 kids who came out for football? How many were on your roster? Is that your fault? No Should you hang your head in shame? No Is that Valley's fault? No Should they hang their head in shame? No It is the TSSAA's fault for thinking they have just as much chance of winning a state title as you do. Should you be proud? Yes, of course. I just don't see any difference in putting Valley and Boyd in the same region or Valley and Central.

This is why I say enrollment size of the school is less of an advantage as the zoning issue. A school could have 1000 students and a good percentage of them could care less about sports and really don't even want to be in school to begin with. For the person who says privates offer more sports than publics I have one comment. IT'S BECAUSE MORE STUDENTS WHO ATTEND PRIVATE SCHOOLS WANT TO PLAY THOSE SPORTS AND GENERALLY HAVE PARENTS WHO CARE ABOUT THEIR CHILDREN. Unlike a good percentage of public school children. A public school can't offer those sports because even though the education is "free", sports usually are not and there is simply little to no interest (they could not field these teams).

Now it almost sounds like some sort of an ego trip for the coaches of the most successful small private schools. "We have nothing to work with and look what we've been able to do with them." Surely you don't think that.

VG, either split 'em or bring everybody back and have just one class. Enrollment size is less of an advantage than the zoning issue.

But if you have 10% that don't who just so happens to be better than average athletes like a certain running back or lineman, herein lies the rub. Plus there are some public schools that 100% of students must come within a certain radius they have no choice AND they have no choice (thanks to the TSSAA) of who they compete with for championships. This is just wrong. No I do not assume that all small private go after the better than average athlete. Once the program has been established by a lot of hard work, good coaching, etc better than average athletes come looking for you and that is fine for your program, just don't make a small public like Lookout Valley play against you in the same region because they by rule of the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Board of Education cannot get a student but from a very limited geographical area. Success is one of the best forms of "legal" recruiting. Again, Boyd (and other small DI privates) can enroll students from all of the Chattanooga city area, Hamilton County, Marion County, North Georgia, North Alabama, Sequatchie County, Rhea County, Bradley County, etc, but a school like Lookout Valley can only enroll students from a small geographical area around Tiftonia.

But if you have 10% that don't who just so happens to be better than average athletes like a certain running back or lineman, herein lies the rub. Plus there are some public schools that 100% of students must come within a certain radius they have no choice AND they have no choice (thanks to the TSSAA) of who they compete with for championships. This is just wrong.

After the smoke clears we still have the issue that some schools public or private can accept students from anywhere they want and some schools, all public, can only accept students from a certain geographical area around the school as defined by the local school district and not the TSSAA. In my opinion this is the number 1 disadvantage that a school can have pertaining to athletic competition and the TSSAA needs to address it.

Baldcoach, privates control "plant" size as well. Build more buildings. Then again why would you? At the present time you can have your cake and eat it too. I wish I could take some of the best students from the entire Hamilton County, Marion County, North Georgia, North Alabama, Rhea County, Sequatchie County, etc along with parents who care and wants more for their children who are willing to sacrifice for them and put together a football team or basketball team or soccer team, etc. WAIT I can. I'll just start a private school or just send them to one that already exist. Hey, you and VG are starting to make a little bit more SENSE to me now. VG, enrollment size is the absolute very LEAST of the advantages of any school regardless of zoning/no zoning, private/public.