You are right, you probably would not have played at the 3A school at that position. It sounds as though you made a decision to play at a private school because you knew you would get to play. And that is the thing... private schools can draw in kids that should be in upper classes and allows them to "play down". It gives kids choices. Do I stay at a big school, not play, maybe not win? Or do I go to a small private school, get to play, have a shot at a state title? As a kid I think the choice is obvious. The majority of public school kids do not have these choices, either because of location or because of money. I will say also, that I have seen one case where the money problem was taken care of by someone!!!