Fair Play

[grasshopper]

I have just seen the bracket for the state tournament and in Single A I noticed that private schools dominate the field. Why is that? My hats off to those public schools who were fortunate enough to make it that far. Just an opinion, but I do not think that it is fair to have the public and private schools in the same classification. It is not such a big issue for larger schools with hundreds of students to choose from, but for small schools it is almost impossible to compete with the private schools. A small public school can only get players from their area, but a small private school is able to pull players from anywhere. To me this is just not fair to the athletes who attend small schools that have to compete against private schools.

[illpete23]

Shouldn't there be a Division solely for private schools?

[Softball Maven]

Shouldn't there be a Division solely for private schools?

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There is....it's called division ll, but to place all private schools there would be unfair to the small schools. The schools in division ll give scholarships or financial aide to athletes. The private schools in division l do not. The small division l schools that don't give financial aide such as Grace, Christian Academy of Knoxville, Boyd Buchanan can't compete at the same level as Baylor, Montgomery Bell Academy and others that do give aide.

The students that go to the smaller private schools and compete in sports pay their own way. Most of them do this to receive a christian education.

[skyhawk22]

I think there should be a seperate division for all private schools. Especially those giving athletic scholarships to attend. (Division II) It shouldn't matter what division that they compete with either (A, AA, or AAA). All private schools should be moved to Division II and then use there own A, AA, or AAA classifaction. It is hard for some AAA schools to field enough players for a team. Why do you think private colleges participate in the NAIA and not the NCAA? Granted they are usually smaller, but private funded and government funded should always stay seperate. Private HS have a huge advantage over public HC. The state tournament bracket should show anyone that.

Edited May 21, 2005 by rwhitebradshaw

[Softball Maven]

I think there should be a seperate division for all private schools.  Especially those giving athletic scholarships to attend. (Division II)  It shouldn't matter what division that they compete with either (A, AA, or AAA).  All private schools should be moved to Division II and then use there own A, AA, or AAA classifaction.  It is hard for some AAA schools to field enough players for a team.  Why do you think private colleges participate in the NAIA and not the NCAA?  Granted they are usually smaller, but private funded and government funded should always stay seperate.  Private HS have a huge advantage over public HC.  The state tournament bracket should show anyone that.

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This isn't only addressed to rwhite....but simply a general statement concerning a portion of his statement. He stated: "....private funded and government funded should always stay seperate(sic)...." I really get amused at this type thinking whenever I hear someone saying this. You need to notice that the only time people start talking like this is when they are concerned about their little Susie or Johnny and their particular sport. Why don't you hear about it as the Asians and other cultures kick our butt in math, science and other educational areas? You certainly don't hear it when someone suggests that school vouchers be made available for those wishing to attend private schools and you certainly don't hear about it when it is suggested that taxes be reduced for those families educating in the private arena. Nope.....you certainly want the money from those families wishing to send their children to private schools....you just don't want to play with them.

[spojo20]

Well I know this is not the case for all private schools, but I can give you an example of a private Christian school, TCA, who is making their first trip to state this year. Trinity, out of Jackson, may have 140 kids in their high school; they are one of the smallest single A schools out there. My sister played softball when Trinity just started fielding a team back in the mid to late 90s. I sat in the bleacher and watched schools, both public and private, wax them, 20-0, even though they played their hearts out. My sister never once complained that any of the teams she played against had unfair advantages over her because they had more talent or were a larger school. She just did her part to get better. As hard as she worked, she never won a district tournament or played on any state championship team. Some people might look at that as a failure, but now look what her hard work and the girls that played with her have layed for this year's team.

 

Not everything in life is about winning or losing, it is about learning. I think to say that any team got to state by unfair means is taking away what these girls have all worked so hard for this year. I say let's just be happy that they get the chance to play a game that they love(like my sister did) and stop pointing fingers. Congrats to every team that made it to state and to every player that learned something this year through fastpitch softball!

[skyhawk22]

Let me guess, your kid goes to private school! ( Hard to figure that out!) I don't have a dog in this fight, but here goes!! Let me guess, your kid goes to private school because your nose is too turned up to step through the door of a "ratty public school." Guess your compensating for something. I don't think our government should give vouchers to anyone to attend any private school. You want a free education for your kid you have that opportunity at any public school you are zoned for. But, that's the issue we are talking about. Kids that atttend public school attend the school they are zoned for. There is no decision to be made, no choice. Now look at private school. You can live in Franklin and drive your kid to Lebanon to Friendship or you can live in Lebanon and drive your kid to DCA, Ezell or where ever. That's why it's unfair. There is no choice in public school's to attend, unless you move. Public schools do not have the funding to pay for private lessons at Club K or wherever for their entire team! (yeah it happens) Public schools have to take from the talent that is already at there school and develop it. I know of at least two players that transfered private schools this year to get more playing time. (and I'm sure there hundreds more across the state) Their dad's both had deep pockets, so they made it happen. This isn't a race issue so don't play that card! It's a money issue. Private schools have it and public schools don't. End of discussion!

[illpete23]

I don't have a son, daughter, cousin, or anything playing high school sports. I just think that it's a little skewed to have private schools playing in the same "level" as public schools. I also think that private schools should all be in one group, but that there should be a distinction made between those that give scholarships and those that do not.

 

As far as the Asains kicking our butt in math, that does not occur because we are zoned into a particular schooling section. That is an entirely different conversation, besides, I think that Baylor kids would kick a lot of people's butts in math, science, etc. The grades that those kids make are remarkable, for the most part because that is something that I believe is required for admittance. So what you have is a team loaded with athletic talent that also perform well in the classroom. If spelling bee competitions were seperated by classes (such as AAA, AA, and A) then that would become a similar issue.

 

Okay, so maybe that didn't make a whole lot of sense, but my new muffler just came in so I'm going to go see how it will look on the car.

[DaddyDeuce]

RW, where do you put the public "magnet schools"? They draw from the across county, so should they be put in with "private"? (I don't think this is as much of an issue in softball as it is in football or basketball.) And what about players that play in a school other than where they are zoned? Or how about a player that moves within the county or goes to live with a relative so they can play ball at a certain school. Should that school be put in with the privates also? There's a lot of issues with high school sports and I'm not sure anyone has it all worked out. Any way that you look at it someone will end up with the short end of the stick, or bat in this case.

[illpete23]

RW, where do you put the public "magnet schools"?  They draw from the across county, so should they be put in with "private"?  (I don't think this is as much of an issue in softball as it is in football or basketball.)  And what about players that play in a school other than where they are zoned? Or how about a player that moves within the county or goes to live with a relative so they can play ball at a certain school.  Should that school be put in with the privates also?  There's a lot of issues with high school sports and I'm not sure anyone has it all worked out.  Any way that you look at it someone will end up with the short end of the stick, or bat in this case.   

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Okay, so that makes a VERY good point. I know of lots of kids that drove to the City schools when I was in school to have a better chance of winning. I actually lived closer to the City school, but I went to County. The name of the game is to play for the love of it, and we should not take anything away from the girls that made it to State. Regardless of classification, those girls made it to State through thier own hard work and efforts. On the flip side, how many teams were denied the chance to go to State because of that. I'm kind of glad that I don't have a horse in the race, but can you blame a parent for giving their kid what they feel like is the best for them (assuming that the child agrees)?

[skyhawk22]

Deuce,

 

Magnet schools are for exceptional students, therefore if they are selected to attend those school they are "deemed" zoned for that school. As far as kids playing out of zoning or living with relatives those athletes are considered ineligible by the TSSAA and the should be reported. The following has been taken directly from the TSSAA elegibilty section of their website.

 

 

· Athletes must live at home with their parents.

 

 

 

· In order for a transfer student with an athletic record to be eligible at another school there must be a bona fide change of residence by the athlete's parents.

 

And, I agree. All teams that made it to the state Congratulations!! That is an excellent achievement and I know they all worked hard! And hats off for all the hard work. I was just stating they did have a bit of an advantage. Nothing to take away any of their achievments!

Edited May 21, 2005 by rwhitebradshaw

[hotrod471]

Let me guess, your kid goes to private school! ( Hard to figure that out!)  I don't have a dog in this fight, but here goes!!  Let me guess, your kid goes to private school because your nose is too turned up to step through the door of a "ratty public school."  Guess your compensating for something.  I don't think our government should give vouchers to anyone to attend any private school.  You want a free education for your kid you have that opportunity at any public school you are zoned for.  But, that's the issue we are talking about.  Kids that atttend public school attend the school they are zoned for.  There is no decision to be made, no choice.  Now look at private school.  You can live in Franklin and drive your kid to Lebanon to Friendship or you can live in Lebanon and drive your kid to DCA, Ezell or where ever.  That's why it's unfair.  There is no choice in public school's to attend, unless you move.  Public schools do not have the funding to pay for private lessons at Club K or wherever for their entire team!  (yeah it happens)  Public schools have to take from the talent that is already at there school and develop it.  I know of at least two players that transfered private schools this year to get more playing time. (and I'm sure there hundreds more across the state)  Their dad's both had deep pockets, so they made it happen.  This isn't a race issue so don't play that card!  It's a money issue.  Private schools have it and public schools don't.  End of discussion!

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Well, if city government would let you send your kid to your neighborhood school instead of sending them across town because the %'s won't allow you to, then maybe private schools wouldn't be as high on the list for most people. Yeah, I know what I am talking about, because I have faced this decision. And when your little girl comes home crying because she has been threatened in the bathroom of such school and suddenly safety becomes an issue (more concern from the parent because they are now 45 minutes away instead of 5 minutes), your darn right I would choose a private school, and I did. I am not "rich" by any means and my wife and I both work to put our kids through this school, and no, we don't make huge contributions either because we can't afford it. So don't get on here and spout off about "nose turned up at ratty public school". Been there, done it and won't go back. As for athletics, our baseball team is small A private and yes we are going to state. But guess what, out of 21 players on our team, 19 of them live with 5 miles of the school and a majority of them have been at this school for the entire duration of their school lives. Lastly, we are in a District that contains other private schools, so yes, we had to beat other privates to get there too, not just public schools.