It's Official Now.......

[WTBaller]

WTB, for me at the moment Volleyball which is what my daughter plays. My son used to play baseball. The tougher the competition, the more they got better. VB has been down the last couple of years, not because of the competition though, but because of the player turnover. Very young at the moment. USJ baseball never shied away from anyone and competed with everyone. For basketball, it would be tough for USJ to compete in most districts (nothing personal) but we just don't have the personel. Football can compete, I believe, but we are in the middle of a down cycle "athletism-wise", but you have to admit that they have turned the corner and the future looks positive. It would just be tougher to compete year in-year out with our current numbers. I guess my biggest gripe is that the parents (you know....the one's that pay the bills) were not given a choice here. No vote, no say-so, no nothing........For what I pay each year, I should have a say (at the very least). As for the comment about who makes the rules, I guess I mean who garners the most support. I will say this, I can count on one hand how many times this year I have seen our current Head Master or any other high ranking administrative person at a volleyball game showing their support (ZERO if you want to know). Wonder how many football games they have been to??? Ok, I'm through blowing steam. Good luck this year in basketball!!

 

 

Everyone has known that the discussions were on-going relating to the decision of "the jump".....the biggest gripe I had in addition to having no voice, was not being able to find out any information whatsoever as to which way we were leaning or when a decision would be made, etc. I know an email was sent out, yet I actually heard about the decision in the stands at the Humboldt game. Although I think you and I would have been opposed in our own biased explanations of which way to go.........I, like you, would have at least like to have been heard.

 

As I said before, with proposed district of Liberty, Bolivar, North Side, Lexington, etc..........BB ran the risk of not winning a game for 4 years. As for being able to compete, I think there IS one district we could compete in.....that's the 1A one we were in before the multiplier. As with VB, the boys are young, yet do have a chance in a couple of years to be respectable......just not in D1AA.

 

I've only got three more years of this, so in my opion, financial aide atheletes probably will not be a factor in my situation, yet for generations to come, it will be interesting to see how all of that pans out. You know as well as I do, that if kids come in, just for atheletics and play before some of those that have been there since Pre-K.....some of the money will not be happy campers. I see them picking up a few over the years, yet people seem to still not understand that not only do you have to be a stellar athelete, you have to qualify and then YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE GRADE. That alone, is not for everyone.

 

Good luck to you as well........we will just have to wait and see how everything turns out.

[WTBaller]

I don't know if it the athletism is down but there are quite a few good athletes that chose not to play football.

I still say that USJ has downgraded their athletic program to play in DII-A for football. I think it would have been better for ALL the athletic progams to stay in division I. They are now ranked in the Top 10 in Divsion I - AA in the latest state wide poll in football.

 

 

I still disagree on your point that it was best for ALL. Football has been a pleasant surprise, so far, yet the tough ones still remain. Baseball will not, and should not, ever care which class they are in.

 

There is still no way that staying in D1AA in that proposed district was the best situation for the BB team. Still may not win a game in D2, yet it will be against schools the same size with a couple added scholarship (sorry, aide) studs, and not against schools 3 to 4 times the enrollment that you were unwillingly thrown against.

 

I guess, in hind sight, I've had a burr over the multiplier since day one. My support for pulling out and going D2 was possibly biased based on principle alone. Taking my ball and going home.

[Redog]

So, please clarify. Does CPA offer any need based financial aid?

 

Yes they do, and they go by the rules set by TSSAA in regards to financial aid to student athletes.

[Bighurt]

Yes they do, and they go by the rules set by TSSAA in regards to financial aid to student athletes.

 

Let's be clear. Since CPA is in D1, they cannot provide any financial aid to student athletes.

[Redog]

Let's be clear. Since CPA is in D1, they cannot provide any financial aid to student athletes.

 

Check the TSSAA rulebook in regards to it

[BuckLateral]

Check the TSSAA rulebook in regards to it

 

 

The TSSAA Constitution and ByLaws Handbook is pretty clear on this. It says:

 

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.

 

Under the Questions and Answers section of the Handbook regarding Tuition and Financial Aid there is the following question and answer:

 

Q. Must all financial aid to student-athletes be need-based?

A. Yes.

 

So, if CPA stays in DI and, as Redog says, "go by the rules set by TSSAA in regards to financial aid to student athletes", then, as BigHurt says, "they cannot provide any financial aid to student athletes." You guys seem to be dancing around the question as if you might have some disagreement on this, but it doesn't appear to me that you do.

 

By staying in DI, CPA cannot give financial aid to its student athletes at the varsity high school level ( grades 9-12).

[Bighurt]

. . . By staying in DI, CPA cannot give financial aid to its student athletes at the varsity high school level ( grades 9-12).

 

Your statement is correct.

[PHargis]

u

WTB, for me at the moment Volleyball which is what my daughter plays. My son used to play baseball. The tougher the competition, the more they got better. VB has been down the last couple of years, not because of the competition though, but because of the player turnover. Very young at the moment. USJ baseball never shied away from anyone and competed with everyone. For basketball, it would be tough for USJ to compete in most districts (nothing personal) but we just don't have the personel. Football can compete, I believe, but we are in the middle of a down cycle "athletism-wise", but you have to admit that they have turned the corner and the future looks positive. It would just be tougher to compete year in-year out with our current numbers. I guess my biggest gripe is that the parents (you know....the one's that pay the bills) were not given a choice here. No vote, no say-so, no nothing........For what I pay each year, I should have a say (at the very least). As for the comment about who makes the rules, I guess I mean who garners the most support. I will say this, I can count on one hand how many times this year I have seen our current Head Master or any other high ranking administrative person at a volleyball game showing their support (ZERO if you want to know). Wonder how many football games they have been to??? Ok, I'm through blowing steam. Good luck this year in basketball!!

What is now evident, and I think all should recognize it now, Football is large in all schools who have it but the misconception that Football pays the bills for the athletic program is ridiculous. Yes, it has the major cost and very likely has the largest budget and the most coaches but we are finding out a lot of schools are restricted as to how many paid coaches each school can have and if a schools program doesn't have attendance, and the TSSAA gets the major part of that, where does the money come from. I again suggest to you that Football does not have any attendance clout or financial clout with attendance because its paying for the Tssaa bills and the light bills and the equipment costs. So when we talk about this situation of going Division II, what is at the bottom of the matter. It's easily seen, in my viewpoint, its the financing of an athletic program thru the parents fees and donations for enrolling in a private school and today its financing thru parents donations and fees and business donations in the public schools. The loud noise about Football financing all of anything is just a loud noise. Football is mostly just financing itself and sometime Title 9 is going to rear its head and lead to accountability of all of these misconceptions. If your student is going to a Public School, you are going to pay to play. If your student is going to a private school, you are going to pay to play. Who is going to foot the bill for the coaches? The athletic program is going to do that. Football is larger and it is easier to do that. Most of the Title 9 sports , if are done by teacher/coaches, are funded by School/Boosters and if are run by coaches hired by the school from outside, are supplied small supplements from a Booster Club. Big Football just pays its bills and its budget is high because it just has a high attendance sometimes, which the Tssaa gets the most of but is agreed to by the member schools.

Now lets understand about the real cost which Football has caused when two factions could not get along and have a law suit that goes clear to the supreme court and the rest of the athletic community HAS to just sit back and watch and wonder what is going to happen. The State legislators and the Governor of the State should have put an end to the fiasco but no, the two big kids on the block keep rocking and the rest on the HS sporting community just like everything else, sits back wondering what is going to happen to them. Now lets split the pie a little more and now have attendance go down a little more and travel a little further and increase the pay to play, to cheerlead, and blame it on each other. There is no doubt that the Schools are the only entity to make this work but they are also the only entity that can stop this madness, to get their educational house in order, provide a product they do exceptionally well and keep the cost down internally and externally to their fans. So now we hear that some of the privates may not be doing well, not all but some. Attendance is not good? Attendance to games not good? Travel expense risen? And now continue on the same course and add to the cost? The only thing I can see are the two sides are not in court but now are in a competition area with the taxpayers that the stakes are higher. Nobody again will give. Highest Multiplier in the United States. Nobody is talking. We'll just try this for 4 years, cost the fans and taxpayers and let the Heads of Schools and the Heads of Education satisfy their power needs and that will take care of the problem. If some of the privates go to Division II and it winds up with 40 schools how is that going to help. What does control of a few athletes and a little more power to a head of a school matter to the taxpayer. What is happening in Jackson Tennessee right now is an embarassment to the people that run the Educational Department in Madison county. Maybe its not so and maybe the State has taken over your schools but if its not Education, the major part of this is over football and basketball. Now we hear that the coaches think this is right. Why would they not think that? I would suggest, let the heads of schools and directors do it but if it doesn't work, let it be at the cost of their jobs and let it not be for four years, let it be for two and there be someone to control it. Lets get this back to one Division, negotiate on whatever the multiplier is and finish this for good. The taxpayer and the fans are footing the bill and honestly are getting tired of it.

[RedUp]

Yes they do, and they go by the rules set by TSSAA in regards to financial aid to student athletes.

 

So, how do you feel about students being denied the right to play sports because they are on need based financial aid, while all the other students around them are able to play? Tell me you think that is fair.

Please, would a representative or a supporter of an independent school that does this (gives aid and keeps those students out of sports in order to stay in DI) present a justifiable, defensible reason for such a policy?

[OnlineLC]

First, I was made aware today that we do have a very small budget set aside for need based financial aid which would be less than 1% of our annual tuition. I don't know if that is being used or not currently so I cannot give any further insight there. Remember also it is a K thru 12 school so the high school portion could be 1/3%.

 

I am not sure why you think it is so unfair. A student is being given an opportunity to attend a school that they would not be able to afford otherwise. As long as they are made aware of the restrictions beforehand they have made the choice. Athletics is not top on everybody's list so they may not feel it to be a major issue. Also remember it does not lock them out of athletics completely, they are allowed to play JV and can certainly come out and practice everyday. If they turn out to be great athletes, they can transfer to a Public or try and get Financial Aid at another Private with no restrictions since they would never have played in any games.

 

Let me ask you a question on fairness. Is it fair for the parents of a student to be paying full tuition and then see a percentage of that tuition payment be redirected to a fund to offer aid to another student who may end up stealing his place on the team?

 

The reality of the situation is the fact that students who hold athletic promise or want to play sports will look elsewhere if they also want aid.

 

So, how do you feel about students being denied the right to play sports because they are on need based financial aid, while all the other students around them are able to play? Tell me you think that is fair.

Please, would a representative or a supporter of an independent school that does this (gives aid and keeps those students out of sports in order to stay in DI) present a justifiable, defensible reason for such a policy?

[WTBaller]

uWhat is now evident, and I think all should recognize it now, Football is large in all schools who have it but the misconception that Football pays the bills for the athletic program is ridiculous. Yes, it has the major cost and very likely has the largest budget and the most coaches but we are finding out a lot of schools are restricted as to how many paid coaches each school can have and if a schools program doesn't have attendance, and the TSSAA gets the major part of that, where does the money come from. I again suggest to you that Football does not have any attendance clout or financial clout with attendance because its paying for the Tssaa bills and the light bills and the equipment costs. So when we talk about this situation of going Division II, what is at the bottom of the matter. It's easily seen, in my viewpoint, its the financing of an athletic program thru the parents fees and donations for enrolling in a private school and today its financing thru parents donations and fees and business donations in the public schools. The loud noise about Football financing all of anything is just a loud noise. Football is mostly just financing itself and sometime Title 9 is going to rear its head and lead to accountability of all of these misconceptions. If your student is going to a Public School, you are going to pay to play. If your student is going to a private school, you are going to pay to play. Who is going to foot the bill for the coaches? The athletic program is going to do that. Football is larger and it is easier to do that. Most of the Title 9 sports , if are done by teacher/coaches, are funded by School/Boosters and if are run by coaches hired by the school from outside, are supplied small supplements from a Booster Club. Big Football just pays its bills and its budget is high because it just has a high attendance sometimes, which the Tssaa gets the most of but is agreed to by the member schools.

Now lets understand about the real cost which Football has caused when two factions could not get along and have a law suit that goes clear to the supreme court and the rest of the athletic community HAS to just sit back and watch and wonder what is going to happen. The State legislators and the Governor of the State should have put an end to the fiasco but no, the two big kids on the block keep rocking and the rest on the HS sporting community just like everything else, sits back wondering what is going to happen to them. Now lets split the pie a little more and now have attendance go down a little more and travel a little further and increase the pay to play, to cheerlead, and blame it on each other. There is no doubt that the Schools are the only entity to make this work but they are also the only entity that can stop this madness, to get their educational house in order, provide a product they do exceptionally well and keep the cost down internally and externally to their fans. So now we hear that some of the privates may not be doing well, not all but some. Attendance is not good? Attendance to games not good? Travel expense risen? And now continue on the same course and add to the cost? The only thing I can see are the two sides are not in court but now are in a competition area with the taxpayers that the stakes are higher. Nobody again will give. Highest Multiplier in the United States. Nobody is talking. We'll just try this for 4 years, cost the fans and taxpayers and let the Heads of Schools and the Heads of Education satisfy their power needs and that will take care of the problem. If some of the privates go to Division II and it winds up with 40 schools how is that going to help. What does control of a few athletes and a little more power to a head of a school matter to the taxpayer. What is happening in Jackson Tennessee right now is an embarassment to the people that run the Educational Department in Madison county. Maybe its not so and maybe the State has taken over your schools but if its not Education, the major part of this is over football and basketball. Now we hear that the coaches think this is right. Why would they not think that? I would suggest, let the heads of schools and directors do it but if it doesn't work, let it be at the cost of their jobs and let it not be for four years, let it be for two and there be someone to control it. Lets get this back to one Division, negotiate on whatever the multiplier is and finish this for good. The taxpayer and the fans are footing the bill and honestly are getting tired of it.

 

 

Maybe I missed it but exactly what is an embarassment to the Ed Dept. in Madison County. Not trying to start anything, just need it clarified. Thanks.

[Baldcoach]

And the difference is?

 

The difference is that scholarships are money that isn't paid back and can be offered for any reason by the school. Need based financial aid may or may not be paid back but is only offered to families who are declared in need of help by an agency not associated with the school.

 

In other words, they aren't the same in any way. Scholarships are not legal for TSSAA members...need based aid is legal for varsity athletes if a school is in DII.