If you think a split would solve all the problems.

[itzme]

If you really think that everyone in the state would be happy, and all playing fields would be level if a 100% public/private split took place, take a look through this thread. I don't know the specifics or the merits of the claims, but a split wouldn't solve this! Where does it end?? FYI, the debate begins about halfway down the first page.

 

http://www.coacht.com/boards/thread.cfm?TID=22972

[Edited by itzme on 10-30-02 10:16A]

 

[gobigred]

That sort of says it all, itzme. The Maryville example is just one of several in the state that completely blow up th the "unfair playing field" for privates argument that split proponents love to use. If the total split happens, it will be interesting to see how the publics start hammering each other once their favorite whipping boy, private schools, are out of the picture.

 

I hope that all concerned remember that this whole mess was started a few years back by one of the biggest recruiting publics in the state.

[pujo]

It looks like both sides have advantages,but if you look at last years championships they all have one thing in commom,they are all able to get kids from outside their zones. Its just not ever going to be fair period. With this being said,I still believe its the small public 1a schools that are at the biggest disadvantage of everyone. When you get right down to it, it really don't matter who gets the gold ball,its about teaching our kids to be the best They as individuals can be. I'd like to say to every kid in the state, you go out there and give it 100 percent every week and then you are a champion.Even if you sit on the bench.We all get our talent from the good lord and if we do the most with what he has given us ,we are winners.

[Chakra20]

Private schools are not the only ones that can take athelets from outside their area and some school systems charge for kids togo to school there.

 

Another thing i read in that thread was they mentionned it as the best schools ystem in TN. I would proabably challenge that i dont htink anyone gets within 10 feet of Williamson County, the richest county in the state.

[BDURHAM]

Chakra:

 

Brentwood holds up with the other schools, but the other schools' test scores are not as strong. Maryville doesn't have as many private schools in the area as Williamson County does, right?

 

Personally, I don't think all of the Williamson County public schools compare to all of the public schools in Oak Ridge and Maryville, but that may change if you add all of the schools in Anderson and Blount counties.

 

Okay, I didn't make a lot of sense, but I don't think Williamson is as strong as some other counties from top to bottom in terms of test scores.

[VolunteerGeneral]

LOL!!!

 

Exactly the point that I have been trying to make. Magnet schools and schools with open zones like Maryville are no different from private schools in regards to not being tied in to a specific area. Yet I`m ridiculed by some low lifes on this board when I try to point out that if it`s unfair to 1A public schools, then it should also be unfair in other classes as well. Stan Trott says its all about fairness in competition and proper classification, yet I have never seen him complain about public schools with open zones. Or for that matter that old name calling Laz.

 

Yer old pal VG(who is stillf9d at the maryville thread)

[gobigred]

Posted by pujo:

When you get right down to it, it really don't matter who gets the gold ball,its about teaching our kids to be the best They as individuals can be. I'd like to say to every kid in the state, you go out there and give it 100 percent every week and then you are a champion.Even if you sit on the bench.We all get our talent from the good lord and if we do the most with what he has given us ,we are winners.

 

PUJO,

 

I have not agreed with you much on this board, but you deserve credit for what you have said here! High school athletics should never be only about winning a state championship. A championship is a goal to be strived for with the realization that it stands for the pinnacle of success not the singular measure of it. Imagine how empty 95% of our athletes would feel every year if a state championship was the only worthwhile measure of success for their efforts!

 

Successful programs in high school athletics should be measured in terms of how much a young person learns about the value of teamwork, building relationships, developing personal discipline, and realizing individual potential through diligence and hard work. Every athlete that participates at every school has the opportunity to benefit from the experience if they choose to do so.

 

Since we do keep score, the short term goal is certainly to win every game, and ultimately a championship. The long term goal, however, must always be to shape the lives of our young people in a way that gives them the best possible opportunity to become successful adults.

 

In life, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and very often the playing field is not quite fair. When our kids face the adversity and unfairness that life invariably brings, will they look back at their high school athletics experience for guidance and find that it taught them to give in and lower their standards, or did it teach them to work even harder no matter what the odds to reach their goals?

 

For all to remember when considering this issue,

 

Not failure, but low aim, is crime - James Russell Lowell