Imagine

[rollredroll]

My info on St. X came straight from the KHSAA web site, I could have read it wrong however, I will check it again and correct myself when I have time.

 

Some of you are very sensitive on this issue, and don't know me and the way I look at things. Therefore: I don't mean to offend so I will stop posting.

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Regarding St. X, keep in mind that single-sex schools have their enrollment numbers doubled. Therefore, you have to take the number you see and divide by two to get the true number of boys.

 

Regarding sensitivity, I think one has to realize that everything is not as it appears, and often times one has to dig deeper to get the full story. Private schools have advantages over public schools, and public schools have advantages over private schools. Some public schools have advantages over other, similarly-sized public schools, too.

[bkelly]

Youre exactly right. They double the enrollment. St. X is currently at 1414. KHSAA use the state BOE figures, and the state doubles the number for their purposes.

Edited October 5, 2004 by bkelly

[Generally Speaking]

Whether they double the number or not isn't really relevant at schools like Trinity or St. Xavier. The state of Kentucky's football classes are determined by the enrollment of all the approximately 217 member schools. They are then divided into classes based on size with 25% of the schools in each class. For example:

 

Class A--Schools with ranked enrollment 163-217. 0-531 students on average.

Class 2A--Schools with ranked enrollment 109-162. 531-752 students on average.

Class 3A--Schools with ranked enrollment 55-162. 753-1040 students on average.

Class 4A--Schools with ranked enrollment 0-54. Over 1041 students on average.

 

With more than 1400 male students they would be 4A regardless.

 

I think under this scenario clearly size matters. They do have a larger pool

to choose from in all sports.

 

But they also have incredibly strong feeder programs. Louisville has a large

Catholic population. The grade schools and middle schools have kids playing earlier and longer than the programs that the public schools offer. This is an advantage that really goes beyond perceived recruiting issues. Yes they may identify certain non-Catholic athletes who can supplement their needs much like a college team, but the pool of players contributes to filling that need internally.

 

Certainly if the Catholic private schools in Kentucky did not recruit the buildings would be empty. There is no guaranteed population base to these schools. They have to put a quality academic program in place then convince people it is worth the significant amount of dollars required to enroll their children in that school.

[bkelly]

Wow! Excellent post. It all makes sense. Feeder programs is another factor that helps high school programs. Even smaller pools if developed earlier and in line with the high school programs can over come the numbers.

 

Once again, just some thoughts.