Poll of all Polls....Public v. Private
- Thread starter you_dont_know_me
- Start date
I’m obviously biased against the system. Those of you voting that it is equitable from public schools, what size are you? Big school or small school?
Think this is very tough problem. You have the big private schools like Chaminade & CBC who definitely does recruit athletes. Two players who I coached in grade school public school teams went to one of these schools and graduated recently without paying. Then you have the small schools that don't recruit and can barely put teams together.
You also have schools that are now recruiting elite trainers as coaches. The trainers are then bringing in their best athletes that train with them and getting them free tuition so they can have a good team. Just look at some of the private school coaches in the area and who the schools have hired in the past 4 or 5 years as coaches. Where my son used to go the athletic program put all the money into the football program hiring a top RB trainer. He got 10 or 15 kids to come with him and they became good at football but then the school did not have the money to hire a competent coach in basketball and kids who played basketball suffered with a part time coach. There is no way the basketball program could compete with larger schools but the football program should not compete with schools their own size as it is unfair.
And I'm sure there are still schools that don't recruit players. Why should they pay the price for the schools that do?
You also have schools that are now recruiting elite trainers as coaches. The trainers are then bringing in their best athletes that train with them and getting them free tuition so they can have a good team. Just look at some of the private school coaches in the area and who the schools have hired in the past 4 or 5 years as coaches. Where my son used to go the athletic program put all the money into the football program hiring a top RB trainer. He got 10 or 15 kids to come with him and they became good at football but then the school did not have the money to hire a competent coach in basketball and kids who played basketball suffered with a part time coach. There is no way the basketball program could compete with larger schools but the football program should not compete with schools their own size as it is unfair.
And I'm sure there are still schools that don't recruit players. Why should they pay the price for the schools that do?
You also have the issue with small private schools not in Kansas City or St. Louis. They are in a totally different situation than the St. Louis and Kansas City schools. I think the current rules balance those. Also, the biggest issue is recruiting which can happen in public schools also, so if there is reform, it needs to be in recruiting rules, not in public vs. private.
I believe some small privates recruit for some sports and not for others. Well, I know they do, but nothing ever comes of it when it is investigated. MSHSAA has been sued a few times and lost. They are like the NCAA, unless the FBI nails something to a school, they aren't going to investigate too well.
I'm in the camp that firmly believes that the private schools can play publics in regular season if they both agree, but they need their own state tournament.
I'm in the camp that firmly believes that the private schools can play publics in regular season if they both agree, but they need their own state tournament.
I think of schools like Valle Catholic and St. Vincent. I have no doubt that Valle does NOT recruit. Most of the students who attend there have gone to parochial schools since kindergarten and their parents attended Valle. Having said that, Valle still has the benefit of playing in a class 1 football district while drawing from a class 3 or class 4 population. This does have benefits. Thayer for example has a much smaller population townwise to draw from than Valle does. Just my two cents.
Last edited:
Burn their tails, bar them from playing in the state tournament for 2 years, kids involved ineligible for a full calendar year.
Looks like you were right on Majost...majority thinks the system is equitable....oh, no they don't.
I'm unaware of any public schools hosting 8th graders for "visits" with a student host during a game day.
that being said, if there is a violation...i'm good with postseason ineligibility, etc. FOR EVERYONE.
Class 3 public school. Facing private schools every year in districts in basketball. I know that private schools offer "scholarships" to premier athletes. We have had players receive those offers. This is all an easy fix with one simple change in the laws. Open the borders for all schools.
Either that, or it would really level the playing field. The basketball might not be the best quality though.
I've been sick of the private privilege since the early eighties. It has not improved one iota. They need their own post season tournament because nothing will change under the current system. MSHSAA is nothing but a figure head and attempting to be a mini NCAA money making organization.
I don't think it would be the death of small schools. We are a class 3 rural school and we watch class 1 and 2 schools that we play every year in our conference compete and win districts. 2 smaller schools that we play yearly are in the final 4. We have been bounced 4 out of the last 5 years by a private school. 3 of the last 5 years by the state champs Cardinal Ritter, Father Tolton and Acadamy. We almost always have 2 privates in our district. The advantage of opening borders is simple. If a school wants to be successful in a certain sport the school goes out and pays the money for a good coach. We have about 8 schools within a 30 minute drive that we could immediately pull from and those families wouldn't have to pack up and move, lie about addresses, or qualify for "scholarships". Word has it that next years Father Toltons freshman team will be made up of 4 or 5 public school kids from surrounding areas. They are already playing together in local tournaments in our area. A public school could compete if it could pull from other schools like that.
I am not necessarily in favor of open enrollment, separating privates and publics and actually enforcing the rules as they are in place would take care of the issue in my opinion.
Arkansas has open enrollment and a kid has to choose by their 10th grade year where they will go, after that any move has to be approved. I can't attest to how it works in the larger cities but in some areas it has actually worked both ways in that you have a few top kids going to bigger schools but you also have a lot of borderline kids or kids that aren't quite good enough to play at a large school that end up going to smaller schools where they have more opportunities.
Arkansas has open enrollment and a kid has to choose by their 10th grade year where they will go, after that any move has to be approved. I can't attest to how it works in the larger cities but in some areas it has actually worked both ways in that you have a few top kids going to bigger schools but you also have a lot of borderline kids or kids that aren't quite good enough to play at a large school that end up going to smaller schools where they have more opportunities.
Mostly in the cities, they load up talent, use fake addresses, bend the transfer rules. That seems to help. Guess they like competing with privates. That is rarely the case outside the cities. The schools outside are more likely to play the talent that grows up in their district. The law of averages is pretty much against them being able to contend with the AAU teams that represent the city schools.
Because they have a lot more people in the cities. Naturally they have more talent. Private schools hoop it up the same way, have for a long time. I know some coaches and have for a long time who lost players who would have been stars for them who took their talents to Chaminade, CBC, and others. In order to compete the publics have used the club thing where guys get together and form "all star" teams just like the privates. Most of the schools in the public sector do not have great coaches. Those who do draw the talent because they want to play for a coach who can put them into their dream school.
Big city as in Kansas City, St. Louis, and to a lesser extent Springfield.
