With private schools filling seven of the eight slots in the Class A, 2A, 3A and 4A state football championships — and repeat champions winning all four of those titles — the anti-private school crowd is howling. Again.
This debate has been going on for years, and for the most part, I’ve disagreed with those who think that “something needs to be done” about private school dominance of the smaller classes, particularly in football. We are constantly bombarded with the allegations of private school athletic recruiting — and sure, it happens, but it also happens among public schools.
I’ve always felt that the bottom line — and I am a public-school grad — is that a lot of people just didn’t like the fact that some of these private schools had built terrific programs and won a lot of championships. And I’ve always said that if you don’t like losing to these teams, then stop griping and figure out how to beat them.
That said, when four of your five state football champions are the same this year as they were last year — and some of them have won three straight titles — one begins to consider that perhaps it wouldn’t be tragic if these schools could move up into a higher class.
Usually, the anti-private school crowd recommends one of two solutions: a “multiplier,” which would count students at private schools as the equivalent of 1.5 students in public schools, and a separate tournament for private schools only.
Both of these ideas — with all due respect to their proponents — are stupid, and either idea would get the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) sued. They are both fundamentally discriminatory, and you can rest assured that if the IHSAA attempted to implement either solution, every religious school in the state would file a religious-discrimination lawsuit. It happened recently in Tennessee, and the religious schools won. And rightly so.
The multiplier for private schools, in addition to being obviously discriminatory, also would do a disservice to schools like Bishop Noll, whose woeful football program over the last couple decades obviously has not been helped by the school’s private status.
In addition, the separate tournament for private schools wouldn’t work because there aren’t enough private schools in the state to make it work. There are about two dozen football-playing private schools in Indiana, which means the private-school tournament would be two rounds shorter than the others. A private-school class in other sports would be similarly shorthanded.
And finally, neither solution addresses the issue of charter schools.
Enter IHSAA commissioner Bobby Cox, who has a solution. And, although this is admittedly unusual for the IHSAA, the proposed solution, as detailed in the Indianapolis Star, is a good one.
Cox’s idea is simple. Any team that makes it to the state finals two straight years and wins the championship at least once would move up one class in that sport in the following realignment. This covers public, private and charter schools alike, thereby avoiding nettlesome discrimination litigation.
It’s a good idea, and it’s fair. Let’s face it, if you are dominating your class in a particular sport (as perennial champions Lafayette Central Catholic, Fort Wayne Luers, Indianapolis Chatard and Indianapolis Cathedral are doing in football, and as Marquette Catholic and Muncie Burris have done in volleyball), you’re not getting any worthwhile competition in the playoffs. Where is the accomplishment in destroying teams that clearly aren’t on your level, year after year after year? Does anyone think Central Catholic couldn’t compete in 2A — or Luers in 3A, or Chatard in 4A, or Cathedral in 5A? In 2009, which concluded with Warren Central beating Carmel for the 5A title, Cathedral opened the year by beating both teams, back-to-back.
Not only would the Cox solution provide better competition for the perennial winners, it would also open things up for other schools in their respective classes.
Commissioner Cox’s idea is a good one. Let’s hope the IHSAA gives it serious consideration.
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