With all four teams in the boys’ basketball Division III final four being private schools again, there has been discussion about there being a need for separate tournaments for public and private schools in Ohio.
I have always been against that philosophy and I continue to be so.
First of all if I am a player, coach or fan of any school, public or private, I want to say I can beat all of the teams in the state not just some of them. Maybe that is the competitor in me, but I don’t think I am much different than most people in that regard.
Secondly, if you spilt the tournaments, something some public school administrators, especially in Wayne County, are calling for you will force other changes to take place.
If all of the private schools are taken from the pool of schools, is there still a need for four divisions in basketball?
Probably not and that would force small public schools, such as Lucas for example, to be in the same division as lets say a Clear Fork or an Ontario. I think Lucas would rather compete against Mansfield St. Peter’s and Mansfield Christian.
Of course, there would be need to create divisions for the private schools too. There would probably only be two. So, St. Peter’s and Mansfield Christian competes in the same tournament against Cleveland Villa Angela/St. Joseph or Columbus Watterson. Good luck Spartans or Flames.
Thirdly, I have heard that if there was a spilt of the tournaments that many of the private schools, certainly the larger ones, would leave the OHSAA altogether.
Having said that I am against splitting the tournaments, that doesn’t mean that I don’t believe there shouldn’t be substantial changes in the way that competition takes place among Ohio’s high schools.
First of all, I believe that recruiting probably does take place in Ohio. That issue has come up again during this year’s basketball tournaments.
Just a couple weeks ago after a regional game in Division II where Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, a private school, beat Poland Seminary, a public school, there was an exchange of comments to the media between the two coaches after the game.
Poland coach Ken Grisdale made statements to the media that implied St. Vincent-St. Mary coach Dru Joyce had recruited players to his squad. Grisdale further asserted that a change is to the system is needed.
Joyce further addressed those comments to media members via teleconference, defending the makeup of his team. He specifically said two players had been born in Ohio, spent significant time in Ohio and, though they had lived out of state, had good reason for being on the team.
St. Vincent-St. Mary Athletic Director Andy Jalwan further stated, “St. Vincent-St. Mary High School is a member school of the OHSAA in good standing. We abide by all the rules and regulations set forth by the association and commend their efforts to address competitive balance. We support the referendum that is up for vote this May and pledge to continue to support the OHSAA and the competitive balance committee on any future efforts to improve interscholastic athletics in Ohio.”
I am not worried so much about what cheers are permitted, what color of headbands are worn, and if shirts are tucked in or not, but I am concerned there be fair competition among OHSAA member schools. The transfer of players to compete whether it be from a private school to a public one, the other way around, or between public schools, is the biggest problem.
Recruiting kids playing for other schools is wrong no matter who is doing it. St. Vincent/St. Mary does have a number of kids on their roster, some from out of state, that are not from Akron. I’m pretty sure they didn’t just come there on there own. I believe wherever you are the first day of your freshmen year, that’s where you stay, period.
Let me, however, separate the difference between a Lakewood St. Edward or Cincinnati Moeller and Mansfield St. Peter’s. I think that St. Peter’s should be able to continue to accept students, although I still contend it should be before they become freshmen, and from other elementary/junior highs in their diocese, which would include Ashland and Crawford counties. Many big private schools believe their “district” is the entire state and more, which it is not.
Another thing, the policy of many large public school districts, Columbus and Toledo come to mind, is to allow inter-district open enrollment, which permits some schools, Columbus Northland for boys and Toledo Rogers for girls, to name two, to create city wide all-star teams, and that’s not right either.
Come on, let’s make it fair for everyone.
After years of toil and sweat behind radio station microphones, longtime broadcaster, Jeff Swank joined the new generation of sports followers on the web.
Swank launched his internet radio station with nothing more than some wire, a box with some knobs and switches, and an itch to do much more than just scratch the surface of everything sports.
Richland Source is proud to introduce Jeff as a writer focused on high school sports. He will contribute a weekly column and analysis of a featured game of the week from one of our area high schools.
In addition to his work at Richland Source, Jeff provides complete high school sports coverage for over 70 Ohio schools at his web site, http://www.swankonsports.net76.net/.
A different version of this article initially appeared on Richland Source. Upon review of the story, we felt that additional information about the exchange between two coaches would clarify and strengthen the story.
