Friday, Jan. 25, 2013 will go down as the death of Louisiana High School Athletics.
The decision by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association to effectively decimate more than 90 years of high school football tradition is the final drop in the watering down of athletic competition.
Principal Jane Griffin of Winnfield High School drove legislation that forces private schools to compete in a separate playoff along with other admission-based schools like charter and magnet programs effective next fall.
“This doesn’t take championships away from select schools,” Griffin said to The Advocate. “It just makes my kids and other kids at public schools know they’ve got a chance. Every kid should believe they can be a champion. That can’t happen the way things are. Things are not fair and equitable.”
It’s also worth noting that Winnfield was on the losing end of the 2011 state championship football game against private school John Curtis.
LHSAA member-school principals voted Friday 206-119 to have five football championships for the 242 public schools – the same as it’s always been – while the 120 to 140 “select” schools will be forced to play in two separate football divisions.
The decision will keep the regular season untouched as to preserve traditional district rivalries but will take effect in the playoffs.
The legislation is a drastic overreaction to two schools: John Curtis and Evangel.
Through the past 20 years, in divisions 1-5A, private schools account for 49 state championships to the public schools’ 51 – just about as even as it can be. But of those 49 titles, Curtis and Evangel hold 27 of them. That’s a quarter of all championships won in that time span.
It’s no secret these schools recruit and anyone who is surprised that they are football powerhouses every year should pad all the corners in their house. Curtis and Evangel have 5A talent but are forced to play in the weaker 2A division due to attendance.
Curtis has been to the state championship game every year for the past 20 years sans one – 2A from 2005 to 2012 and 4A from 1993 to 2004, missing only 1995.
This is comparable to sending the Yankees to play in single A minor leagues. The best teams need to be in the best league.
Private school “recruiting” is the driving force behind the decision. Don’t get me wrong; recruiting does exist in private schools. But for most schools, it’s limited to a handful of athletes and is under the guise of giving an academic scholarship to someone who couldn’t otherwise afford it. This is especially popular in a number of catholic schools that populate the New Orleans metro area.
But in the state’s most powerful division – 5A high school football – only five times has a private school won a state championship in the 22 years the division has existed, four of which were more Evangel titles.
The fact of the matter is public schools compete just fine with private schools.
Most big-time Louisiana recruits come out of the public school system from schools like West Monroe, Acadiana and Destrehan.
Having two separate playoffs tarnishes the value of the champion and will devalue the smaller private school athletic programs completely.
To be the best you have to beat the best. Watering down the league and making it to where everyone gets a little participation trophy is robbing Louisianans of a true champion.
Every student deserves the right to play, not the right to be a champion. That’s the opposite of what being a champion means.
But don’t worry; Griffin has a foolproof plan for when her legislation inevitably fails. She claims she will “lead the charge” back to the old way if this system doesn’t work out.
The most ironic part of the whole ordeal? The last true Louisiana 5A football state champion: Archbishop Rummel High School; a private Catholic school.
