Stevens Point – Two measures that would have greatly altered the landscape of high school sports in the state failed to pass at the WIAA annual meeting Wednesday.
As a result, school enrollments will continue to be the sole factor when determining a school’s divisional placement in the WIAA tournament series.
The proposal was to change the way they categorize schools into divisions for sports. Under the current rules, it is simple: divisions are determined by enrollment. That way big schools compete against big schools and small schools compete against small schools. The rationale is that the schools have a roughly equal number of athletes from which to draw.
The proposal was to count private schools’ enrollment higher by applying a multiplier. So a public school with 500 students would count as 500 kids, but a private school with 500 students would count as 650 kids (or whatever the multiplier was). This would force smaller, private schools into competing against larger, public schools. The rationale was that private schools were winning too much and somehow that was bad.
So… I’m glad that they kept the rule the same. It didn’t make any sense to calculate an arbitrary enrollment solely for the purpose of creating a disadvantage for private schools.
Owen,
Are you biased to the private schools? I’ve seen smaller private schools recruit athletes and give “scholarships” even on the high school level. I’m not saying that the fix that is proposed is the right one, but It’s not just to punish the private schools for winning too much
Here in VT the Catholic high schools have always punched above their weight even without “scholarships”. More like a long & proud tradition that brings kids in on its own.
Basing it solely on enrollment is something that needs to be fixed. Problem is nobody can really agree on how to do it. A 500 student school in a small town and a 500 student school in a big city are not remotely comparable just because of they have the same number of students. Let’s ignore the finances & facilities. The ability to select students tilts the playing field sometimes dramatically. Recruiting absolutely does. As does the drawing area. Finally, there are the disabled/special needs students that public schools have a legal responsibility to educate and private schools don’t. Those kids aren’t competing in the competitive varsity sports in question.
Personally, I think the solution is what non-school sports often use – or at least that should form the basis for determining division. For example, American Legion Baseball since that’s comparable to varsity level. Each player you have adds their school/district’s enrollment to your count. So if your basketball team has kids who reside in 3 different school districts, your count is the total of those three districts.
Private schools need a multiplier
Or some way to offset recruiting advantages that are obvious and reflect in the scores
Basketball is the most obvious
My catholic HS plays up a level in all sports in indiana and 2 levels up this year in football due to its dominance in the last 5 years .
No one bitches about it . It’s a badge of honor
You should play at your talent level not hide behind the number of students you pick and choose
In the last decade – St Kate of Racine won the state by 20 , dropped a level and won the next year by 40
KML is a powerhouse in sports . They should play a level up