Good.
Although some notable rule changes were approved, the main issue — the proposed “success factor” solution to competitive equity between state public and private schools — was the only one to be voted down, by a 221-198 margin.
[…]
During the 2014-15 school year, an ad hoc committee meeting in private session put forth a proposal for a “success factor” that was to have been enforced for seven team sports. It would have elevated a school’s program into a higher division in one particular sport, if that program reached a certain threshold of success over the previous three years of postseason play.
It is not sportsmanship to punish schools for being successful.
Many, many sports have mandatory moveups.
Cycling, squash, tennis, to name three.
Many sports have mandatory moveups.
Cycling, squash, tennis, to name three.
Having coached at a public school with two private schools in the conference, I have to say it is that the private schools usually had an advantage as they could “recruit” kids from outside the area, and offer tuition assistance (scholarships) to attract students.
No one was being punished for success, and no one is being punished for having an unfair advantage either.
I’m so old that I played HS Baseball, Basketball and Footbal in Indiana with one state champion with 600 schools participating in a sport
If you won a sectional championship, that was a huge deal ( see Hoosiers) and made your season
BTW Indiana has sectionals , regionals , semi state and state ( I still can figure out why Wisc plays regionals and then sectionals but that’s for a different day )
When Indiana went to divisions to make the smaller schools happy , they ran into the same issues Wisconsin has – how to factor in
Recruiting by private schools vs coaching the local kids who got off the bus .
Racine St Kate’s men Bball is an excellent example of the Dillema . They crushed the competition in D3 , then crushed the comp the next year in D2 when they got moved up
The school is small but the Racine area is huge in terms of the quality of kids they have to recruit
When they played a rural school from SW Wisconsin in as state tournament , the number of kids in the school lined up there was no way a competative game was in the offing
Schools with this advantage want to hang onto it for dear life . Schools without it say the system rewards some and punishes most
Once you step off the all schools compete for the same championship bus, fairness has to be part of the equation
In many cases it’s sport specific . Pius dominated girls basketball for years but got really tired of getting blown out in Football by Classic 8 teams. Their answer was to leave the Classic 8 for a much easier conference , the Woodland
Regionally distant conferences from metro area’s like Madison or MILWAUKEE don’t have that choice to make their competition “fair”
So, count me in as saying that these issues aren’t fixed properly and the lack of discussion before the vote says they won’t be addressed any time soon
And that’s a pity
Maybe we just need less emphasis on a school’s athletic success and more emphasis on it’s academic success. What does it say about us?
Can you even dream of this same issue in regard to “fairness” in the National HS Spelling Bee?
We as a culture put far too much emphasis on a school athletic program and far too little the academics which will serve the student far longer than the ability to hit fun thirty yards for a touchdown. Please do not think me anti-athletic, I am not. I love watching sports Maybe it is time to consider removing private and parochial schools from the WIAA and returning the way things were back in the 80’s.