When my kids were in school I watched St. Paul's squads line up against schools (some of whom are now 6A, like Vigor, Saraland and Spanish Fort) - and in a LOT of those games they looked like a JV team lining up against Seniors. Sometimes almost every kid on an opponent's OL And DL were half-a-head (or more) taller than the SPS kid they were lining up against.
Dude, you make it sound like St. Paul's is some tiny private school that can't compete.
Rural schools might not do it much, but that's only because the pickings are slim and resources are very limited. Your original statement indicated only private schools do it. That's just not true.
You are right, there are MANY public schools that recruit too.
There is no way to level the playing field without forcing private schools into a different championship division. Penalizing them for winning is not the answer.
The rule counts points over 3 years, it forces the private schools to play up if they are "dominating" a lower division. I think it is a good rule.
There is a way to level the playing field and they just did.
Agreed.
From what I understand, the AISA schools are a lot different than the privates in the AHSAA.
They are. A lot of the AISA schools are sure enough strapped for cash. A lot of the privates in the AHSAA are pretty well off. Not all mind you, but the majority are not hurting.
Let me ask this question. Is it the private schools fault that a much higher % of their students go out for athletics and can maintain good grades to play vs the much larger public schools who has hundreds of kids that dont focus on grades, dont give a flip about sports or would rather hang out after school in a pool hall or playing video games?
Dont blame the private schools for the overall decline of respect, work ethic, ambition and motivation that exists in many public schools today. Blame the public schools parents and families. Not the private school. If the public school got the same ratio of kids in the school to get off their lazy tails and play sports this would not even be an issue.
It has NOTHING to do with work ethic. This has to do with private schools DOMINATING certain sports. I will show some examples later.
It’s not penalizing them for winning it’s forcing them to win a title with equal competition.
Yep it's forcing them to go up only in certain sports and only if they are dominating. People act like if St. Paul's wins one title that they are moving up and it doesn't work that way. If you build up a certain amount of points in one class over 3 years, then you're moving up. If a school is moving up then that means they are dominating and there should be punishment for it. Like it has been mentioned, schools like St. Paul's can recruit and get almost any top athlete from the area and in the meantime that player left a public school and was probably their only great player and now won't win 3 games while St. Paul's wins the division. This is why the privates are being penalized.
I agree with segregating - creating a different playoff division. A lot of states do this. Alabama seems to be half-in on this.
No the private schools can leave the AHSAA any time they want to and play in the AISA which is nothing but private schools. They choose to play in the AHSAA because they know they can compete in EVERY sport.
Are you saying that there are still private schools in the South dedicated to segregation?
You bet your "you know what" there are. The AISA and the majority of their schools were formed in 1969-1970 which was the same years we de-segregated. The AISA schools can deny enrollment to any kid for a list of reasons if they want to. That's why they have NOTHING to do with the AHSAA.
Does anyone know how many private school players are on the rosters at Alabama and Auburn? I know McCarron and Casher played at St. Pauls.
Alabama has 99 kids listed on their roster and Brandon Kennedy has not been taken off yet. But counting everyone, Bama has around 25 private school kids. The barn lists 92 kids, and has about 17 roughly.
What about public schools that recruit? Mtn Brook has won multiple basketball titles lately with kids that left their school to play at Mtn Brook. Happens in other sports and other schools. Why punish all private schools and all sports at those private schools?
The rule doesn't punish all sports at the private schools. The rule ONLY APPLIES to those sports they are dominating in and that's it. You could be 5A in football and 6A in baseball. This does not force private schools to move every sport up a class.
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All the percentages are titles since 2000 won by private schools. This is the main reason this went into effect, not anything football related.
Tennis-Girls 69.2%
Out of 78 total state titles, 54 have been won by private schools.
Golf-Boys 62.6%
Out of 99 total state titles, 62 have been won by private schools. UMS-Wright has 12 titles since 2000, St. Paul's has 11, while both are on 3-peats as we speak. Both have had 4-peats as well. Montgomery Academy had 9 of 10 at one point with 6 in a row. St. Paul's also had 8 of 13 titles at one point as well.
Tennis-Boys 52.6%
Out of 76 total state titles, 40 have been won by private schools. No public school has won a title in 1A-4A since Cherokee County won 4A in 1999.
Soccer-Boys 50.8%
Out of 61 total state titles, 31 have been won by private schools. Randolph has 8 state titles since 2000 and have also won back to back titles. John Carroll-Catholic also won 4 of 5 at one point since 2000.
Outdoor Track-Girls 50%
Out of 118 total state titles, 59 have been won by private schools. Whitesburg Christian currently has won the last 4 state titles in a row. Altamont won 8 in a row at one point. St. Paul's has 12 state titles since 2000 with winning 8 in a row at one point.
Volleyball 50%
Out of 112 total state titles, 56 have been won by private schools. McGill-Toolen won 5 of 6 at one point and are defending champs now. Bayside Academy has won 17 of the last 18 titles including 16 in a row between 2A and 3A.
Soccer-Girls 50%
Out of 60 total state titles, 30 have been won by private schools. John Carroll-Catholic has won 4 of the last 5 titles, Montgomery Academy has won 7 overall since 2000 with a current streak of back to back titles.
Indoor Track-Girls 49%
Out of 49 total state titles, 24 have been won by private schools. St. Paul's has won the last 9 state titles in 4A-5A and 5A. Altamont had 5 in a row at one point, and American Christian is on a current 4-peat run in 1A-3A.
Cross Country-Boys 43.8%
Out of 89 total state titles, 39 private schools won titles. American Christian currently has a 4 in a row streak. Westminster Christian-Oak Mountain has back to back titles currently. UMS-Wright had 4 in a row at one point. Shades Mountain Christian had 3 in a row. Montgomery Academy had 3 in a row. Randolph had 9 in a row at one point.
Cross Country-Girls 41.6%
Out of 89 total state titles, 37 titles have went to private schools. Westminster Christian-Oak Mountain has a current 3 year title streak in 1A/2A. Randolph has 3 in a row in 4A. UMS-Wright had 7 out of 10 4A titles including five in a row at one point. Altamont won 3 in a row in 1A/2A. American Christian had 5 in a row in 1A/2A.
Swimming & Diving-Girls 31.8%
Out of 22 total state titles, 7 have been won by private schools. Westminster Christian has won back to back titles in 1A-5A.
Baseball 29.7%
This is why the rule was put in place. Out of 118 possible schools since 2000, privates won 35 baseball titles. American Christian alone has won 5 titles since 2000 including 3 in a row and the second run was 2 out of 3. Shoals Christian has won 4 titles including 3 in a row since 2000. Mobile Christian has won 3 of the last 4 with two in a row in 2A and the last in 3A this year and that's just back to 2015.
Indoor Track-Boys 28.6%
Out of 49 total state titles, 14 have been won by private schools. American Christian has won the last two 1A-3A titles. UMS-Wright won 5 of 6 at one point and has 6 overall titles since 2000.
Outdoor Track-Boys 28%
Out of 118 total state titles, 33 have been won by private schools. American Christian is on a back to back title streak as is Westminster-Oak Mountain. UMS-Wright has won 14 state titles since 2000 with 8 being all in a row. St. Paul's has 8 titles since 2000 with 7 being in a row.
Swimming & Diving-Boys 22.7%
Out of 22 total state titles, 5 have been won by private schools. St. Paul's have won the last 4 in a row in 1A-5A.
Softball 17.4%
Out of 115 total state titles, 20 have been won by private schools. Alabama Christian leads the way with 6 since 2000.
Golf-Girls 16.2%
Out of 37 total state titles, 6 have been won by private schools. Providence Christian is currently back to back champs in 1A-3A.
Football 15.1%
Out of 119 total state titles, 18 private schools have won titles. St. Paul's and UMS-Wright are on back to back streaks right now. St. Paul's have also won 4 out of the last 5 titles. Madison Academy had 3 in a row. UMS-Wright has won 7 titles since 2000 and St. Paul's have won 5 since 2000. Yet the original poster would have you think St. Paul's are just a bunch of small kids who were getting slaughtered by bigger schools.
Basketball-Boys 14.4%
17 total private school wins since 2000. St. Jude has won 2 out of 3 years in 1A and then back to back again in 13 and 14 for a total of 4, Madison Academy had 3 in a row ending in 2008 and then 3 out of 5 ending in 2015 with 6 total since 2000. Sacred Heart of Anniston has won the last FOUR state titles in 1A. A public school has NOT won a 1A title in boys basketball since 2012.
Basketball-Girls 4.2%
Only 5 private school titles since 2000. Of those, 4A Madison Academy has a current back to back state title streak.
Wrestling 0%
Out of 57 chances, no private school has won a Wrestling state title.
Bowling-Girls 0%
Out of 8 years, nothing but public schools have won titles.
Bowling-Boys 0%
Only 2 years of awarding titles and both belong to a public school.
