Level the playing field in HS athletics
- Thread starter mb7299
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In 2015 Dav, Assumption won the 3A title, IC Regina was the runner up in 2A, and Newman Catholic won the 1A title. Bishop Heelan and Remsen St. Mary's also qualified, a few more than the 3 you said.https://www.iahsbb.com/
Mtown did say in Iowa. I'm pretty sure harimad lives out of state and I believe she was referring to activity out of state.
2015 Championship games from the link you provided:
Class 1A Sat, August 1 Final Newman Catholic Pleasantville Story Box Play-by-Play
Class 2A Sat, August 1 Final Clear Lake Columbus Catholic Story Box Play-by-Play
Class 3A Sat, August 1 Final Waverly-Shell Rock Harlan Story Box Play-by-Play
Class 4A Sat, August 1 Final Iowa City West Southeast Polk Story Box Play-by-Play
The 3 private schools that qualified that year: Newman Catholic, Columbus Catholic, and Wahlert Catholic.
No Assumption, Regina, Heelan, or Remsen to be seen.
Edit: Looks like you listed the teams from last years state tournament, 2018.
Hey, you are right, I did list 2018, in 2015 private schools only had one winner and one runner up. Poor year for the private schools I would say.
I think Newman has jumped between 1A and 2A in baseball in the past 10-15 years and it hasn't made a lick of difference...turns out they're just a really, really good baseball program.
Taking s/e factors into play a poor district like Marshalltown plays down a level for soccer so they can be competitive... oh wait they already are more than competitive in soccer.
The current model is not perfect, but this line of thinking is flawed. The entire idea's premise is removing competition not creating it. The idea is not leveling the playing field it's leveling the results.
Any new set of rules or exception will be met with a new wave of school supporters to continue to help the "privileged" schools. It may look different, sound different or smell different but after a year or two the results will be the same.
The current model is not perfect, but this line of thinking is flawed. The entire idea's premise is removing competition not creating it. The idea is not leveling the playing field it's leveling the results.
Any new set of rules or exception will be met with a new wave of school supporters to continue to help the "privileged" schools. It may look different, sound different or smell different but after a year or two the results will be the same.
I respect and understand what you're saying but disagree. The results wouldn't be the same, there would be different teams winning. Teams like Xavier and Dubuque Wahlert dropped down to 3A not too long ago and since then, have been doing tremendous in sports like basketball and football. Kids around those areas have flocked to those schools because of the success. They weren't necessarily recruited by any means, but kids talk with other kids and friends of theirs and joining up and competing for a possible shot at a title sounds great! If they can do it why wouldn't they? My senior year of high school in 3A, the baseball, basketball and football state champions were all private schools. That's not a coincidence. Now, I personally didn't care because we had our fair share of beating some of those schools and even won a title, but it's definitely an issue that should at least be discussed.
More thoughts on this topic brought up by DM Register: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...dan-sabers-dmps-des-moines-public/1619000001/
Most of the article is on socioeconomic ideas but I found this idea pretty interesting:
Most of the article is on socioeconomic ideas but I found this idea pretty interesting:
- A location within 15 miles of a 6A or 5A school.
- The smaller schools outside of larger schools that are well to do money wise (thinking especially of Cedar Falls area, where most of the schools around that area dominate at the state level in just about every sport).
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Just got an email from the Principal at my kids elementary school that DM Roosevelt is hosting a free, one-day football camp that will be led by Tavian Banks and Tim Dwight. I don't have any other details then that, but I may bring the kids to go check it out. These are the type of events that I hope continue in Des Moines in order to get more support around DM football and maybe eventually field more competitive football teams. I also hope to see some former Cyclones get involved too.
Mitchell Myers, former ISU staff member and current HS coach: “Go up to Iowa State and look at the socioeconomic backgrounds of that roster. Those kids are from all over the country, and I’ll bet a good amount qualified for free and reduced lunch. Does that mean they don’t have discipline? That they’re not smart? That they don’t know how to be on time? No. Those traits don’t depend on whether you’re rich or poor. Those are taught.
What you are saying is true, I see it all the time with kids here in rural Iowa. We have a lot of kids out there, being raised in one parent families that are not being taught discipline, because their parents have none.
That is why character becomes as important as athletic skill sometimes when looking at a perspective player. But at ISU we were so poor that character was sometimes over looked to bring in a player that we needed to just stay competitive.
Remember the BB gun issue a few years ago, kids making a poor choice does not make them a bad kid. But a good kid would not have put himself in that position and just said NO. Those kids deserve a second chance, and got it, but another mess up like that and they should be out of the program.
The final straw for many people with Coach Mac, was he would not cut ties with Berryman, I get it, he was a great player, but when he got out of jail, Mac should have set him down, and just said "now Jason, we need to find you a program to continue your career, and we both know it will not be at ISU." Keeping him around and playing him, cost Mac a hell of a lot more than if he had just said "No", and not let him back in the program. Character counts, and I think the current staff is doing a lot better job of factoring that in when taking a kid, then past coaches did.
