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Good article on a very sore subject. I personally believe there are some clear advantages for the charter/magnet/private schools who are in smaller classifications (stats prove a clear lopsided result in favor of these schools against the traditional public schools), but I don't know if I'd be in favor of them having their own playoff. There's no clear way that will appease the masses or even the majority.


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It really depends on the sport. Not that Wando is a football powerhouse but they would destroy OCA or any other local prep football squad here in Charleston. Not to mention true big 5A heavyweights FD and Dutch Fork could probably use their JV squads to handle BE or Magnet. Florida and CA prep schools are a completely different story as most of those schools recruit and offer scholarship packages and job placement for families to relocate from around the country. As for soccer, it’s debatable on strength. I’m sure Coach Allister is confident his girls team could beat any 5A program in the area, the reality of that though may not be in his favor, who knows?

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It's a really interesting topic, and there is an pretty simple solution to the problem as well (which will keep the SCHSL from ever solving it): classify schools based on the number of athletes at that school.

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Originally Posted By: T. Robinson
It's a really interesting topic, and there is an pretty simple solution to the problem as well (which will keep the SCHSL from ever solving it): classify schools based on the number of athletes at that school.


What if the school has an abnormally large wrestling or cheer program? How do those athletes affect football classification or soccer for that matter?


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More accurately than a general student population count. And let's be honest - football programs have the most student-athletes than any other sport. Track might give them a go at some schools, but mainly football.

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There are a lot of answers; none of which are perfect. Number of athletes can be manipulated (number of team members vs number of student participants {people playing 2 or more sports})and in some cases it still won't matter. Oak Hill Academy in VA has 150 total students, but also had Rajon Rondo, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley and Josh Smith.

Why not just have all non-traditional schools moved to the SCISA? Cardinal Newman has done amazingly well there. Where did Zion Williamson go??? Turned out pretty well going to a SCISA school, which requires their students to play at least 1 sport and sounds a lot like some of these schools. It would be simple to have ALL non-traditional schools with no attendance boundaries play SCISA. They could still play any SC high school in the regular season.


An attendance multiplier won't necessarily work (see Oak Hill, Spartanburg Day, SVSM, etc) if all of your 600 students were recruited for playing athletics.


These school will sue, because in the end, they need to play in the SCHSL to win state titles to continue to be able to recruit away from the public high schools and make money. Schools like Bishop England, Academic Magnet, etc would also have to move. If you can say to a kid, "Come here, you will play 3A and win possibly 4-6 state titles which will help you get recruited to college..." Would you rather win state titles or not??? If you look at the modern NBA, you will see the answer.

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This is an age-old discussion that has significant relevance in the current environment of prep athletics. I believe everyone in this realm should do as much homework as possible and not let the rhetoric of today's society interfere with the arcane views of so many of the Palmetto State administrators and athletic directors.

Simply put, this is 2019, not 1979, and athletic departments are as large as they have ever been incorporating as many as 30 varsity sports under their umbrellas. Of course, this is a domino effect, because what might be popular in one geographic of the state is not prevalent in another. However, the day that "American football" rules is over. At least it should be. The sooner we see high schools move away from a football first mentality then the more prolific prep sports will remain (or even grow) because right now with all of the specialization of certain sports it has diminished the high school role. When prep coaches not involved with American football (of which I am a huge fan) demand equal pay, same off-season workouts, etc., then that overhaul will not be complete. That paradigm has gone the way of the Dodo Bird - it's just who is willing to stand up for split Athletic Director positions in this state? In fact, I would be all for an AD not having any coaching responsibilities, but realize that might be impossible in some rural areas.

States Continue to Address Competitive Balance of Schools

I would be for this form of promotion/relegation for each sport.

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Cox and the IHSAA are among the states to stray from multipliers, instead opting to author the success factor. In Indiana, the success factor, also known as Rule 2-5 of the IHSAA bylaws, states that if a school in any classification reaches six points or greater during the previous reclassification period (two-year cycle) in a specific sport’s tournament series, the school will be promoted to the next available higher enrollment class for the next reclassification period. Schools earn one point for a sectional championship, two points for a regional championship, three points for a semi-state championship and four points for a state championship.

I highly encourage you to scour the internet at how other states have addressed this issue. Personally, I wish the SCHSL, SCISA, and Independents were all combined and we would crown a true champion across the board instead of the multiple winners at each classification or level. I don't really care if a private school can attract students from a broad region due to its religious affiliation. I also don't really care that a mega high school in an ultra progressive and middle class and above area is better in some sports due to its' clientele. But, I do believe the time has come for promotion and relegation to exist in the American sports culture and what better place to introduce it than in the high school ranks.

Perhaps start with sports other than football, but definitely include that sport in the near future (i.e., after four years of displaying the merits in other sports).

Let's face it, all athletics no matter what level or particular sport are privy to the "have's" and the "have nots". It's just a fact. Take a look at the NFL, NBA, MLB, College Football, College Soccer, College Baseball, etc. Basically, it is the same teams historically and then periodically that are good in that realm

Oh well, enough from me but read up, study, and interject! Do not let this be a conversation for a select few to discuss!

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I agree with you completely that the days of football first are on their way out. Promotion/relegation would be ideal, but...
Asking for ADs that won't get rid of an archaic region system in favor of regional conferences for travel/competition, letting everyone into the state tournament in non-football team sports, eliminate PKs and end in ties (like every soccer league in the world); are never going to be willing to keep track of promotion/relegation in 25+ sports.

Many states have a multiplier, separate tournaments or in Indiana a promotion/relegation. Indiana was the last state to have 1 state title in every sport regardless of size (the movie Hoosiers was based off the real life Milan HS in Indiana).


But, I will respectfully disagree on one point... There are haves and have-not in professional/college sports. The difference is, they all play by the same rules. The same salary cap, the same amount of scholarships, the same free agency rules; within each individual sports league. At the high school level, traditional public schools are restricted by boundaries while non-traditional schools can recruit from anywhere. That is not a level playing field. If a person was the head coach at a non-traditional school and was the head coach for U13/U14 ENCL teams, they are completely able to recruit every one of those players to come play for them for free. What 3A public school in the state could compete with that? I'm not sure, but if we went sport by sport and totaled up the state championships; that non-traditional schools may be dominating at the smaller levels (3A and lower).

Non-traditional schools absolutely have a place in our educational system, but to say that the ability to recruit doesn't drastically enhance sports programs is not fair.

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I would love for SC Soccer to have a promotion/relegation system, but I don't see that happening in my lifetime as too many schools are still stuck in the 70s with their thinking regarding the athletic programs.

Any decision that they reach regarding the non-traditional schools playing in the SCHSL is going to get a ton of blowback because there isn't really a "fair" way, just adjustments that will hopefully help balance things across the board.

If a school can recruit students that are not zoned for that school, then surely they shouldn't be in the same class as schools just because of attendance figures. We have more than enough proof that it's not a fair playing field


Misael Garzon
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