Promotion/relegation (or some form of that regarding regions or classification) would solve a lot of these competitive issues.
With such a system in place, it would ensure that there would be a more consistent level of competitive balance across regions/classifications. For every charter/private school, there are traditional public schools with ‘built-in advantages’ for certain sports (regardless of enrollment); for example, the presence of a strong club team in town, sport-specific classes, etc.
We already do this with our tournaments in this State: The Viking Cup is for the best girls teams in the state, and has been for some time. It’s a badge of honor to get invited, let alone compete for a bracket championship or tournament championship. Why not develop a similar system for region championships and/or playoffs, but based off of merit instead of simply student enrollment?
If this were the case, a lot of programs would find more success that they could normally. This would increase the popularity of the sport in rural areas, as well as giving student-athletes (who might not have the means to play club soccer) a way to compete for something meaningful, outside of a moral victory against a stronger team.
