After sidetracking this thread with a post on 11/14 I'll come back in for at least one more comment. I mostly follow girls' HS soccer but the specific example of BE's successes (both girls and boys) made me wonder if there was any resentment by the other 2A schools over the success of a private school that has more liberties in it's player selection than the public schools do. From the tone and the number of posts that is the case at least for some. Coach Hamil, who knows 2A soccer, made the point I was trying to make succinctly with the following: "Their primary advantage is not that they actively recruit players like a college team, but rather there are very loose attendance area restrictions so they can draw players from a far larger area than a public school their size." Upscale private schools just simply compete "bigger" than their enrollment numbers suggest, and the SCHSL uses enrollment numbers exclusively to determine level of competition. Dexter's point that the private schools get trounced in certain sports while excelling in others is well taken. For stability's sake keeping the SCHSL's 1-4A rules gives workable schedules within regions. For the sake of fair competition a BE could well be moved up to 3A. BE, 2A, and 3A schools would benefit from this in my opinion.

lpaf