Public VS Private

Here in Tennessee the some of the private schools play in the same division as the public schools (Division I) and some are in an all private school division (Division II). The schools in Division II are there because they offer financial aid where private schools that wanted to stay in Division I can not offer financial. There is a big push in the TSSAA (www.tssaa.org/) for putting all private schools in Division II in 2004 or 2005 reguardless of financial aid. The main reason being that in Tennessee private schools are in the playoff race every year in all classifications 1A-5A and in all sports. At least one private school is in the semi finals every year and sometimes 2 private schools end up playing in the finals. Because they have the bucks they can hire the coaches they want (and more of them), buy better equipment and have better facilities and because the kids going to private schools tend to be smarter and more motivated as a whole they have to be easier to teach. There is a hugh difference in the overall level of parent support and involvement at the private schools. it is a requirement at most of them! Here the private schools are the ones begining to dominate.

I came up through public schools and have been a believer in going to public schools in your local community. Being a coach (football, baseball and basketball) in youth sports for several years and close to the HS program I see alot of what the middle school age kids do and how they are growing up. If I can swing it my kids will be going to private schools too and my son is one of the all around atheletes that the local JH and HS coaches really want. They may not be my buddies anymore if I send my kids to a private school in our division but you do what is best for your kids. Unfortunately for the public schools they are losing more every year.

If SC is like Tennessee a private school could be a reall good job. The SC state HS athletic association has a web site like TN. I found it in a link from the TSSAA, all the state associations seem to be there www.nfhs.org/members.htm. Good Luck!

Thank's coaches for your input. I am sorry that In the Trenches had such a negative experience. Nobody needs to go through that.

Personally, I attended public school through 9th grade, and attended a private high school. I had good experiences at both. I have been working in the public schools for the past 7 years with good experiences. The school that I am looking at has VERY high academic standards, (average of 1,100 on the SAT by all grads over the past 3 years). I am fairly certain that I will not meet up with the same kinds of concerns that In the Trenches has had, based on the research that I have done. There could be other concerns though.

Any more input is still greatly appreciated!

Coach Teeter

PS: Thanks PirateCoach for the link!

As I said, Washington does not have separate leagues, and it seems to work fairly well. There is however some resentment. One of the biggest private schools is O'Dea, which has several D1 athletes year in and year out. They are in the 3A classification, (4A is the largest in WA). They are an all boys school. Their numbers place them in 3A. Realistically, I think that they should double their enrollment numbers when regarding classification. They do not. This gives them an enormous advantage, since they are drawing from twice the male population of other 3A schools. It seems that they almost always are in the semi-finals at least for all major sports.
Most private schools in WA are not like O'Dea, and are competitively balanced with the public schools.

Coaching at Redemptorist HS in Baton Rouge, a private Catholic school, I agree that in LA Private schools have been pretty darn successful over the past 15 years. We just won the 3A Championship following our district rival Parkview Baptist last year, and in 2000 we lost in the finals to another Private Catholic school, Notre Dame of Crowley. In football, private schools have a representative in nearly every final just about every year.
Do private schools have and advantage? Yes. Any student can be admitted to the school. However, the student if they wish to play sports has to sit out a calendar year if they do not live in the attendance zone designated for that school.
I do feel that the success of the these schools has risen the standard of Louisiana Football throughout each class. Coaches are working harder and players are more committed because they know they have to in order to win.
I don't know how it is in South Carolina, but if you are willing to put in the work to build a dominant program the sky is the limit at a private school.

Thanks Coach Campbell. I agree that the administration and support structure is critical. Thanks again for everyone's input.

Coach Teeter