I understand the concept. My question is why what has happened in Pa. hasn't occurred in Georgia. I'm not sure, but maybe it has to do with numbers. There are so many good athletes in Georgia that the private schools can't recruit all of them.
I just read that recruiting by public schools is forbidden. But I do believe some coaches find loopholes. Anyway, you are correct that there are few Catholic schools in Georgia. However, there are many non-Catholic private schools who do seem to place some prioty on sports, such as Blessed Trinity, St. Frances and Atanta Christian. I believe it's numbers more than anything else. There is such a plethora of talent in Georgia such that the private schools can't corner the market. I'm just looking at the talent of the local high schools. Each school seems to have 5, 6. 7 or more Division 1 commitments. Whereas in Pa. You may just have 1 or 2 or none. So much more talent here in Georgia.
Yeah, that’s it. Lol. I wonder how many of those athletes at the Catholic schools were actually brought up Catholic? Probably about the same amount of people wearing ND shirts and hats that actually went there.
I’ll give you part of it, public schools in Georgia are more likely to hire a person as a football coach first and give them a huge salary with very limited teaching requirements. Many times the football coach is the third or fourth highest paid in the entire district behind the superintendent and some principals.
No doubt about it that athletics sits high on rhe priority list in Georgia. Look at the stadiums and the fan support. Sometimes it can be over the top. There is an upside and downside to this of course. One upside is that many of these kids go onto pro careers snd many of them give back to their high schools and communities. I see that all the time here. And interesting is that not all the give back goes to athletics.
What’s the downside? They read at a 4th grade level since academics isn’t a priority?
I agree with most everything you said. The issue in PA is boundary schools vs non-boundary. When Prep can draw kids from all of SE PA and South Jersey, the best pubs can't match the talent. The Prep program sells itself. They play a national schedule to start the season, get on ESPN, and have great odds of playing for a state championship. That's pretty enticing. One would also have to be naive to think those players are paying full tuition.
Once upon a time, people associated with CB West did recruit but they did it sneakily through the Warrington Athletic Association, which was known as a hypercompetitive youth sports program back when I was walking barefoot to and from school uphill both ways in whiteout blizzards. The Pettines know football, but convincing families of better athletes to move into the CB school district was part of the plan. Not even a genius can win consistently over several decades without putting the horses out on the field.
Naturally some aspects of schools may not benefit. But generally the public schools in Atlanta suburbs are very good academically with SAT scores typically higher than the national average.
Can you list out the difference in funding outlays between a "normal" school and a sports-obsessed Georgia school, and then list out the "give backs" that have made up this funding difference? Thanks, my non-friend.
Hey now ... listen to our boy, Alpha ... he assures us that Billy Bob comes back to the school and establishes a Bully Boob Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good.
I don't have specific numbers. But here is just one example of giving back to the community.
www.kirbysmartfoundation.org
Not all of those paying customers would protest a star athlete being given a free ride. As a matter of fact, some of those parents would gladly pitch in to get the star athlete to come to that school. Years ago when I was in Western Pennsylvania, I know that happened at a few of the privates.
Yeah. BS. I guess those kids go there for football and the location and pay full tuition. Riiiiight.
Sure they have doners, but not at that level. LaSalle became relevant again because they brought back Brett Gordon to lead the program. In fact, LaSalle is most likely the second best team in the state. Also, this was supposed to be a down year for Prep, and they're marching to another state title.
Also, to your point, if LaSalle is the second best team in the state at 6A then it is supporting the idea that the PIAA should lump all the privates together for postseason play. This is what most have been advocating for years for, but the PIAA has turned a deaf ear to the idea.
Troy, PA won AA yesterday. This is basically a once in a 30 year event. First, it was a true public group of kids. There was a group of about ten really good kids that came up through midget, Jr High then varsity. Troy was really bad about 5 years ago, but you could see this group coming. Also, they have like 26 total kids out for the team. Secondly, it is District IV, so no one can ever make it through Southern Columbia. Glad they did it yesterday for the Northern Tier, probably will never see it again.
