Wade Johnson: Parity proves it’s fine the way it is
Private schools do not need to participate in tournaments separate from public schools.
While the inclusion of private schools in sports like volleyball and girls basketball have dominated in years past, their presence hasn’t been as dominate in other sports.
The sad truth is that people have began to think with their heart rather than their head after Sacred Heart has beat GRC Hoops in the state tournament for the past four years in a row.
Undoubtedly it is frustrating, but common thought is that Scared Heart has only been able to do so because of girls moving in …well news flash — nearly all schools have athletes move into their district for sports.
Sacred Heart was just blessed to have a once in a lifetime level athlete in ZaKiyah Johnson, and when you have someone as dominate as her, it makes winning much easier.
On the flip side of things, all five of the last five boys state champions have been public schools.
If anything, the skill gap between private and public schools is closer now than ever before.
Karlee Gray: Private schools have advantages
In the 2024 Kentucky state girl’s volleyball tournament, three out of the four final teams were private schools.
The past five years in a row, a private school has won the KHSAA Girl’s Basketball State tournament.
There is a common factor that is slowly taking away the joy of not knowing who is going to win it all: Private schools.
Personally, the thrill of sports is not being quite sure who is going to win each time tournament season rolls around. With private schools slowly getting more resources that are unavailable to public schools, the results have begun to look predictable.
These resources include a bigger coaching staff and more training staff, which many public schools do not have access to as a result of funding, SInce private schools are privately funded, they have much more freedom with the usage of money. This becomes an advantage for private schools.
Private schools also have an advantage over many public schools due to the small size of many private schools. This small size can enter them into state tournaments for small schools, therefore taking an opportunity away from small public schools that usually are not able to compete with bigger schools.
This gives private schools the opportunity to compete and hypothetically win two state titles, and ultimately takes away the opportunity for tournaments to have an unexpected outcome. The advantages are clear and it’s about time private schools divide off into their own tournaments.
