Private schools have been dominating the scene of Ohio high school sports for years. In Ohio, there are over 3,500 public school systems compared to 1,079 private schools. With over a 3:1 ratio of public to private schools, one might think that it’s more common to see a public school with a state title or record; however, they could not be more wrong. In sports like football and soccer, private schools take home a state championship around 80% of the time. High school playoffs would be much more competitive, fair, and entertaining with separate public and private school brackets.
Since 2012, there have been just two Division 1 football state championships won by a public school. In both occurrences Pickerington Central brought home the hardware. Division 2 is the same story, with just 2 of the past 10 state champions being a public school program. Unfortunately, this is the case for most sports in Ohio due to private school recruiting.
Now just what is considered recruiting at the high school level? Recruiting is the act of influencing a student to join a school because of the academic or athletic advantages that a school program has. Technically, every student at a school like Archbishop Hoban has been recruited in the sense that they chose to leave the school that they previously attended in order to go to Hoban, whether that be for academic or athletic purposes. Private schools charge yearly tuition for education, and at a school like Hoban, the full price of admission is around $12,000 annually. Many student athletes choose to attend private schools because they have nicer facilities than public schools. Where recruitment tends to be a little more frowned upon is when that $12,000 tuition fee gets a bit lighter for certain students due to their athletic ability. It’s difficult to get a figure for the financial aid that these student athletes receive. It’s almost as if they don’t want to advertise that some students are treated better than those that aren’t physically gifted? A few years ago, Massillon’s football program was investigated and found guilty of recruiting. Recruiting is illegal for public schools as they are funded by the government. No matter what they might advertise and say, it’s not illegal to recruit for private schools as they are not funded by the government, just their students’ tuition and any sponsors who wish to donate.
On the soccer pitch, private schools are significantly more dominant than in football. Since 2012, St. Ignatius alone has won seven D1 state championships.
Carter Hane, starting Left Back of the GHS soccer team, says, “Private schools playing against public schools is simply unfair. It’s hometown talent against schools that are able to recruit from everywhere.”
Unfortunately for Hane and the rest of the GHS boys soccer team, their time in the playoffs was brought to an end by University School in Cleveland, a prep school that’s notorious for recruiting talent from the whole state. Hane’s sophomore season was ended by Archbishop Hoban, yet another powerhouse with the ability to recruit some of the biggest prospects in the Akron area. It’s the same scenario for women’s soccer as well. The girls soccer team had a dominant season with a great playoff run that came to an end at the hands of Walsh Jesuit, a private school with 4 out of the last 10 state titles.
With basketball season underway, one might be wondering if they should expect the same level of competitiveness coming from the private schools of Ohio; fortunately, however, public schools have managed to maintain the top spot with just 3 out of the past 10 state championships won by private schools. Last season, Green defeated St. Ignatius, Benedictine, Hoban, and University School in the regular season, but fell short to Hoban in a playoff rematch.
Coach Kinsley said, “Schools should have separate playoffs to be fair to the public programs. Private schools are able to draw talent from multiple counties compared to public schools being limited to local players.”
Green’s 2018 to 2019 season, led by Kaleb Martin and nicknamed “The Dream Team”, had a phenomenal playoff run to the regional finals but, unfortunately, fell short to St. Edward’s of Lakewood, Ohio.
With the examples provided above, one can see the true advantages held by private school athletic programs which is why private school playoffs should be separate from public schools. High school sports shouldn’t be decided by which school has more money, but sadly in this day and age, it is.