In SC high school sports, debate persists about public charters and competitive balance

[1 CAT FAN]

It’s a point you hear debated all the time in South Carolina high school sports.

You can’t comb through a high school sports Facebook thread or attend a 2A athletic event without picking up on the obvious theme. 

That theme is that many residents aren’t happy with the perceived competitive imbalance at the 2A level, where public charter schools often face off with traditional public schools. Many have expressed frustration that public charters are racking up state title wins and appearances playing against schools that operate differently and have different restrictions on where they can get their players.

Two schools that get tagged with this consternation a lot are Oceanside Collegiate Academy in Mt. Pleasant and West Columbia’s Gray Collegiate Academy, right here in Lexington County.

This perceived lack of competitive balance, heightened by instances when Gray Collegiate or Oceanside Collegiate win in incredibly lopsided outcomes, creates tension that often feels irreparable, exemplified by the aforementioned forfeitures of Fairfield Central to Gray Collegiate in multiple sports (with other 2A schools very likely to follow suit).

Full article here https://www.lexingtonchronicle.com/stor ... ance,58561

[GoBigGreen]

John Curtis of John Curtis Christian school in Louisiana is about to break Coach John McKissick's all time win record this year. He coaches at a private school in which he can handpick his state championship team each year. Not the case at Summerville. Apples and oranges if you ask me.

[Rebel-Fan-74]

John Curtis of John Curtis Christian school in Louisiana is about to break Coach John McKissick's all time win record this year. He coaches at a private school in which he can handpick his state championship team each year. Not the case at Summerville. Apples and oranges if you ask me.

Come on now, we all know he invented RED SHIRTING, having kids repeat the 7th or 8th grade and recruited better than Paul Bear Bryant...

[GoBigGreen]

Lol....I was waiting for a response and there it is. Private school tuition is a little different however.

[1 CAT FAN]

“A traditional public school could not have a student come from anywhere in the state of South Carolina,” Ahl said. “Traditional public schools are tied to boundaries based on their attendance zone. Public school systems don’t allow students outside their attendance areas to attend their schools due to state funding guidelines. Charter schools and private schools are allowed to draw from anywhere in the state.”

“We just don’t have a chance against some of these schools, especially in the Olympic sports,” said Bamberg-Ehrhardt athletic director and head football coach Robert Williams. “Take a school like Oceanside or Bishop England. They can get kids from anywhere in Mount Pleasant or Charleston County. They are getting kids from an area that’s population is between 250,000 to 300,000. Our population in Bamberg is 3,500.”
Full story https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/s ... 3e566.html

[HoodRoad]

I'm working on a project right now for a private school and this is the first line of one of their opening pages...

"Our campus is a dynamic hub that brings together students from 37 different
zip codes, 24 cities, and six counties..."

IMO the private schools can do whatever they want because parents pay for their kids to go there but they should be required to be in SCISA not in any of the classes with public schools.