The high school volleyball debacle

   For years now, I've written about the "un-level" playing field that exists in the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association (OSSAA) between Public and Private schools. Private schools enjoy unfair advantages provided by the OSSAA, when competing against public schools in all sports. These advantages afforded to private schools on the athletic field parallel those advantages provided by corporate lawmakers to private and corporate charter schools...which public schools don't have.
   The advantages that private schools are allowed (by the OSSAA) are too numerous to mention all, but include the fact that private schools can recruit players, but public schools cannot; privates can offer scholarships (see LNH scholarship and work/study scholarships), but public schools cannot; private schools can control enrollment, public schools can't; private schools have superior athletic facilities, often paid for by corporate and wealthy supporters - while public school facilities are paid for by local taxpayers (not wealthy) or on the backs of hardworking sports boosters. All these advantages and more add up to create an un-level playing field in sports competition.
   It's not sufficient to point at the success of individual private schools as a method for illustrating the imbalance or unfairness in private/public competition. For instance, while the number of state titles that Heritage Hall has won in all sports is astronomical (dozens), that in itself is not enough to indicate that since Heritage Hall is a private school, an un-level playing field exists, so it wins more games. As a matter of fact, private schools say they "win" more games than public schools do because they have superior coaches and their kids work harder than public school kids do.
   We must analyze statistical data before any factual statements of indication are issued to be valid and reliable. Just saying "Heritage Hall wins, so it must cheat" is not valid and probably not true. Since the OSSAA will begin its high school football playoffs next Friday night, we can analyze some data and statistics, in order to issue an indication that the "playing field for private and public schools is un-level" or the "playing field is level". We won't be able to indicate what entity is responsible for any OSSAA discrepancies, whether it is the OSSAA or the private schools.
   An examination of playoff teams, both private and public, may give us a clue to answer the question "Do private schools enjoy unfair advantages when competing with public schools?"
   There are currently 18 private schools (approximately 5%) playing in the OSSAA and 320 public schools (approx. 95%). An estimated 14 private schools will make the playoffs (77% of total privates) while an estimated 108 public schools (34% of total publics) will. If there were no systemic factors present which affords private schools undue advantages in competition, the percentages should be roughly equal. The percentage datum is consistent with past years of play-off appearances also, which lends a high degree of reliability. In addition, for classes 4A and 5A - 100% of the private schools present will make the playoffs with McGuinness and Kelley in class 5A and Metro Christian, Heritage Hall, and Cascia Hall in 4A.
   In perusing the OSSAA website for playoff competition, I've focused on football, since it is the H.S. sport closest to my heart. In taking a second look at another high school sport, volleyball - it seems private schools are even more dominant over the "more numerous" public schools. The discrepancies in competition between privates and public schools can not be ignored. Team volleyball season just concluded in Oklahoma, so the facts can now be analyzed:
1) There are 32 class 5A teams, 24 public school teams and 8 private school teams. Six private schools qualified for the 8 team state bracket, while 2 public schools qualified. Two private schools met in the finals, and a "private school" was crowned state champion.
2) There are 32 class 4A teams - 6 private and 26 public. Five of the eight state tournament qualifiers were private, with 2 privates meeting in the finals, again.
3) There are 28 class 3A teams in the state, 5 private and 23 public. All five private schools qualified for the state tournament, with once again... two privates meeting in the finals.
   I guess the lesson learned for public schools is don't play volleyball.
   In defense of the OSSAA - In attempting to level the playing field several years ago, it forced some private schools to move up one classification level if certain criteria were met. A few privates are now playing up a level, from 4A to 5A or from 3A to 4A. Metro, Heritage Hall, and Cascia Hall are playing in class 4A, but their enrollment dictates they play in 3A. Other private schools such as Bishop McGuinness, which was formerly playing in 4A, was going to 5A because the criteria was met for moving it up. It then increased its enrollment, so it now fits in 5A, regardless of any criteria. What happened as a result of the OSSAA's weak attempt to level the playing field, was what many public school supporters predicted: Those private schools which fit the OSSAA's criteria for leveling the playing field, simply "doubled down" on recruiting and scholarhips (work-studies) - so continue to dominate the public competition.
Update: Most everyone who keeps up with Oklahoma high school athletics is aware of the volleyball state tournament debacle which occurred last weekend. Evidently, the OSSAA assigned a private school, Victory Christian, to play in class 5A - when it should have been playing in class 4A. Victory Christian won the class 5A state title over Mount Saint Mary (another private school). I won't go into detail about why the debacle happened, because you can read it from a Daily Oklahoman sports writer in Tuesday's paper. This debacle just emphasizes the point of private school domination being allowed in the OSSAA... because of unfair advantages. The news article emphasized that Victory Christian school officials are just as culpable as the OSSAA as to which entity is guilty of the mistake. Many people believe that VC officials knew they were playing in the wrong class (5A), but did not care to correct the error, because they would win a class 5A title just as easily as a 4A title. It is more prestigious for a private school to win a title in a higher classification than a lower one. Claiming stupidity may be a valid excuse for the OSSAA to overlook the private school volleyball debacle, but VC officials can make no such claim. By the way, the state volleyball champions and runners-up were private schools in all classifications - Dominance created by your friendly neighborhood OSSAA.
   Those public school advocates who continue to hope for a better OSSAA system for school sports classification - my opinion is that it will never happen in Oklahoma, as the OSSAA is afraid of being sued and many state lawmakers tend to favor private schools over public schools (even our rural lawmakers). The sad part is that many states have already adopted fair HS playoff systems, but OK never will.