re: Louisiana High School Football will split Public/Private. **Edited with Yes/No**

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bc now Barbe has a better chance at winning state next year!

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is West Monroe going to drop to 4A? go private?

if not, then we have almost no shot at winning state

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2. freedom. i could go to catholic as a Lake Charles kid with parents living her. BHS is still restricted in its area, EVEN if you want to include all of Lake Charles

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See, this is a bogus argument. Let's use Notre Dame as an example. People seem to be outraged that Notre Dame has players from places like Rayne or Church Point. Well guess what? Without students from Rayne or Church Point, there would NOT be a Notre Dame High. It's not a school that serves a demand for a Catholic education in CROWLEY, it's one that serves a demand for Catholic education in ACADIA PARISH and surrounding areas.

For example, if a family in Jennings wants to send their kid to Catholic school, the closest option is Notre Dame (about 15 minutes closer than St. Louis). This has been true ever since Goretti (which was in Lake Arthur) closed in the 1980s.

It's apples and oranges. Where there should be distinction is between kids who GROW UP in a private school system that feeds a particular school and kids that show athletic prowess while attending another school system then transfer into the private school system for the purpose of athletic participation.

That's where Barbe is comparable to all private schools, especially given the CPSB's liberal use of exceptions that allow out-of-zone kids (not just M-to-Ms) attend Barbe. I knew a lot of white kids from the Garden District who went to Barbe based on school board exceptions. It's not hard to to find your way to Barbe.

It takes far less effort for a kid from north Lake Charles or Westlake, Iowa, etc. to find his/her way to legal enrollment into Barbe than it is for a kid anywhere in Baton Rouge to get into Catholic/St. Joseph's, for example.

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she's not complaining that Barbe lost but why they lost, which is that Rummel can recruit kids

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so tell me how the Prince kids wound up playing Baseball for Barbe when everyone knew they grew up in Sulphur. What about the Puerto Ricans that Cechini has brought in? Yorks wasn't at St Louis?
Barbe Baseball has a long history of recruiting.

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you're making my argument for me. privates have no restriction. a school like barbe DOES

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Oh, it's about restrictions? Several thousands of dollars a year isn't a restriction? For out-of-zone kids, having a long commute isn't a restriction?

In terms of competitive advantages, lacking free, universal tuition and tax payer-funded facilities and budget is a HUGE competitive disadvantage for private schools.

Like I said, if Louisiana treated athletics like they do in Texas, private schools would have NO CHANCE.

Restrictions? My arse. Public schools have all the opportunities in the world. In this state, they're just too busy tripping over their own politics to make it happen. And while they are busy tripping over themselves, opportunistic private schools are swooping in and taking all the athletes and, in a lot of places, the best and most ambitious students.

I'd say consistently over 20 years.

And I wouldn't call it recruiting, for the most part. It was good players wanting to play at the only school in Lake Charles with its own baseball facility and (usually) the only school in LC with a head coach dedicated to baseball and only baseball. And it's Barbe doing what it has to do to accommodate those wishes.

Which makes it no different from the dynamic that sends good athletes in BR and New Orleans to the private school powers.

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there are plenty of possible Barbe's out there, but it won't ever work because of racial issues

there is a reason why NORLA publics can be awesome and there are only 2 good publics in SLA (acadiana, BHS) who rarely, if ever, win

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destrehan, hahnville and salmen disagree.

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there are plenty of possible Barbe's out there, but it won't ever work because of racial issues

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Not just racial issues. Byrd, Dutchtown, Denham Springs, St. Charles Parish schools and I'm sure many others have it all lined up to be dominant, but something internal, probably at the school board level, keeps it from happening.

For that matter, if EBR ever got its act together, Broadmoor and Woodlawn could be the shyte almost overnight. But at just the suggestion of EBR getting its act together.

So using that list and TJG210's analogy then Rummel could have kids on its roster from any of those 28 schools. And you don't think there is a competitive advantage?

This is almost like taking the rec baseball league and picking the allstars on day one and then putting them in the league to compete with everyone. I understand that this whole deal is about a few who have systemically abused it. JC,etc. I am not for everyone wins kind of mentality but the current system really isnt fair. I am for everyone playing all the way. A special rule was put in place to put the catholic schools back in their district together. I get that, but is it really right?

The collateral damage of this vote is going to be interesting to see play out!

at some point you have to put fair aside and start playing football...

St. Louis is good with Barbe leftovers, plus you are starting to see a slow decline in Barbe's white enrollment and good ballplayers, especially ones who went to Queen of Heaven, are more likely to go to St. Louis now.

But still, St. Louis has no ballpark and an improvised facility and shuffles new coaches in and out of there every couple of years. The only way St. Louis becomes a consistent power is if Barbe goes completely to poop and public schools in LC are no longer a viable option -- which would make LC like New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Sulphur should be much better than it is at baseball and, for that matter, football. Three feeder schools, all with decent football and the best ballparks in the state. They've actually done a better job at producing big leaguers than Barbe (Pat Rapp, John Thomson, Casey Daigle). Daigle was "recruited" from Vinton.