GHSA votes to separate Class A public, private schools for playoffs and championships
By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC
MACON — The landscape of high school athletics in Georgia took an unprecedented turn on Tuesday when the executive committee of the Georgia High School Association voted overwhelmingly to hold separate public and private school playoffs and championships in all Class A sports, beginning this fall.
The resolution, which was introduced by Charlton County athletic director Jesse Crews, passed by a vote of 37-12, with one abstention. The result will be two, 16-team tournaments – one for public schools and one for private schools — that should keep more than 30 of Georgia’s smaller high schools from leaving the GHSA and forming their own sports league. Representatives from those schools believed there has been a competitive imbalance between public and private schools at the Class A level because of private schools’ ability to accept any student without geographic restriction.
The GHSA’s recently approved region assignments will remain in place because they had been approved prior to Tuesday’s vote, which means public and private schools will continue to compete against each other during the regular season.
GHSA officials said they will meet with various members in upcoming months to best figure out how to seed the 16-team brackets. Ralph Swearngin, executive director of the GHSA, said the process will be developed by the schools that are directly impacted by the vote, with a March timeline. It is unclear whether the public and private Class A champions will play a plus-one game when the five other classifications play for titles at the Georgia Dome in December.
“I think we have enough good minds [within the GHSA] to figure it out,” Swearngin said.
Tuesday’s vote apparently ends the movement to create the Georgia Public Schools Association. That group, which was attracting interest from more than 40 small, mostly rural, schools, held its last meeting on Monday. More than 83 representatives in the room were asked to cast ballots by Jan. 24 on what their schools planned to do in response to whatever the GHSA voted to do on Tuesday. The choices were commit to pull out of the GHSA and join the GPSA, stay in the GHSA or remain undecided.
Wilcox County principal Chad Davis, a leader in the movement, was prepared to vote for seceding from the GHSA. He seemed relieved that his school will not have to.
“I don’t think that there is the need for [the GPSA] now,” Davis said. “That’s my personal opinion, but we’re going to check with other schools that were involved in the process in the next few weeks.
“I’m very surprised by the [GHSA] vote,” he said. “I didn’t think they would do anything.”
Judging by the three-to-one margin of the vote and pleas from several executive committee members to preserve the current membership makeup of the GHSA, it appears as if the GPSA movement had a significant impact.
“I don’t think of this as a victory,” Davis said. “I’m just pleased.”
“[The vote] was a little stronger than I thought it would be,” Swearngin said. “I think there are a variety of reasons why people voted how they did. I think the pleas for unity being in the best interest of everyone was a factor.”
One such vote came from Albert “Pat” Blenke, a Georgia Department of Education Administrator who sits on the GHSA executive committee. During the meeting, he said: “This is one of the biggest decisions we have to make as an organization. Eventually, the state legislators are going to get tired of hearing the complaints from their constituents, and they will do something. And as sure as I’m standing here, whatever they do will not be beneficial to the schools.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand,” Blenke said.
But after the vote he added, “Every decision you make is going to have unintended consequences.”
Others expressed concern over the vote, as well.
“Our biggest thing is we feel the GHSA is one of the top four high school associations in the nation, and I think we just made ourselves weaker. The best should play the best,” said Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy athletic director Scott Queen, who voted no. “We want to compete against the Lincoln County’s and the Clinch County’s, even though we haven’t beaten them yet. I just think this is going to be very hard to pull off.”
Buford athletic director Dexter Wood cast a “no” vote as well, which was aimed at the process, more than the resolution.
“My chief point of contention is that as an executive committee member we’re seeing this [proposal] for the first time and we’re being asked to make such a huge decision,” Wood said. “I would like to have had more time.”
Wood is also concerned that the next “target” will be single-city school districts with one high school, similar to Buford and Calhoun. Those schools have begun to come under fire for their ability to attract county students and allow them to enroll for a minimal amount of tuition – usually around $200 per month.
“It seems to be that the time has come where we are trying to level the playing field everywhere, and that’s such a relative matter,” Wood said. “There are definite differences between private schools and a city high school.”
AJC staff writer Michael Carvell contributed to this story.
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417 comments Add your comment
CC Packers
January 10th, 2012
7:45 pm
I like Old Towne Guy solutions
lincoln county guy
January 10th, 2012
8:05 pm
Let’s get this clear Lincoln county ain’t scared to play anyone what they should do is let public schools recruit for a year or two just to show private schools what its like what if lincolnton could get players from surrounding areas like w-w,elberton and Thomson the schools we could easily recruit from then we’ll see who would complain
observer
January 10th, 2012
8:06 pm
Good luck on the “city vs city” crap.Join the real world and just admit some students(athletes&non-athletes)make choices for themselves.Some are attracted for the superior facilities,academics or just want to be a part of A winning tradition.Yes transfers are easier in metro or heavily populated areas than in small rual counties-thats life and yes money plays a big part.Schools that emphasize sports and have quarter million dollar booster budgets look better to many athletes.It seems that class envy is not just limited to income anymore.
Just Be Fair
January 10th, 2012
8:13 pm
It is funny that this was not a problem until the football coaches got their pannies in a wad. Baseball has had to put up with this for years. A coach once said nothing would change until your Lincoln Co. and Charlton Co. started getting whipped in football.
xldawg
January 10th, 2012
8:18 pm
Scared? Say scared! Apparently everyone is scared of Larry Campbell and the Lincoln County crowd. They will want to play a plus one after the first year!
T
January 10th, 2012
8:20 pm
Lincoln County Guy: You are sadly mistaken if you think the private schools would complain. You got what you wanted, now your kids have to live with the FACT that if they win a championship it means FAR LESS.
sunshine
January 10th, 2012
8:25 pm
public schools can raise bonds and have eSPLOST for millions if not billions of dollars. private schools have very little funds except for approx 7-10 schools in the entire state and they are still limited
wr98
January 10th, 2012
8:25 pm
YEA, everyone gets a trophy!!!
chuck
January 10th, 2012
8:37 pm
LOL!!!! Plain and simple…. Lincoln County could no longer compete. I just get to enjoy one more championship game. However, we must ask ourselves, “What type of message are we sending to our children?’ Cheat, Win, or change the rules to your advantage…. just asking
Jack
January 10th, 2012
9:37 pm
Most of the same teams that dominated in 2A and 3A and are moving up will still have the same success because the better teams in 3A and 4A moved up to 4A and 5A. Some of the teams that moved from 2A to 3A are in even weaker regions now.
Mid Town
January 10th, 2012
9:55 pm
Give me a break. If I can not win I will take my ball and go home.
Like Lincolnton Co., Wilcox Co., Charlton Co., etc. have never had an athlete move in from
surrounding county.
Ole Towne guy
January 10th, 2012
10:02 pm
“Good luck on the “city vs city” crap”
Hahaha. Got the “private vs private” done didn’t they?
kent
January 10th, 2012
10:07 pm
Ole Towne guy makes a lot of sense…
Regular season stays the same (anybody against anybody)
then
Private vs Private playoffs
City vs City playoffs
County vs County playoffs
Fair AND consistent
Sav'h dawg
January 10th, 2012
10:11 pm
@ ole town guy. Campbell got out coached. I witnessed it first hand. Sore losers. Schedule us please n the regular season next year. We had two division one prospects on our team. Our 5′7″ 130 lb corner back covered your 6′1 wr all night and Campbell could not figure out how to exploit the mismatch. He got out coached.
BehindEnemyLines
January 10th, 2012
10:24 pm
re: ““I think we have enough good minds [within the GHSA] to figure it out,” Swearngin said.”
They lacked enough good minds to say no to crass blackmail from whining cowards, can’t see them faring any better coming up with a rationale playoff system.
Sav'h dawg
January 10th, 2012
10:58 pm
Larry Campbell is the joe paterno of Lincoln county. Remember this you will always be 0 and 3 against savannah Christian
jokerswild
January 10th, 2012
11:09 pm
The recent action taken by GHSA will only transfer the problem to AA. I don’t think the private schools will settle for a split championship. They win because the players are more coachable and have been instilled with a team work ethic and taught the fundamentals of the game. Most public coaches do not have enough disciplinary control over the players to teach proper execution and the fundamental skills necessary to win in the play-offs, in fact teaching kids how to play football has all but disappeared; being replaced by the practice of simply trying to put the best athletes on the field and hoping for the “big play”. The private school teams play a more fundamentally sound brand of football based on team work and knowledge of the game. This is glaringly evident when you watch private vs public in a game.
RUSSELL63
January 10th, 2012
11:42 pm
The GHSA rules are the same for private schools as they are for public, you must live in the service area full time .If you donot you must sit out a year. I think the main reason students are going to private schools, especially in the metro area is quality of education in getting prepared to go to college. There are many times a very good athlete will apply to come to a private school and will not be accepted for academic reason. Everyone seems to think every student at a private school is on partial or full ride scholarship, but this happens far less than you might think, and then you throw in the ave cost of about 16,000 per year it is far harder to get in than you might expect..
If you are looking at transfers you best look at public schools first.Iam not sure there is an ideal solution to what many preceive as a bigger problem than it is and should have been addressed by the GHSA with reforms to enforcing illegal transfers.
What's the big deal?
January 10th, 2012
11:44 pm
So private schools will no longer to be able to house athletes on campus, recruit from out of district, county, even state, and then whip up on them in the playoffs. Hmmm…..bout damn time.
hind tit
January 10th, 2012
11:45 pm
High schools are going in the same direction colleges did years ago that is student athletes begin to change schools because there was nothing to stop them from doing it. Make these kids sit out a year and you will see things began to even up within three years in every classification. In the sixties you didn’t see teams beating other teams 95 to 23. If the GHSA would stop looking the other way high school sports would be much more competitive and have better fan support. That would be a win win for the students and the schools. The taxpayers are getting fed up with the way things are run in this state.
EC
January 11th, 2012
12:13 am
Savannah Dawg
“We had two division one prospects on our team”. How many did he have on his?
Savannah Christian had a great linebacker transfer in from our high school (Effingham County) a few years back (did not change residence). Lincoln County does not have this luxury. And by the way he had two steller games against LC in the playoffs.
DublinDawg
January 11th, 2012
12:16 am
Sav’h dawg:
Savannah Dawg
“We had two division one prospects on our team”. How many did he have on his? Savannah Christian had a great linebacker transfer in from our high school (Effingham County) a few years back (did not change residence). Lincoln County does not have this luxury. And by the way he had two steller games against LC in the playoffs”.
Is this really true?
Lan Fan
January 11th, 2012
12:44 am
Well everyone it has been fun. The new rules are in place so we know what we will do. We will play, and we will win or lose.
For the good side twice as many kids will be able to put state champ on their college resumes and tell their kids all about it one day.
To the bad side Once again I have been informed that I am rich and deceitful because I want a better education for my kids and that while I can barely pay my families tuition I must be stalking the playground and local schools to offer money to someone else’s kid to come play for us.
For the record I just want to see good competition and from what I am reading the good teams are on the private school side so I guess we are Ok there.
But, what really effects my family is did they do anything about that One Act Play situation. Because my daughter tells me there is this real strong group coming up from middle school down in Elberton and I am hoping this fixes all that.
Hope to read good things about you in the future.
Jeff
January 11th, 2012
1:13 am
And besides, if you send your kid to a public school in this state, you should be charged with child abuse… you are simply feeding your kid the institutionalized, liberal-dominated curriculum and progressive propaganda that is ruining our society. The state doesn’t have any dam business teaching your kids… it’s up to YOU. The public schools in this state are a joke, and now the coaches and athletic directors are playing the jealousy card, so now everybody gets a state championship simply for participating. Great lesson… again, people, get your kids OUT of the public schools… don’t let the state assimilate your children into the Stepford “me generation”… put them in schools that challenge them, raise their standards, and don’t put up with the status quo federal education B.S. that runs our classrooms now.
Championships for Everybody!
January 11th, 2012
1:50 am
We should also create make new classifications for…
City Schools, County Schools, Suburban Schools, Rural Schools, North Ga. Schools, South Ga. Schools, Old Schools, New Schools, Schools with Animal Mascots, Schools with Non-Animal Mascots…
What was wrong with the days when the biggest reward for playing school sports was hanging out with our friends, impressing the girls, and learning lessons (that we wouldn’t fully understand untill it was all over) about things like hard work, commitment and loyalty? What was wrong with the days when beating the nearest rival was the thing that mattered most in the world and winning a region championship was enough to earn temporary immortality.
I guess these days, with the amount of money Mom and Dad have to spend to make sure Junior gets a chance to play sports, that opportunity better come with another “championship” trophy to add to the collection.
HSFB
January 11th, 2012
5:38 am
Really too bad. This isn’t good for Class A football. All this does is water down both divisions. Rather sad that a few cry babies finally got their way.
cat doc
January 11th, 2012
5:45 am
In my eyes if you pay to go to school that means your private. Get Buford in their own league. Pay to go you are private.
Packer Backer
January 11th, 2012
5:47 am
CrαZy
January 10th, 2012
3:03 pm
Dude y’all got the corner on the market…no way to police this fictitial apartment address deal..GHSA does not have enough manpower to check it all out…HEARD FREITAG HAS MOVED BACK TO HIS OLD SCHOOL AFTER USING BUFORD AS HIS FOOTBALL SCHOOL!!! TIME HAS COME FOR 3 LEAGUES WITHIN THE GACA, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, CITY SCHOOLS, AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS…
ROLLLLL TIDE!!!!
Packer Backer
January 11th, 2012
5:56 am
Totally agree that public schools for the most part are awful….Totally understand why folks send their kids to private schools, just divide them into the 3 groups above, private, public, and city schools. Let those that are doing business in the same way play each other…
Packer Backer
January 11th, 2012
6:07 am
Down here in Moultry we get our guys out of Alabama so we don’t take kids away from the surrounding schools….
OLD RED DEVIL
January 11th, 2012
6:16 am
Sav’h dawg
January 10th, 2012
10:58 pm
Larry Campbell is the joe paterno of Lincoln county. Remember this you will always be 0 and 3 against savannah Christian
YEA, IF WE CAN’T BEAT YOU IN 3 TRIES, WE WILL GET YOU VOTED OUT WHERE WE DON’T HAVE TO PLAY YOU….WE HAD BETTER ATHLETES THAN SAV. CHR., WE WERE OUTCOACHED AND OUTPLAYED….GIVE US BACK WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS, THE CLASS A STATE CHAMP TROPHY…..
OLD RED DEVIL
January 11th, 2012
6:21 am
Was reading the list on the AJC website of D1 recruits in this state….IS EVERY PLAYER ON BUFORD’S DEFENSE SIGNING A D1 SCHOLARSHIP???
jokerswild
January 11th, 2012
7:44 am
I think GHSA failed to realize that most privates have a waiting list for future students but keep student pop. at the A level for optimum class size (less than 20). They can move from A to AAA at will by adding class rooms and teachers or upping class size.
Maybe NCAA should have a split Nat’l Championship- one for SEC teams and another for everyone else.
Egbert
January 11th, 2012
7:48 am
Let’s give Larry Campbell and the clown from Rochelle participation trophies like my daughter received in soccer when she was six years old. ……
Sav'h dawg
January 11th, 2012
8:25 am
@dublin dawg
That linebacker that are talking about came to sc for a better education in a Christian atmosphere. It’s a free world. He ended up signing at Gardner Webb. Too bad Lincoln county could not block him. Coach chumley schemes his defense that way. Your coaching staff should have looked at more film.
james in athens
January 11th, 2012
8:26 am
This is long overdue! GHSA finally saw the writing on the wall!
Private Schools schools as Athens Academy and now Prince Ave.
over here in NE Ga have many more advantages then the small
public schools plus they do have $$ for players that can’t afford
to pay to go there. Jefferson recruits on a smaller scale then Buford
and has many kids from Athens area who go there to play sports plus
it is a good school…. GHSA needs to put back in the 1 year sit out
rule as well to keep kids from jumping around…. AA, AAA Private
Schools are next unless they start playing up a least 2 levels like
Marist does….
Joe Franklin
January 11th, 2012
8:30 am
The private schools are about to become elite. This vote has bitten the GHSA in the butt. If the GHSA would get tougher on eligibility and transfering of students we would not have the problem we have. If a kid transfers he should be ineligible for 1 year of varsity competition period, unless he moves from at least a 100 mile distance.
jvillebil
January 11th, 2012
8:47 am
Will the same to 4 or 5 teams in both public and private be playing for the championship every year?
I heard they already drew up the brackets for the 2012 finals next year’s semifinals: Lincoln, Bremen, Wilcox, Charlton, with Clinch, Seminole and Bowden on stand by.
In the private semi’s they have SCPS, Landmark, Prince Ave & ELCA with Calvary Day and Aquinas on stand by.
Hmmm
January 11th, 2012
8:55 am
Sit out 1 year if you transfer period…Kids are transferring more than 100 miles ! Norcross and Milton are the real big offenders herein basketball. Sandy Creek in football. Columbia they come from a little closer but the fact is they can go anywhere in Dekalb they want so Dekalb schools should always play up regardless. Marist plays up simply because of money there is not much much that sets AAAA – AAA-AA football apart between these regions except Tucker and the number of fans they bring. Grady, Druid Hills and Riverwood in AAA can easily play with AAAA teamsbut not AAAAA. Some AAA teams bring no one and need the private school gate every year. I imagine its the same in A. AA power Buford and AAAA Tucker outside of them there are no real powerhouses in AAA football. AA private schools (including Buford) could easily win in playoffs in AAA or AAAA. I know this is much about football but I would hate to see it creep into other sports and regions. I would like to give this seperation movement a new name ” Class B ” yes lets bring back class “B” just like old times..
AVikingFan
January 11th, 2012
8:55 am
Changing the subject a little, but still talking about changes. Tift County hired East Paulding’s John Reid last night after a lengthy from Dublin. This was reported by a Valdosta radio station this morning.
Region 1-AAAAAA just got tougher! I wonder what The Cannon is saying this morning?!
AVikingFan
January 11th, 2012
8:57 am
sorry about the grammar in my last post. The Tift county B of Ed had a “lengthy executive meeting” to decide between John Reid and the coach from Dublin, as reported on a Valdosta radio this morning.
Public School Pete~
January 11th, 2012
9:03 am
1.71 Recruiting and Undue Influence is defined as the use of influence by any person connected directly or indirectly with a GHSA school to induce a student of any age to transfer from one school to another, or to enter the ninth grade at a member school for athletic or literary competition purposes, whether or not the school presently attended by the student is a member of the GHSA.
I think All the private schools should be allowed to play public schools during the regular season as non region games but when it comes to play off time I think they should compete with schools that have the same advantage they have! It’s not fair that schools that can get kids from all over georgia has to compete with schools who are restricted to only dealing with kids within there zone! How is that fair in any class? The answer to all this madness is simple. 1. ALL public schools should make up the GHSA an ALL privates make up the GISA. 2. To play sports at a GHSA school, the student athlete MUST live in the district with NO EXCEPTIONS. This would end all these problems (including Buford/Decatur-like situations). Bottom line let private schools compete for championships agianst other private schools who have the same advantage they have.
bucket
January 11th, 2012
9:54 am
This is a sad day for the GHSA. Everyone keeps talking about what is fair, but how is this fair to the 16 public school teams that won’t even have a chance to compete for a playoff spot because the Public Class A elites like Lincoln, Clinch, Bremen, Wilcox, Charlton, etc. are mad becaue they can’t dominate Class A football anymore. The public schools that have dominated GHSA football recruit just as much as any private school in this state. Is this argument really about fair play and the educational opportunities for kids or is this all about the egos of a few football coaches and the fans?
sav'h dawg
January 11th, 2012
10:03 am
Bucket, you got it right. It’s about fans in places like Lincoln County infatuated with their legendary coach and not able to handle losing.
TM
January 11th, 2012
10:10 am
The GHSA isn’t perfect, but it’s the best we’ve got and they’ve done a tremendous job for the young people in our State through the years. The continued language of “public vs. private” is dangerous. What we really should be talking about is schools (in general) who have the ability to bring students in from out of district through a tuition basis or other programs such as M to M that exist in Fulton County. Here’s some thoughts for a possible solution:
1. Any school that accepts students from outside their district will play up one clasification.
2. The exception would be private schools who enter GHSA for the first time. Those school would have a 4 years to develop their programs in the classification of their enrollment numbers. This would allow new schools (like Kings Ridge in Alpharetta) time to develop their programs at a fair competitive level
In effect, this would solve the issue at the Class A level and put in place a measure that levels the playing field for all schools.
Let’s do away with the “public-private” language that divides and then support the GHSA in it’s efforts to serve all of our students in Georgia.
Hmmm
January 11th, 2012
10:27 am
CAIRO FOOTBALL, I belive it is a public school you should be ashamed. Lets look at this you have 2 players that have their report date to jail on a felony ROBBERY CHARGE delayed so they can play high school football ! ! ! Lose your playoff game go to jail. What did the team bus drop them off on the way back from losing to Peach County? Talk about lack of discipline and unethical behavior displayed by that whole town, coaches, DA, Principal. Level playing field I think not…No private school would let 2 felons play on the team let alone go to the school..What do you think now?” Oh and didnt their QB transfer in without having to sit out I dont care where he came from or moved from the rule should be sit out 1 year no questions asked. Legit public schools are getting trampled by the movers and shakers of the public school world. GSHA needs to get the transfer rule right.. Along with no convicted or plea bargined felons playing high school sport. http://www.walb.com/story/16344694/prep-football-standouts-report-to-jail?clienttype=printable
Noneya
January 11th, 2012
10:32 am
“I think we have enough good minds [within the GHSA] to figure it out,” Swearngin said.
I don’t.
Noneya
January 11th, 2012
10:36 am
Wow. That’s crazy Hmmm. AJC needs a “Like” button so I can like some of these comments. Lol
Noneya
January 11th, 2012
10:39 am
I haven’t read through all the comments so someone may have mentioned this but what’s stopping a bunch of the private schools from moving up to AA, the next time realignment happens? With the 6 Class system would it be much a difference?
Sid Vicious
January 11th, 2012
10:59 am
Fact: City schools have won more state titles than ALL private schools combined. FACT! Look it up