In Defense of Private Schools

I know this topic has started to die down a little bit but it is something that has been bugging me and I need to just throw a few things out there when it comes to this whole public school vs. private school debate.

***Quick disclaimer: I went to a private Catholic school in Florida. Pensacola Catholic High***


I am really sick and tired of hearing people whine about how schools like Collegiate and Kapaun and Bishop Miege have such an unfair advantage over public schools in the same classification. I am specifically sick of hearing coaches gripe and complain about those schools and how their teams simply cannot compete for reasons out of their control. Give me a break!

Why am I so upset you ask? Well, the reason didn't really hit me until I covered the Royals opening day on Monday. Trust me, I'll explain.

The Royals lost on Monday the same way they lost last year: strong start from starting pitcher, pathetic showing from relief pitching, slacking off in offensive production. After the game I went into the clubhouse to do the usual post-game interviews with men who make millions of dollars to play a game for their entire lives. My photographer Greg and I made our way over to Billy Butler who was 1-4 in the game with 2 RBI. Butler started saying how we needed to look at some of the positives of the game like how the Royals were able to get 4 runs off the starter Justin Verlander; that that was a big accomplishment. I looked Butler dead in the eyes and asked him, word for word, "Billy, don't take this the wrong way, because yes getting 4 runs off of Verlander is great. But you got zero offense at all off the Tigers bullpen. How is that a positive?" He proceeded to stutter for a minute, look around, and finally concoct a very cliche answer on something or other that I stopped paying attention to after about 5 seconds. There was ZERO accountability in his answer. Nothing. Nada.

How does this relate to the public school vs. private school debate you may ask? It's all about accountability. For years I have interviewed high school coaches and all of them, especially ones in this community, will always give the same stock answer when I ask about really good opponents: If you want to be the best you have to beat the best.

For the last two years, Collegiate has been the best in basketball. Hands down. But so has public school Wichita Heights. Neither of them went undefeated this season. Do you forget so quickly that the Spartans lost to Great Bend in tournament week? Collegiate and Heights are currently the best but they are not untouchable. I personally believe people need to stop complaining and simply get out there and beat the best because it's not impossible. If you lose to a team you only have yourself to blame.

Ok, another argument that's cropping up is that schools in more rural areas have no chance of competing against urban private schools in the same class because they have a smaller population. Again, are you kidding me? Easy response to that: if you are so concerned about your child having a future in athletics, DON'T LIVE IN A RURAL AREA. Either move or stop whining.

Do you know kids aren't require to take economics in high school anymore? Well, I guess you do if you're reading this article. But if you remember your economics classes (how could you forget that torture?) you will remember a simple concept. There are always going to be ebbs and flows in everything in life. Same goes for sports as a whole. Right now Collegiate and Heights are at the top of their games. But what happens next year to Collegiate when that group of seniors is gone? What will happen at Heights when Perry Ellis and Evan Wessel go to college? There are good classes and not so good classes, and right now both of those schools have great classes. It will all change pretty quickly, trust me.

When I was in high school I played volleyball and soccer. My soccer team my sophomore and senior years was pretty solid. By my senior year I had been playing goalie for three seasons and I was pretty darn good. I had been playing with the same defenders in front of me for three seasons and our midfield had only changed for the better with some speedier girls on the pitch. We made it to the regional finals that year only to find out we had to play our arch-nemesis: Bolles. I hate Jacksonville Bolles High School. There are very few things I can say I hate, Bolles is one of them. Honestly, this team did recruit. It was a private boarding school in Jacksonville that gave us athletes like Atlanta Braves stud Chipper Jones. This place is like a fortress. And yes, they were always in our region. That senior year we held them to a 1-0 lead in the first half. After that we were exhausted. We ended up losing 6-0. It was a tough game but it was an end that we were all too familiar with. Losing to Bolles was just commonplace.

So how did we react to that? We were mad at ourselves for losing. We were upset that we didn't condition hard enough, we didn't practice better, we didn't focus enough. Never once did we say, well we just lost because Bolles recruits. It's unfair that Bolles has such good players. No, never said it, never even thought it. We were good but we weren't great. Bolles had a great team and we knew it. We also knew that we could've beaten them if we had worked harder to get there.

What happened to taking accountability for our actions? What happened to working harder instead of complaining about losing? Losing happens, anyone who tells you otherwise is a politician or a soccer mom. And losing isn't the thing that matters, rather it's how you take the loss that shows true character.

Quit blaming private schools for being good in sports recently and start trying to make your team better by working harder.

Also, don't you find it funny that parents and coaches are so up in arms about the athletic advantages of private schools, but not once have the academic advantages ever been a problem for them? Funny how things play out these days.