Last week the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association tabled a decision about reclassifying and structure of its current divisions. The Board of Control of the state's governing body for high school sports now expects to vote July 12 on classification.
There always has been at least one problem in high school sports. Depending on someone's point of view, there generally are more than one, whether it's a lack of coverage, an over-abundance of attention toward some schools, competitive imbalances or financial discrepancies. There are next to zero true solutions, however.
So it goes when you are trying to answer multilayered questions that involve thousands of athletes, and there are no true yes-or-no questions. Every issue has a "Yeah, but ..." exception to it.
And once there is an answer, the questions and the problems change.
The original TSSAA split between Division I (public schools and private schools that do not offer financial aid for athletic prowess) and Division II (private schools that do offer financial aid for athletics) was designed in an effort to curb the recruitment of star athletes to the big-time private schools, and if not curb it, then allow those schools to compete among themselves. And it worked for the upper-level private schools.
It did not address the issues about facilities or funding or 10-person coaching staffs or being able to attract student-athletes from anywhere.
To try to level those inequities, the TSSAA added a multiplier for private schools that compete in the public-school division. Multiplying a private school's enrollment by 1.8 generally has raised most private schools at least one classification.
The multiplier has merits but obviously is not a true solution because the smaller schools in Georgia -- which used a stronger multiplier before dropping the system -- have had the same complaints about that state's successful private schools.
Depending on the color of the bumper sticker that says your kid is a star student somewhere, every person is going to be swayed by his or her vested interests. And when that vested interest is a child, it becomes a Bullet-Proof Vested Interest.
There is no complete solution, but if fair competition were the only goal (sadly, it's not), here's a suggestion:
-- Split the public and private schools completely;
-- Separate them by size and have two private-school divisions and four public-school divisions;
-- Group regions geographically as best you can and allow the top two teams into the playoffs (Side note: Allowing four teams from the same district into the playoffs is nuts. There are 3-7 football teams going to the state playoffs, and there are basketball teams that could have postseason records of 2-4 and still advance.)
-- While the TSSAA will be reluctant to cutting back the number of classifications and the postseason games (i.e., more coin for the TSSAA), here's a way to add postseason games on the back end.
After the champs are crowned in Public 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A and Private A and 2A, put all the winners in a tournament and crown a Tennessee champion. The schools still will get to claim a state title in Class A, Class AA, etc., but the chance to play for an overall state title would be awesome. Give the teams with the best records a first-round bye and have a six-team championship draw.
What the TSSAA loses in a couple of bogus postseason rounds, it gains in potential TV revenue. You think a state football bracket of South Pitt, Signal, Alcoa and Maryville against a CAK and a Baylor or McCallie wouldn't be marketable?
Plus, it gives public schools a complete split and the private schools will get a chance to win complete state titles.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6273.