Post by soccerdad14 on Feb 25, 2007 17:29:13 GMT -6
Food for thought.
I've seen talk about private vs public schools in another thread and how there appears to be an advantage for the private schools. Someone had posted that the playoffs should be split along all private schools vying for a state title and all public schools vying for a state title separately.
I would like to put forth some ideas on changing the playoff format.
As we all know there are three divisions: all 5A schools in Div I, all 4A schools in Div II and all 3A, 2A, 1A, B and C schools in Div III. I understand why all 3A schools and below are grouped together in one division. There aren't enough schools in the state to make separate divisions for each classification. But as the years have gone by, more and more schools are starting soccer programs. It seems that the larger schools in Div III are starting to dominate more and more. When was the last time a 1A or B school made the finals or won! Two years ago St Martins lost in the finals and ESA made it to the finals the year before that.
The past two state tournaments only one 1A team made it to the quarterfinals (Cath PC). I think it's time to start thinking about crowning a state champion in 5 classifications: 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A and below. I believe we can start to do this in the next couple of years. Here's my thoughts:
First, keep the Division III districts the same, there are still not enough teams to make enough districts. For next year, there are 15 3A girls teams, 14 AA, 7 A and 8 B teams in Division III. At playoff time, take 8 teams each from AAA, AA, and A and B and have a state champion for AAA, AA, and 1A below. I know deciding the 8 teams from each will be a problem, but some system can be worked out.
Pros - Smaller schools might start programs. They will see that there is a better chance to accomplish something.
Smaller schools won't have to compete with bigger schools. There is a reason that the LHSAA divided up football into 5 classifications. The numbers aren't there for the smaller schools. It's hard to compete against schools that are 3 to 4 times larger than you.
Smaller schools athletes compete in more than one sport. They have to wait for volleyball players to finish before they can go to soccer and softball has to wait for soccer to end. Playoffs will be shortened. Most smaller schools soccer players don't just commit to one sport. Playing schools the same size evens the playing field.
Cons - Too few schools for the smaller classifications. But there are state championships for the smaller classifications for cross country and powerlifting. State championship for cross country 1A involved only 9 schools total for the state. So why can't soccer do it.
There can be variations on this......take 12 schools from each classification or even do like football and take the total number of schools playing soccer and dividing by 5. Split up the divisions into five by size of school. Some AAAAA may be lumped with AAAA and some AAAA may be lumped with AAA and so on.
Closing thoughts........I think we will find the larger schools (AAA) start to dominate more and make it harder for the smaller schools to compete for a state championship.
The LHSAA has recognized the LHSSCA now. Maybe they can come up with a new system for declaring a state champion in five classifications instead of three.
Now you can bash away!
I've seen talk about private vs public schools in another thread and how there appears to be an advantage for the private schools. Someone had posted that the playoffs should be split along all private schools vying for a state title and all public schools vying for a state title separately.
I would like to put forth some ideas on changing the playoff format.
As we all know there are three divisions: all 5A schools in Div I, all 4A schools in Div II and all 3A, 2A, 1A, B and C schools in Div III. I understand why all 3A schools and below are grouped together in one division. There aren't enough schools in the state to make separate divisions for each classification. But as the years have gone by, more and more schools are starting soccer programs. It seems that the larger schools in Div III are starting to dominate more and more. When was the last time a 1A or B school made the finals or won! Two years ago St Martins lost in the finals and ESA made it to the finals the year before that.
The past two state tournaments only one 1A team made it to the quarterfinals (Cath PC). I think it's time to start thinking about crowning a state champion in 5 classifications: 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A and below. I believe we can start to do this in the next couple of years. Here's my thoughts:
First, keep the Division III districts the same, there are still not enough teams to make enough districts. For next year, there are 15 3A girls teams, 14 AA, 7 A and 8 B teams in Division III. At playoff time, take 8 teams each from AAA, AA, and A and B and have a state champion for AAA, AA, and 1A below. I know deciding the 8 teams from each will be a problem, but some system can be worked out.
Pros - Smaller schools might start programs. They will see that there is a better chance to accomplish something.
Smaller schools won't have to compete with bigger schools. There is a reason that the LHSAA divided up football into 5 classifications. The numbers aren't there for the smaller schools. It's hard to compete against schools that are 3 to 4 times larger than you.
Smaller schools athletes compete in more than one sport. They have to wait for volleyball players to finish before they can go to soccer and softball has to wait for soccer to end. Playoffs will be shortened. Most smaller schools soccer players don't just commit to one sport. Playing schools the same size evens the playing field.
Cons - Too few schools for the smaller classifications. But there are state championships for the smaller classifications for cross country and powerlifting. State championship for cross country 1A involved only 9 schools total for the state. So why can't soccer do it.
There can be variations on this......take 12 schools from each classification or even do like football and take the total number of schools playing soccer and dividing by 5. Split up the divisions into five by size of school. Some AAAAA may be lumped with AAAA and some AAAA may be lumped with AAA and so on.
Closing thoughts........I think we will find the larger schools (AAA) start to dominate more and make it harder for the smaller schools to compete for a state championship.
The LHSAA has recognized the LHSSCA now. Maybe they can come up with a new system for declaring a state champion in five classifications instead of three.
Now you can bash away!