Looks like our topic received a full article in the Lexington Herald. Easy to complain about current system, not easy to resolve.

You said they don’t have a shot. Clearly they do. To further illustrate:

 

1999 St Henry boys made it, lost to Ballard

2000 Holy Cross girls made it, lost to Sacred Heart

 

We also have schools like Westport and Jefferson town in the early boys years. Admittedly I don’t know their size but let’s just say I don’t hear them mentioned anymore.

 

That’s not even counting the schools that make it to the tournament and then get knocked out. Last year Collegiate was the favorite on the boys side and barely lost to Cov Cath even when they weren’t playing their best player.

 

Let me clarify, I don’t have a problem with classing the schools. Seeding however goes against the spirit of high school athletics.

 

The football playoffs are basically seeded. They use the district seeds to decide who plays who.

The football playoffs are basically seeded. They use the district seeds to decide who plays who.

soccer does that at the regional level. After that the only thing left are winners.

OHSAA in girls soccer has three classes, they do not have districts, regional ect. like KY does. They play for a conference championship in the regular season that is a mix of all three class. Once the regular season is over the post season is just against your class. All the coaches of a class for a sectional which is like districts and regional combined get together and rank each team in their sectional. Once the rankings are done the 1 seed gets to pick what line they are on, or pass, this goes on till all teams have picked or are slotted in to lines on the bracket. Definitely different then KY but the coaches I know seem to like it.

It should be classed. No small school has a shot at winning a state title in either soccer or volleyball based on the current setup.

This is just not true. Look at Collegiate on the boys side. They very well could have won the title last year, and may have if Haji was healthy. Collegiate is one of the top teams in the state every year.

 

Classes in soccer would be ok as long as you don't do it by school size only. There are plenty of small schools who can compete with the big boys. Definitely don't need 3 classes. That would be terrible. Two classes could work but more factors than size need to impact classification.

Good discussion, which is now evolving into one of competitive advantage. Soccer and volleyball are highly technical. Unlike football, track and to a lesser extent basketball, you can't simply win by having superior athletes. Proper training outside of the high school season for an additional 6-8 months in a club environment becomes more critical to success. These sports have a "pay to play" model.

 

Ultimately success and competitive imbalance becomes a product of school demographics. There aren't many schools outside of the 3 metro areas in KY, loaded with kids who have parents willing or capable of spending the thousands of dollars on training. Private schools and large public schools in more affluent zip codes have a massive advantage. That's not easy to fix, its not a matter of simple enrollment numbers.

Hit the nail on the head here! And this is what Tackett doesn't understand. He only thinks "success breeds success". That shows a lack of understanding of the sport of soccer. Each sport is different, and each sport should be treated differently. Why does basketball and football get special treatment? There shouldn't be blanket decisions made to cover all sports.

OHSAA in girls soccer has three classes, they do not have districts, regional ect. like KY does. They play for a conference championship in the regular season that is a mix of all three class. Once the regular season is over the post season is just against your class. All the coaches of a class for a sectional which is like districts and regional combined get together and rank each team in their sectional. Once the rankings are done the 1 seed gets to pick what line they are on, or pass, this goes on till all teams have picked or are slotted in to lines on the bracket. Definitely different then KY but the coaches I know seem to like it.

I like this and have thought of something similar here with teams in each region. Bottom line, if someone took the time and effort to come up with other solutions it could be done. What we have now is average at best. Blow it all up and start from scratch. You can still make participation a priority but look to balance it a bit more with competitiveness.

This is just not true. Look at Collegiate on the boys side. They very well could have won the title last year, and may have if Haji was healthy. Collegiate is one of the top teams in the state every year.

 

Classes in soccer would be ok as long as you don't do it by school size only. There are plenty of small schools who can compete with the big boys. Definitely don't need 3 classes. That would be terrible. Two classes could work but more factors than size need to impact classification.

Any other examples outside of a private school in the state's largest city?

Any other examples outside of a private school in the state's largest city?

Didn’t I point out that not only did a single A school won the girls side but beat another single a school to do it? There was a period for a while where St. Henry boys and girls made it pretty far. Holy cross girls have also made the final.

Didn’t I point out that not only did a single A school won the girls side but beat another single a school to do it? There was a period for a while where St. Henry boys and girls made it pretty far. Holy cross girls have also made the final.

You did. It's happened once in 25 years which is why I called it a fluke because it hasn't happened since. Small schools advance to the state tournament and then they are wiped out after the first round year in and year out except for the occasional golden triangle private school that has their best team in decades.

This is along the same lines as basketball people pointing to Edmonson County winning the 1976 boys Sweet 16 as a reason why we don't need to class basketball. That was 41 years ago. You can count on one hand how many small schools have won a state title since.

 

In case you missed it over the weekend, the school with highest enrollment of boys (St. Xavier - 1,344 boys) won the boys soccer title. The school with the 15th largest enrollment of girls (Assumption - 888 girls) won the state volleyball title, and West Jessamine, enrollment 1,221) won the girls state soccer for the second straight year. Keep in mind the average enrollment in the state is around 700 students in the top four grades.

This is along the same lines as basketball people pointing to Edmonson County winning the 1976 boys Sweet 16 as a reason why we don't need to class basketball. That was 41 years ago. You can count on one hand how many small schools have won a state title since.

 

In case you missed it over the weekend, the school with highest enrollment of boys (St. Xavier - 1,344 boys) won the boys soccer title. The school with the 15th largest enrollment of girls (Assumption - 888 girls) won the state volleyball title, and West Jessamine, enrollment 1,221) won the girls state soccer for the second straight year. Keep in mind the average enrollment in the state is around 700 students in the top four grades.

So how do you account for the schools with the larger populations that can’t win a darn thing. Dixie is one the largest schoools in nky. They have one team state title to their name. And yet they get whooped by much smaller schools on a regular basis.

 

Who are you really helping here? The smaller schools that already compete regularly? Or are you just further isolating and hurting the larger schools that can’t compete.

So how do you account for the schools with the larger populations that can’t win a darn thing. Dixie is one the largest schoools in nky. They have one team state title to their name. And yet they get whooped by much smaller schools on a regular basis.

 

Who are you really helping here? The smaller schools that already compete regularly? Or are you just further isolating and hurting the larger schools that can’t compete.

 

I guess 48 other states, the NCAA, the NAIA, and the NJCAA are clueless in classifying their schools in each sport due to size.

 

I'm not talking six classes like football. I'm asking for consistency. Track and cross country are classed. Ask Louisville Holy Cross and Bishop Brossart if their state titles won in cross country Saturday are less meaningful because they are 1A titles. Didn't look like it to me from what I saw on the awards stand. Take their times on the same course and neither finishes in the top five of an All Class Meet.

 

I'm OK with leaving basketball alone. It's the cash cow, and it would alter the tradition the KHSAA preaches about despite the fact they have changed the format of the state tournaments in football, basketball, and baseball in the past decade.

 

But it's just plain wrong that a small school has to have their best team in school history, hope that larger schools have a down year, and pray you get a halfway decent draw just to MAKE the state tournament, let alone have a shot at winning it.

I guess 48 other states, the NCAA, the NAIA, and the NJCAA are clueless in classifying their schools in each sport due to size.

 

I'm not talking six classes like football. I'm asking for consistency. Track and cross country are classed. Ask Louisville Holy Cross and Bishop Brossart if their state titles won in cross country Saturday are less meaningful because they are 1A titles. Didn't look like it to me from what I saw on the awards stand. Take their times on the same course and neither finishes in the top five of an All Class Meet.

 

I'm OK with leaving basketball alone. It's the cash cow, and it would alter the tradition the KHSAA preaches about despite the fact they have changed the format of the state tournaments in football, basketball, and baseball in the past decade.

 

But it's just plain wrong that a small school has to have their best team in school history, hope that larger schools have a down year, and pray you get a halfway decent draw just to MAKE the state tournament, let alone have a shot at winning it.

But what sense does it make to only do two classes like some of those sports and have Single A, and then everyone else. Like I said this only benefits the smallest of schools, all the others get nothing.

 

I’m not opposed to some form of classes, but single A schools are not the only ones that have some sort of disadvantage stopping them from winning a state title. Where does it stop.

Any other examples outside of a private school in the state's largest city?

I'm pretty sure you said "No school has a shot at winning a state title". Only disputing that statement with a recent example as its very incorrect. Are there a ton of small schools who have a shot at winning? No, but there aren't a ton of big schools who have a shot at winning either. It's not as simple as breaking it down by size. If you did classes by size only and had a small school tournament, the same 2-3 schools would win it every year, and with even more blowouts than the current state tournament.