The area is split up already, if you look at the regional maps. The counties that border Fayette are Clark, Bourbon, Jessamine, Scott, Madison, and Woodford. Clark and Bourbon border Fayette but are in the 10th. Jessamine borders Fayette but is in the 12th. Franklin DOESN'T border Fayette, but is in the 11th. In other words, there are THREE potential regions that Lexington teams could go in, if it were chosen to split them up. My point was that it dilutes the regional tournament when top teams are eliminating each other year after year after year before they get out of the district because they are forced to play each other. So, since the area already has 3 regions, why not split up the Lexington teams?

 

Louisville schools have these problems in football, do they not?

Not really. With the new 6A alignment Trinity, X and Male are in different districts.

 

And even if you put them in different regions they will still be eliminating each other in districts so it won't solve that problem and districts are at least supposed to be based on geography.

It's not a matter of preference, it's a matter of balance.

 

With respect to the regions, the Louisville schools are divided into two different regions, but the Lexington schools are not. Perhaps one solution is to put Lexington teams in two different regions to add balance.

 

As for the districts, the districts were redrawn two years ago, for purposes of basketball, I believe. Prior to that, the 43d consisted of the public schools in Lexington, with LCA, Sayre and Lex Cath in a district with West Jessamine. Easier than now, but still not easy. However, there is a fundamental question here. Why do the districts have to be the same for basketball and baseball and soccer? Wny not have different district alignments for each sport, trying to keep things balanced? There is no reason that the districts could not be different in basketball and baseball and soccer, and examined every 5 years to see how they are working out.

 

In the end, the question you have to ask yourself is whether it is good to have teams with losing records in the regional? It depends on what you're looking for, and how they get there. I am not saying that we all don't like the occasional upset, we all do, that's what makes this fun. If the worst team in the district, with a losing record, beats the best team and moves on, then that's what we are about, deciding this stuff on the field. On the other hand, it was guaranteed when district play started, that three teams with 20 wins would be eliminated from the 43d, and at least one team with a losing record would be in the Regional. (Madison Southern played Model).

 

Under your plan, wouldn't Tates Creek have just lost in the first round of the region? What district plan would you propose. Its seems silly to constantly redraw districts because such-and-such team is good right now.

If we are looking for equality and crowning a true and fair champion for any sport, maybe we should take a lesson from our neighbors to the north. The

State of Ohio breaks down every sport by enrollment of boys and girls seperatly for their sports. They Crown a State Champion on 6 levels for football and for baseball they crown 4 state champions. Here is the breakdown for baseball. Enrollment = # of male students from grades 9,10 and 11 in the previous year.

 

 

Division Enrollment Schools

I 411 or more 194

II 236 to 410 194

III 136 to 235 196

IV 135 or less 196

Total Schools 780

 

Ky. already has multiple state champions in Football, Track and Cross Country. The All "A" tournament already is played in almost every sport. Seems like just a little bit of effort to add 1 more level or two would be an easy soulution.

 

Here is the link to the ohio HS Athletic Association web site for divison breakdown.http://www.ohsaa.org/members/sptdivis05.htm

There is really no fair way seed the tournament and although it is very unfair with the strength of the 43rd district in baseball everyone does have the chance to advance. Being from LCA I have seen the last 2 seasons end in 43rd without advancing to the region, but with that said we didn't deserve to go to region either. The 11th region was much tougher before alignment but in the end you have a chance and have to make the best of it. In 5 years LCA something like 50-2 against surrounding counties that have been in the 11th region but only 27-27 against Lexington teams. Weak teams do make it to the region and strong teams are knocked out but fairness is in the eye fo the beholder. Make the best of your opportunities and you don't go home.

There is really no fair way seed the tournament and although it is very unfair with the strength of the 43rd district in baseball everyone does have the chance to advance. Being from LCA I have seen the last 2 seasons end in 43rd without advancing to the region, but with that said we didn't deserve to go to region either. The 11th region was much tougher before alignment but in the end you have a chance and have to make the best of it. In 5 years LCA something like 50-2 against surrounding counties that have been in the 11th region but only 27-27 against Lexington teams. Weak teams do make it to the region and strong teams are knocked out but fairness is in the eye fo the beholder. Make the best of your opportunities and you don't go home.

 

Very well put. Glad to get an honest opinion from someone who actually lives through this district annually! Thanks:thumb:

Gee, I guess our opinion struck a nerve. The district tournament - like any tournament - is supposed to be about finding the best team. Having districts that are clearly inequitable in quality should be a concern, as it allows less-than-the-best teams to advance and eliminates better teams earlier than is fair to that team. And if you feel that is being unfair to smaller schools, so be it. Maybe the answer is to classify the schools and hold more than one tournament. No one has suggested re-districting every year, but it is clear that some districts contain smaller schools that on a regular and repeated basis simply can't compete with the larger schools. I just don't think small schools deserve some special consideration simply because they are smaller. But I certainly respect your right to have an opinion different from mine.

 

 

 

No nerve struck at all. It is just very clear to me that you only want "fairness" when it comes to benefitting your perception of who is a good team and who is not. Small schools do not expect special treatment and believe me, they certainly DON'T get it under the current structure. And one more thing, the goal of any tournament isn't to produce the "best" teams. It is to produce a winner of that portion of the tournament. The "best" team in perception doesn't always move on to the next level. That's why we play the games. (See Highland-Newport in District 36) Giving a leg-up to teams you perceive to be "better" doesn't seem fair to me at all. Play who you have to play, beat who you have to beat and move on. Just because you have a recent history of being good doesn't give you more of a right to the tournament finals than it does anyone else. The good teams, players and coaches know that and go get it done.

Giving a leg-up to teams you perceive to be "better" doesn't seem fair to me at all. Play who you have to play, beat who you have to beat and move on. Just because you have a recent history of being good doesn't give you more of a right to the tournament finals than it does anyone else. The good teams, players and coaches know that and go get it done.

 

With all due respect, when you start using words like "a leg up" then yeah, I do think it has struck a nerve. It's not a "leg up" so much as looking at the way things are set up and wondering if they could be done differently. As lexbaseball33 said, the strength of the 43d is very unfair right now, but everyone in that district does have a chance to beat the other teams. Might that strength change? Possibly, but based on past history, (and on what I have seen from the younger players in the district), it is unlikely. After all, LCA's ace is a junior and Lexington Catholic's #1 and #2 pitchers are juniors. The teams that are up and down may switch, but overall the strength of that district is going to remain high. His LCA team is a prime example of a great team that, as someone else said, would be contending for the regional championship in any region OTHER than the 11th.

 

This really isn't a question of small school v. large school, after all, LCA is in the "All A" and Lex Cath is not in the large school division. The question is, whether, when one portion of the state consistently has a concentration of teams in one sport that excel, whether it be Lexington in baseball, Louisville in football, should the KHSAA take that into account when creating districts and regions? This of course is assuming that the state chooses to keep things the way they are, and not break things down into classes. Ohio's system does seem to make sense, because it acknowledges that a school may have more boys than girls or vice versa and take that into account when deciding what division for what sport.

I agree with your analysis but clearly I disagree with subjectively trying to break up districts by perceived talent, strength, whatever. It is strictly a short-term solution and can only lead to further suggestions of bias, back-room shenanigans etc. This is one of the clearest reasons I have seen for the classification of baseball and other sports like volleyball and even basketball (I know, sacred cow). Putting like competitors in classes to compete at similar levels obviously must make way too much sense.

Every sport has the so-called dominant district. Louisville area football districts, NKY Class A region in track and field, 8th district in basketball, and the list goes on. It obviously hasn't always been that way in Lexington so there is no need to change anything now.