First of all I was mentioning this because private schools have the advantage of picking and choosing who they let in their doors. I never said anything of Highlands, they are a public school if you live in their district you have the right to go there.

 

I want to ask some Trinity fans a question. If it wasn't for the recession would Trinity's school population be through the roof? Most private schools have a population cap because they don't want to build anymore. If Trinity could reach 2500-3000+ students would they want this? Would the school want to stop the growth. I can understand times are tough with money right now but Trinity being the power it is in football right now I would think people would be knocking down the doors to go there.

 

If not, I find it odd their school population has basically been the exact same for 15 years that I know or close to it.

 

My guess if tons folks were knocking on the door there would be another private school open in the area.

Trinity actually has a full time coach who oversee's their weightlifting program,,,,a professional strength coach is an advantage. Maddox oversee's all of the athletic programs In-season and Off-season programs. This does allow the football staff more time to spend on coaching football.

My brother in law owns 2 apartment buildings in Ft Thomas and he always has had at least one tenant who is renting just to get a Ft Thomas address so as to send a child to the Ft Thomas school system . Basically a mail drop .

 

Why would someone rent an apartment at $500 to $800 a month to send their kid to HHS when they could pay tuition for $2500 or $5000. Now if your brother in law was sending his kids there and using the address, that makes more sense. Highlands loves tuition students (students and athletes) as it puts much needed money in the coffer. There was an article a few months ago about how Highlands is trying to crack down on people using addresses and not living there to send their kid to Highlands to avoid paying tuition. I know personally, of at least 3 cases, in the grade school last year where the board kicked out the student for not really living in Ft. Thomas.

I understand if a school is new then that is a big deal but at some point longevity has severely diminishing returns. How long has Male been around?

 

The point of the thread is there are no advantages to start, everyone plays by the same KHSAA rules, it is what schools do to build their program given those parameters that matter. Trinity certainly excels and most people are quick to say Trinity excels because they are a private school and they have advantages. Well they don't advantages unless they have created them under the same set of rules everyone plays by. I used Highlands as a comparison because their program is just as successful as Trinity (lets not get into semantics everyone) and Highlands is a public school which shows everyone it can be done at a public school. In summary, every school makes its own breaks and the private/public stuff is nothing more than an excuse for underachieving public schools.

 

I have said it before and I will say it again, the mirror is a lonely place.

 

I agree, you make some good points, and certainly some schools could do better with what they have. But it is foolish, in my opinion to assume that it is as simple as everyone underachieving. When did the Birds last beat T or X? Are they part of they underachieving 99% of the state because they haven't done it recently (to my knowledge)? Surely you don't think Beechwood is underachieving because they can't beat the Birds? Roughly comparable size wise to T and X vs. the rest of 6A right?

But yet has Alumni dating back to Flaget much further than that. And 1954 is STILL much further back than many of the 6A schools can claim.

I agree, you make some good points, and certainly some schools could do better with what they have. But it is foolish, in my opinion to assume that it is as simple as everyone underachieving. When did the Birds last beat T or X? Are they part of they underachieving 99% of the state because they haven't done it recently (to my knowledge)? Surely you don't think Beechwood is underachieving because they can't beat the Birds? Roughly comparable size wise to T and X vs. the rest of 6A right?

 

None of that is the point. The point is everyone plays by the same set of rules. I agree depth/numbers is an advantage and Highlands isn't supposed to be better than T or X (size/depth) and Beechwood isn't supposed to be as good as Highlands (size/depth -- it matters -- I don't care what anyone tells you).

 

I will say this, I believe if Highlands had the same male enrollment as T and X they would beat them four out of five times.

 

The underachieving comment is aimed at schools of similar size (in any class) that complain about private schools and do a mediocre job with their own program.

Just to note, were we coed we would have to adhere to Title IX. It applies to publics and privates.

 

But your not and you don't have to?? If we were boys only we would not have to adhere to Title IX, see what I did there??And if we could claim that we couldn't "meet the needs" of certain special education populations we wouldn't have to provide service to them either (because someone eventually DOES have to).

But your not and you don't have to?? If we were boys only we would not have to adhere to Title IX, see what I did there??And if we could claim that we couldn't "meet the needs" of certain special education populations we wouldn't have to provide service to them either (because someone eventually DOES have to).

 

My response was simple factual information without undue hyperbole, no need to resort to excessive punctuation to illustrate your point. I was responding to a comment that indicated that it only applied to publics, I am well aware that Trinity doesn't accept female students. For what it's worth, outside of some specialist schools in Louisville, no private school comes close to what we offer for special needs students. We do this because we want more boys to be part of the Trinity family no matter their abilities. Do we have the breadth of coverage that the JCPS does? Certainly not, we haven't had near the time to develop our programs to the extent the publics have and I commend that.

Ok, but what if Highlands had won zero state championships, was a school that was built in the last 30-40 years, and had 80% (or less) of the enrollment of T and X. Because that is the problem the majority of your 6A schools are facing. Apples to apples now.

 

Go to practice at your local public 6A school. Go to practice at T/X. The advantages will become blantanly clear. Less paid coaches, fewer players out (and no, you can't convince me they aren't doing a good job getting kids out when it is like that at EVERY school in the state), etc. The question we need to be asking is WHY did Mitchell choose Highlands, WHY did McBroom and Brohm choose Trinity over all the other schools they could have attended. I'm not saying at all that these schools don't do a great job at developing what they have, they certainly do, but it helps to have a lot of motivated ammunition to throw at the dartboard.

My response was simple factual information without undue hyperbole, no need to resort to excessive punctuation to illustrate your point. I was responding to a comment that indicated that it only applied to publics, I am well aware that Trinity doesn't accept female students. For what it's worth, outside of some specialist schools in Louisville, no private school comes close to what we offer for special needs students. We do this because we want more boys to be part of the Trinity family no matter their abilities. Do we have the breadth of coverage that the JCPS does? Certainly not, we haven't had near the time to develop our programs to the extent the publics have and I commend that.

But yet you have had plenty of time to develop your football program to a level well past the publics. I'm not buying it. I guess it is all about where your priorities, or in some cases national directed priorities, fall.

Ok, but what if Highlands had won zero state championships, was a school that was built in the last 30-40 years, and had 80% (or less) of the enrollment of T and X. Because that is the problem the majority of your 6A schools are facing. Apples to apples now.

 

Go to practice at your local public 6A school. Go to practice at T/X. The advantages will become blantanly clear. Less paid coaches, fewer players out (and no, you can't convince me they aren't doing a good job getting kids out when it is like that at EVERY school in the state), etc. The question we need to be asking is WHY did Mitchell choose Highlands, WHY did McBroom and Brohm choose Trinity over all the other schools they could have attended. I'm not saying at all that these schools don't do a great job at developing what they have, they certainly do, but it helps to have a lot of motivated ammunition to throw at the dartboard.

 

McBroom I cannot comment on (mostly because I don't know), but Brohm's family had a longstanding tradition within the Catholic schools in Louisville. The Catholic schools are more than just places for learning and football, they are part of a subculture that has existed in Louisville since well before Trinity opened its doors. Brian's father, brothers and sister all attended Catholic schools and not just at the high school level. Do some people choose Trinity strictly for football? I am sure that happens, I would wager that far more choose it for the education and the sense of community.

But yet you have had plenty of time to develop your football program to a level well past the publics. I'm not buying it. I guess it is all about where your priorities, or in some cases national directed priorities, fall.

 

Our education programs have been the focus of the majority of our growth and improvement throughout our existence. Before we got our new facilities we upgraded our classrooms and added more faculty(who teach mind you). The special education programs that we have came into existence within the last 10 years.

 

National priorities are nowhere near as important as our commitment to the Catholic community in Louisville.

Our education programs have been the focus of the majority of our growth and improvement throughout our existence. Before we got our new facilities we upgraded our classrooms and added more faculty(who teach mind you). The special education programs that we have came into existence within the last 10 years.

 

National priorities are nowhere near as important as our commitment to the Catholic community in Louisville.

 

So while you were building your football empire over the past 50 years all of these underachiving publics had to cater to these students that you chose not to deal with. That requires money and resources and lots of them. 10 teachers at approx 40,000 a year over a 50 year span. Yeah, I'm sure lots of football programs and for that matter schools in general could find a use for that 20 million.

 

We don't have a choice in whether we deal with national priorities. Truthfully, they are no where near as important as other issues facing schools in communities across KY. But again, we aren't afforded that luxury. Someone has to take these students, and as you stated, No Child Left Behind isn't as important as your commitment to Catholic education. We don't get to choose what is important to us and what isn't.

So while you were building your football empire over the past 50 years all of these underachiving publics had to cater to these students that you chose not to deal with. That requires money and resources and lots of them. 10 teachers at approx 40,000 a year over a 50 year span. Yeah, I'm sure lots of football programs and for that matter schools in general could find a use for that 20 million.

 

We don't have a choice in whether we deal with national priorities. Truthfully, they are no where near as important as other issues facing schools in communities across KY. But again, we aren't afforded that luxury. Someone has to take these students, and as you stated, No Child Left Behind isn't as important as your commitment to Catholic education. We don't get to choose what is important to us and what isn't.

 

No dog in this fight. But that is an idiotic statement. Of course, everyone gets to choose what is important to them. You may not have the means to fufill it monetarily, but basically that tells me you are defeated before any competition starts (athletically or otherwise).

None of that is the point. The point is everyone plays by the same set of rules. I agree depth/numbers is an advantage and Highlands isn't supposed to be better than T or X (size/depth) and Beechwood isn't supposed to be as good as Highlands (size/depth -- it matters -- I don't care what anyone tells you).

 

I will say this, I believe if Highlands had the same male enrollment as T and X they would beat them four out of five times.

 

The underachieving comment is aimed at schools of similar size (in any class) that complain about private schools and do a mediocre job with their own program.

 

On your terms then, not taking into account other factors that infulence football playing students:

 

Beechwood isn't supposed to be as good as Highlands (size/numbers)

 

BW - 193 Boys

Highlands - 400 Boys

 

Approx a 50% difference

 

23 of the 30 non T or X 6A schools - 910-712 boys

Trinity - 1453 boys

 

Approx a 50-60% difference

 

So again I ask, is Beechwood underachieving becase they can't beat Highlands.

 

Want to argue that 7 teams are underachieving, fine. The rest are in the same boat as Beechwood, numbers wise.