Simply Put-11/20/08

"Sneads Volleyball – Public School State Champs "
By: Clint Cox

I stood on the sidelines this past Saturday in Tallahassee and watched as the Sneads Lady Pirates volleyball team fell to Maclay in the Regional Finals. A win would have sent the ladies to Lakeland for the FHSAA Volleyball Final Four. But that was not to be as Maclay ended Sneads season.
A couple of observations came to my mind while watching this match. One is that today’s brand of volleyball is one of the more exciting sporting events that you can watch. This is not your "leisurely lobbing the ball over the net game." This brand of volleyball is fast paced with plenty of hard driving shots. The ladies are very athletic and it is obvious that they have spent much time bonding as a team, as their teamwork is critical to their success. There is every bit as much strategy, fundamentals and technique that go into volleyball as any other sport. If you haven’t been to a high school volleyball match, check one out next season. I think you’ll enjoy it.
Secondly, the ole private school vs. public school debate entered my mind. Here was Sneads, a public school that has absolutely no control over their admissions, taking on Maclay, a school that has total control over its admissions. As a public school, Sneads must take their current student population that shows up and carve out their respective athletic teams. A private school on the other hand can admit who they want. And while I know they admit a lot of good students, it sure seems that they also admit an awful lot of good athletes.
I decided to sample the elite 8 of the FHSAA volleyball playoffs. That’s the last 8 schools that are in the Regional Finals and have a shot to go to Lakeland. There are six classifications in volleyball and in the lower three classifications (1A, 2A & 3A) there were a total of 24 teams making the elite 8 in their respective classifications. Of those 24 teams, 23 were private schools and 1 was a public school. That one public school was Sneads.
Having covered the sports of football, basketball, baseball, softball and wrestling, I can tell you that sampling the elite 8 of those sports would produce similar results. It’s just not right. Whether the private schools recruit, and I imagine some do, or whether they simply groom their student population through the admissions process, they have an unfair advantage.
Some states have separate playoffs for private schools and some make private schools play in higher classifications. At least that demonstrates an effort to level the playing field. Florida unfortunately is not one of those states and that is a shame.
I congratulate the Sneads Lady Pirates. You made school history with an appearance in the regional finals. Hold your heads high and know that, Simply Put, you are the 2008 Class 2A Public School State Champions.

From the front porch: Uncle Bob said well done is better than well said.