Private schools are ruining MIAA sports and something needs to be done to stop them from ruining the playoffs.
Private schools are a great opportunity for some kids to receive better education and to enhance their athletic experience. There is one main issue I have with private schools and that is their ability to have kids enroll–or transfer in–specifically for sports and beat up on public schools, ruining their playoff runs.
While it is technically against MIAA’s rules for a private school to recruit kids for athletic purposes, private schools still land some of the best athletes in the state year in and year out. Private schools need to attract students, and they do it by trying to have elite programs in athletics and other areas. I get that. But it’s simply not fair to have a college-style program competing with schools whose student body is defined by a geographical boundary.
A great example of the ridiculousness of private schools is Catholic Memorial. They are the best football team in the state of Massachusetts, no doubt about that. They beat the #1 ranked division 1 team, St. John’s Prep (also a private school–imagine that!) 34-0. The crazy part about this is since Catholic Memorial has a smaller number of students at their school, they can choose to be in division 2 for football, as the MIAA arranges divisions based on enrollment. But this smaller number of students are majority athletes, therefore making the school size argument completely invalid.
So, they are the best team in the state but aren’t even in the best division in the state. Catholic Memorial has the opportunity to join division 1, but instead, they decide they will ruin public school seasons in division 2. This is a problem.
Another example of private schools ruining public school seasons is when St. John’s Prep “won” the division 1 hockey tournament in the 23-24 season. Winchester, a fellow Middlesex League team and rival of Reading, had a remarkable season, turning their near .500 regular season into a trip to the division 1 state finals, where they went up against the best team in the state, St John’s Prep. Not only did Winchester lose in an extremely competitive game, but they lost on a heartbreaking missed whistle from the referee, counting a goal that happened after the buzzer for SJP. Don’t get me wrong, this missed call could’ve happened in any game, private school or not, but Winchester shouldn’t have even had to go through St. John’s. Massachusetts has a rich history of private school hockey programs like Nobles, and Thayer, and Governor’s Academy–they are content to play other teams with similar admissions restraints. They weren’t looking to play Winchester High to determine a state championship.
I actually like the concept of private schools and I’m not slandering them in general. I just think that they need to compete with each other in the playoffs. If public school teams think they are up to the challenge and want to play them in a non league game during the season, go ahead. But they shouldn’t have to deal with them in the playoffs, end of story.
I’m not just going to sit here and complain about it, however. I think there is a clear solution for this. Private schools can join an independent league like Austin Prep did a few years ago–so you can compete with private schools in a great and historic league. Another easier solution is, the MIAA can make an all-private state tournament or team with other New England state scholastic athletic associations to make a New England tournament for private schools at the end of every season. This would allow public schools to test their skills against private schools in the regular season but have a private playoffs for both. One of these choices needs to be made to keep the playoffs competitive, fair, and enjoyable for all.
