Class A and open enrollments

[Big Red]

In another thread it was brought up that a possible solution to the class A enrollment issue could be to limit class A from open enrollments coming in.<br><br>I can see it as a feasible solution.<br><br>This is not to bash any specific program, but to make it fair to the true homegrown teams.<br><br>Thoughts...? <p></p><i></i>

[hubbaa]

so we ban transfers for education, speech, band etc? i'm sorry red but it is already fair to true home grown teams. they have as much opportunity as anyone else. the rules apply to them as well as everyone else. i admit i don't like seeing kids transferring simply because of athletics but every system will be abused, the problem is what to do about the abuses. and then how to prove an abuse accurred in the first place. this is high school athletics and the last thing the high school league want to do is police transfers. as i said many times in the past soon we won't have high school athletics, so just enjoy them while they are still here. <p></p><i></i>

[xk1]

I think the big knock on private schools in A (AHA and BSM) was that is wasn't fair to the other A scshoolos becasue they got to take players from all over while A schools were typically restricted to their own school district. I think people are wondering if having open enrolled players isn't similar.<br>The reality is all of the top A teams can compete very well with the top AA schools, enrollment size really isn't the deciding factor. It begs the question, in our current situation, where open enrollment exists, what should really be the distinction for A and AA? <p></p><i></i>

[keepitreal]

First, for every argument that private schools have perceived free reign to attract athletes at large, there are dozens more that suggest open enrollment is a vastly easier road for those seeking a transfer for athletic purposes. <br><br>Unlike open enrollment, which BTW is every student's legal right in Minnesota, it's not as simple as filling out a transfer form to attend a private school. Acceptance is a long and arduous process for a very limited number who will be accepted. Most families have to sacrifice a great deal to send their student to a private school and it's not a decision to be taken lightly. Because of what's generally a higher academic demand, athletic considerations quickly take a back seat to impact on the student and financial impact on the family.<br><br>Despite recent successes by private schools, open enrollment is a much bigger threat to the integrity of HS sports. We're already hearing rumors on athletes who are going to try and open enroll to Eden Prairie, which is a sad commentary. <br><br>Some of the high profile open enrolled players have come from situations where the program is broken or there seems to be a problem with coaching, so we don't always have the full story. Hard to find a good solution. I think the best thing MSHSL could do for hockey (both boy's and girl's) would be to eliminate the A and AA distinction and return it to its original single class (but a 16 team tourney). Then the championship would mean something greater and a lot of this open enrollement madness might lessen when no team is the clear favorite in each class. <p></p><i></i>

[ghshockeyfan]

I like a Sweet 16 tourney idea. I have some ideas about how this could be done, including having 4-6 "A" teams, Shattuck, Certain "Private" sections, and then your typical AA sections, etc. I would also want to see this seeded...<br><br>That aside, I have to say that the notion of class A transfers really isn't an issue...<br><br>In rural areas, where most "A" schools exist, it's not geographically feasible to transfer/open enroll. Similarly, in the cities, you don't see kids open enrolling to "A" schools as they'll go to an "AA" first which TYPICALLY has better educational options (note that SSP is an exception here due to what they've built academic offering wise).<br><br>Note that I didn't mention anything about the hockey concerns in the paragraph above... <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p100.ezboard.com/bmnhs.showUserP ... ckeyfan</A> at: 2/28/06 12:27 am<br></i>