I have to say I am just sick and tired of a private or catholic school winning the championship. Enough is enough. The last public school to win it was Brandywine in 2002. Now with that said, I want to hear some opinions for the upcoming season on which public school you think has the best shot of stopping this trend.
The next public school?
- Thread starter larrybirdcity
- Start date
Right, those three schools. I will be thoroughly disappointed if either of these three schools win the championship.
This post was edited on 1/14 11:40 PM by larrybirdcity
This post was edited on 1/14 11:40 PM by larrybirdcity
I would not bet against St Marks for the next 2 years. Only graduated 2 from last years starting 10 in the championship game. Did not loose any pitching. Started 3 sophomores too. Both Senior and Junior classes are loaded this year.
Here's why it's unlikely a public school will win a state championship...
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/is-baseball-getting-too-expensive-for-kids/
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/is-baseball-getting-too-expensive-for-kids/
CSW you have an ok point, but not in this situation. I read the article you attached to your post. You are essentially indicating that the reason the three schools mentioned win championships is because of their families wealth. Good baseball talent has nothing to do with what type of economic class a family comes from. And based on your name "csw fan" you must be affiliated with charter. You should be smarter than this.
I would like to see the data to support "baseball is primarily a game for the children of wealth and the upper middle class". I watch a lot of amateur baseball, and I just don't see it. Polo is for the wealthy. Baseball is like most youth sports today where year-round travel, private instruction, professional training, etc. rules the day.
Look at the list of 2014 College Commitments. A little less than half attend public school. And, most of the private school kids are probably not wealthy. (And, what is the definition of upper middle class?)
Public or private, what most of those college bound players have in common is travel baseball. Travel baseball can be expensive, but lots of middle class people have expensive hobbies and interests (motorcycle and car racing, boating, private school, Disney, etc). I think a bigger factor is that those private schools listed above attract quite a few kids who
are serious about baseball. Their advantage is that anyone who chooses to pay the tuition can go there. Poor people can't do that, but you don't have to be wealthy either.
This post was edited on 1/15 8:00 PM by TouchThemAll
Look at the list of 2014 College Commitments. A little less than half attend public school. And, most of the private school kids are probably not wealthy. (And, what is the definition of upper middle class?)
Public or private, what most of those college bound players have in common is travel baseball. Travel baseball can be expensive, but lots of middle class people have expensive hobbies and interests (motorcycle and car racing, boating, private school, Disney, etc). I think a bigger factor is that those private schools listed above attract quite a few kids who
are serious about baseball. Their advantage is that anyone who chooses to pay the tuition can go there. Poor people can't do that, but you don't have to be wealthy either.
This post was edited on 1/15 8:00 PM by TouchThemAll
Newark Charter High School
Give them 3-4 years. Brian Lesher ex major league outfielder and UD is the head coach.
Give them 3-4 years. Brian Lesher ex major league outfielder and UD is the head coach.
I posted hastily during a break at work but what I meant to
say is "here's one reason why "
I agree with the basic premise of the article based on my
own experiences. When you're talking about little league, I would agree there's
a wide range of socio-economic status among the players/families. But I think
as you progress into high school and need to compete at a higher level, that's
where it starts to change.
FYI - Here's the breakdown of state champions by decade
since 1970:
1970's: public-8, private-2
1980's: public-7, private-3
1990's: public-4, private-6
2000's: public-2, private-8
2010-present: public-0, private-4
According to a few sources, upper middle class household
income starts in the $65-100k range with average private school cost at just over
$10k per year. If you can afford $10k per year for each of your kids to attend
high school, I think it's safe to say you're most likely upper-middle class or
higher. In 2010, 22% of high school student were enrolled in a private school.
But if TouchThemAll is correct and over half of 2014 college commits are from
private schools, then doesn't it stand to reason that wealth, or lack of it, is
a factor in baseball success? And yes, these kids are playing travel ball and
getting professional instruction. For the most part these kids are good
athletes whose parents have the financial resources that allow them to do these things and play at
the next level. I'm not knocking it, I'm only looking at the facts that other people are using to come to the same conclusion.
As for A.I. having a shot with good players from Piedmont,
is it coincidence that it's in Hockessin where the average household income is
$124,884 compared to the Delaware average of $56,860?
Getting back to the original question, I think the next
public school to win a state championship will not be a conventional public
school. It will be a charter or Vo-Tech school that can build a program and
attract the right student-athletes at the right time. And don't forget about
the coaching. They're often the factor many people forget to consider.
Oh, and Mr. Birdcity ? I hope this post is "smarter".
say is "here's one reason why "
I agree with the basic premise of the article based on my
own experiences. When you're talking about little league, I would agree there's
a wide range of socio-economic status among the players/families. But I think
as you progress into high school and need to compete at a higher level, that's
where it starts to change.
FYI - Here's the breakdown of state champions by decade
since 1970:
1970's: public-8, private-2
1980's: public-7, private-3
1990's: public-4, private-6
2000's: public-2, private-8
2010-present: public-0, private-4
According to a few sources, upper middle class household
income starts in the $65-100k range with average private school cost at just over
$10k per year. If you can afford $10k per year for each of your kids to attend
high school, I think it's safe to say you're most likely upper-middle class or
higher. In 2010, 22% of high school student were enrolled in a private school.
But if TouchThemAll is correct and over half of 2014 college commits are from
private schools, then doesn't it stand to reason that wealth, or lack of it, is
a factor in baseball success? And yes, these kids are playing travel ball and
getting professional instruction. For the most part these kids are good
athletes whose parents have the financial resources that allow them to do these things and play at
the next level. I'm not knocking it, I'm only looking at the facts that other people are using to come to the same conclusion.
As for A.I. having a shot with good players from Piedmont,
is it coincidence that it's in Hockessin where the average household income is
$124,884 compared to the Delaware average of $56,860?
Getting back to the original question, I think the next
public school to win a state championship will not be a conventional public
school. It will be a charter or Vo-Tech school that can build a program and
attract the right student-athletes at the right time. And don't forget about
the coaching. They're often the factor many people forget to consider.
Oh, and Mr. Birdcity ? I hope this post is "smarter".
CSW fan your last post impressed me. You have some interesting facts. However, I feel as if these statistics do not exactly apply to this area(Delaware), but it probably does in other places. I think were looking at more of a coincidence type thing. Here is an interesting stat for you; In the last 14 state championships 12 of the championship games had a public school involved. It is hard to fathom not one of these games went the public schools way.
If upper-middle class is defined as household income starting at $65K, then I will have to agree with the author that baseball at the high school and college level is dominated by the upper-middle class (but not the wealthy). Couldn't the same can be said for most high school sports today?
This is an interesting topic. That trend by decade for baseball is undeniable. I wouldn't be surprised if there are similar trends for lax, soccer, xc, field hockey, volleyball, swimming, golf, tennis... Based on a quick scan of all the 2012-2013 DE state champions, I think more than half were private schools. Baseball is not alone in this trend.
And I agree with CSWfan 100% about a charter or Vo-Tech school being next, since good players have the ability to choose those programs. Once one of these schools establishes a serious baseball program, the ballplayers will come... just like CSW did with academics.
This is an interesting topic. That trend by decade for baseball is undeniable. I wouldn't be surprised if there are similar trends for lax, soccer, xc, field hockey, volleyball, swimming, golf, tennis... Based on a quick scan of all the 2012-2013 DE state champions, I think more than half were private schools. Baseball is not alone in this trend.
And I agree with CSWfan 100% about a charter or Vo-Tech school being next, since good players have the ability to choose those programs. Once one of these schools establishes a serious baseball program, the ballplayers will come... just like CSW did with academics.
