A story in the Daily State News focused on whether Delaware should have separate high school championships for public and private schools. A committee studying the issue recommended no change from the state’s current practice of including all schools in the tournaments.
(Editor's note: This has been updated to correct attribution for one of the comments.)
Very simple: tuition and nontuition-based split! — Bob Beron
And, truth be told in many cases, tuition is free or very reduced at the tuition-based places. — Jon Buzby
Bob doesn’t recall the joy in Kent County when Caesar Rodney stifled two-time champion St. Mark’s en route to the 1975 state football title. — Chuck Durante
Yeah, like Sanford — who gets kids from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York — hasn’t won triple the amount of state titles than any other school has. Also, on no level is basketball more popular than football in Delaware. Packed stadiums and empty gyms prove my point. — Justice Blanchfield
It’s past due! Smaller public schools, like Delmar, should not be competing against these private schools. Let them compete in the season if they want but make the playoffs separate! — Earle Hatton
May I remind Earle that Delmar has been beating public and private schools for years? — Chuck Durante
Mainly at field hockey, not sure about anything else the last five to 10 years. — Earle Hatton
Point being, Earle, that: 1. Championships are not entitlements. They’re generational events. Tatnall last won a field hockey title 40 years ago. The Atlanta Hawks last won when they were in St. Louis. The Sacramento Kings last won three cities ago, in 1951. 2. The Wildcats have been doing quite nicely in many sports, with far more crowns than most schools. 3. Part of the joy of a championship run is beating bigger and richer schools. Henry Cuffee’s team beat the biggest school in the state. Donald Johnson threw his winning touchdown pass against the school that produced Joe Biden. Austin Cave ran faster than everyone at Salesianum. — Chuck Durante
I’ve been around football and basketball for over 30 years. Ever since the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association added a third class in football, I’ve noticed that the scores of the games are tighter. The Class 3A schools (the big schools), for the past few years, have been teams like Salesianum, Middletown and Smyrna. Teams like Dover, Cape, St Georges and Hodgson always have respectable seasons. Both Class 2A (probably the most competitive) and Class 1A games are usually pretty competitive. How will the new law on transfers affect the competitiveness of the sport? Time will tell. Boys’ basketball, through the years, has been pretty competitive. I don’t believe that the private schools recruit that heavily, with the exception of Sanford. Though from a “north/south” perspective, the northern schools usually go deeper into postseason play than the southern schools. When it comes to girls’ basketball, the difference in talent from private to public is quite noticeable. The private schools definitely have an advantage. I’ve been a basketball official in this state since 1990. I bet that the girls’ basketball state champions have been mostly private schools. Just the last 10 years alone, the “elite eight” has been predominantly the private and northern schools. This is what I’ve seen in all my years around these two sports. I’m sure that there are others, where the private schools dominate, as well, like girls’ soccer and volleyball. Oh, it’s not a “work harder” thing, like some claim. Let’s face it: There are kids out there whose parents can’t afford a private coach. When it comes to (especially girls’) basketball, the DIAA should do what it did with football and add at least one more division. It should do that with the boys, as well. This is just an opinion from what I’ve seen through the years. — Rick Kerchevall
Try harder if you didn’t win. — Jon Walczak
Separate divisions, just like all the other states do! — Peter Servon
The article directly states otherwise. — Benjamin Black
All of our surrounding states do it! — Peter Servon
The rest of the state needs to catch up to Salesianum and Padua. These schools have great results because they’re disciplined and have pride. — Wrecking_Ball
It has nothing to do with being able to recruit from Pennsylvania, Maryland or New Jersey? — Jim Nelson
Salesianum, Padua, Ursuline and St. Mark’s can recruit any student they want. The public schools can’t. It has nothing to do with discipline or pride. — Jeepwherry
