Other states tackling public-private school sports imbalance

The dispute over private school dominance in high school sports is not unique to the Silver State.

Governing bodies of athletics organizations across the country are struggling to deal with competitive imbalance between public and private schools.

Proposals have ranged from stricter transfer rules in Colorado to separate state tournaments in Georgia and to completely separate associations in larger states such as Texas.

The Arizona Interscholastic Association will vote in September on a proposal to move all private schools up one classification level, which goes as high as 6A in football.

Over the past three years, about half of all Arizona's high school state titles have been won by private schools, which make up only 13 percent of AIA membership.

"This has been a struggle in Nevada; it's been a struggle in almost every state that I'm aware," said Chuck Schmidt, associate executive director of the AIA. "Nobody wants to go to a poker game every Friday night and lose every time.

"What if a team showed up and won March Madness every year for six or seven years in a row? ... There would be significant concern, investigation, dialogue and debate."

If the Arizona proposal passes, a traditional 5A private school would have to compete against 6A teams. A 6A team would stay at its current classification.

In Nevada this proposal would have no effect on powerhouse Bishop Gorman because the school already plays 4A, the state's highest classification.

New Mexico Activities Association spokesman Robert Zayas said his organization is discussing having a "multiplier" that would vault some private schools up in classification. Nevada already has a multiplier of two for its private schools.

In April, the Colorado High School Activities Association passed stricter guidelines for students who transfer from public to private schools.

Athletes who transfer to a private school within the same school district must miss at least half of the next season. Students could be forced to miss a full season if a transfer is athletically motivated.

Public-to-private school transfers in Nevada already must sit out a year in any sport they played at the public school before transferring.

In Oregon, Portland's Jesuit High School is the state's resident goliath on the high school athletic scene, similar to Bishop Gorman. Jesuit's athletic program was ranked No. 1 in the country in 2007 by Sports Illustrated, and it is the largest private school in the state.

The Oregon School Activities Association met last month to discuss the competitive imbalance.

"The result out of the committee was no change," said OSAA spokesman Kyle Stanfield. "We couldn't find a solution to level the playing field."

Some states think they have.

Beginning this fall, Georgia will host separate postseason tournaments for public and private schools. The Georgia High School Athletic Association was prompted to vote on the change after dozens of its member schools threatened to form a separate association. Public and private schools still will play against each other in the regular season.

Such a strategy is unlikely to work in Nevada, which has only three private schools competing in 4A.

Ohio is likely to vote on a similar model within the next few years, according to Ohio High School Athletic Association spokesman Tim Stried.

"We've been really outspoken; we don't want that to happen," Stried said. "But, you know, I guess times are changing."

Contact View reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 702-224-5524.