Pat on the back in order for Byrd

"Congratulate me; we just made the playoffs,” Byrd head football coach Mike Suggs jokingly said to me on his way back from the Louisiana High School Athletic Association meeting Jan. 25 in Baton Rouge. Suggs was referring to the 206-119 landmark decision by LHSAA-member school principals on Proposition 18, which split select and non-select schools into separate playoffs in the football postseason beginning in 2013. Byrd, which is Shreveport’s oldest public high school, is deemed a select school because more than 33 percent of its students come from outside the school’s attendance zone.

The Yellow Jackets will compete for District 1-5A honors because the decision does not affect districts during the regular season, which is a bit absurd, in my opinion. The playoffs will then have non-select schools staying within their typical classi cations. Then the select schools, Class 1A and 2A teams, will play in one division, while Class 3A, 4A and 5A schools will be in another. So, Byrd is guaranteed a spot in the select school playoffs. Congratulations, Byrd!

In Suggs’ opinion, this decision doesn’t have a “significant impact” on Class 4A and 5A. For the most part, the higher classifications have been dominated by public schools such as West Monroe, Acadiana, Destrehan, Neville and Franklinton. However, it’s the lower classifications 3A, 2A and 1A where the split has the most impact, particularly in 1A, where only 27 non-select schools remain. The lower classifications have been dominated by the select schools.

Make no mistake about this decision. It was the public schools wanting to rid themselves of the perennial football powerhouses such as the Evangel Eagles, John Curtis Patriots, Parkview Baptist Eagles, Notre Dame Pioneers and Ouachita Christian Eagles. It was Winnfield High School principal Jane Griffin who offered this proposal and understandably so. The Tigers have certainly had their ll of the Curtis Patriots for more than 30 years. JCC recently won its record 25 state championship and was declared the national champion by the USA Today.

I’ve been on both sides of the ledger in this heated debate. As I told my brother Jeff, who is firmly entrenched on the public school side due to my nephew Thomas attending Crowley High School, this is the “lipstick on the pig” story. You can use terms like “select” and “non-select,” but this was nothing more than a vote to split the LHSAA between public and private schools in football. Of course, there are anomalies like Byrd that get caught up in the mix.

Suggs told me there were already rumblings by the private schools to break off and form their own association. A number of years ago when splitting the association came up, Teurlings Catholic principal Mike Boyer, who coached me in high school, said he would be in favor of the private schools breaking away. Boyer actually attempted to have this proposal tabled, but his motion was voted down. I don’t think it will happen immediately, but I do think the private schools breaking away will be an issue that gains strength over the next two years.

Once this new playoff system is implemented in football, I firmly believe it will be just a matter of time before there will be a push by non-football coaches to go to this select, nonselect playoff format in all sports. If this happens, I believe the private schools will then try to break away fully.

However, it may not be that easy for the private schools to part ways with their public counterparts, particularly in North Louisiana. Along the Interstate 10 corridor and below, I believe there are enough private schools to be able to split off, but the problem lies in North Louisiana. Along the Interstate 20 corridor you have Evangel, Calvary Baptist, Loyola College Prep, Cedar Creek, Ouachita Christian and St. Frederick’s. Throw in St. Mary’s in Natchitoches and Holy Savior Menard in Alexandria, and that’s a heck of a lot of miles to travel for a district baseball game or tennis match. It’s likely the North Louisiana private schools would have to approach schools like Glenbrook School and Claiborne Academy and try to bring them into the fold. Those two schools are members of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools.

Jeff, who, like me, is a product of Catholic schools, kept saying this was finally a vote by the LHSAA membership to “level the playing field.” He believed that for far too long the LHSAA has had its “head buried in the sand” when it came to catering to the minority – the private schools. I understood his point, but I said it’s also a bit naïve to believe that true equality exists in all public school systems across the state. If you do believe there is equality in public schools, particularly when it comes to athletics, I suggest you go and fully examine the likes of West Monroe, Neville, Zachary and Central of Baton Rouge versus Green Oaks, Woodlawn, Warren Easton and LaGrange. Come December 2013, the State Farm Sugar Bowl Prep Classic will feature seven state title games, and Suggs and his Jackets hope to be in the new select big school state title game. “We’re basically trading West Monroe, Ouachita and Acadiana for John Curtis, Evangel and Parkview,” he said. “If you’re good enough to win a state championship then it really doesn’t matter who you play, you still should able to beat them.”

So if you see Suggs, congratulate him on making the playoffs.

Charlie Cavell may be reached at ccavell12@hotmail.com.