St. Aloysius Shield CRIMSON SHIELD
THE ONLINE MAGAZINE OF BROTHER MARTIN HIGH SCHOOL		 St. Aloysius Shield
March 2014
Published September - November - January - March - May
‹‹ Front page       Next article ››
Brother Martin Athletic Director Scott Williams Athletic Director
Scott Williams

Future of the LHSAA

St. Aloysius joined the Louisiana High School Athletic Association in 1931, two years after the LHSAA opened its doors to private schools.

  • Crusader teams at Aloysius and Brother Martin have won state championships in basketball, baseball, football, cross country, wrestling, soccer, and golf (a sport in which Cor Jesu also won state in 1969).
  • Well over half the Brother Martin student body participates in athletics. So major changes in the LHSAA have a strong impact on the school.

And major changes are afoot in the state association.

  • In January 2013, the principals voted to separate the football playoffs into Select and Non-Select divisions. The Select division comprised all private schools plus public schools that drew more than 25% of their enrollment from outside their attendance zone. The latter group included some charter schools as well as magnet schools and schools with special programs that draw students from the entire parish.
  • Consequently, Brother Martin participated in the 5A Select School football play­offs in 2013 with just nine other schools: the other five in the Catholic League (Archbishop Rummel, Archbishop Shaw, Holy Cross, Jesuit, and St. Augustine), St. Paul's in Covington, Catholic High of Baton Rouge, and two magnet schools, Scotlandville and Byrd (Shreveport).
  • At their annual meeting this past January, the principals voted to continue the split football playoffs in 2014. An amendment to extend the split to all sports was tabled because it was submitted after the deadline. But all indications point to the princi­pals approving split state championships in all sports next January.
  • The organization also approved recommendations from the School Relations Com­mittee, which is comprised of principals and athletic directors from both pub­lic and private schools. Among the changes were making the civil parish boundary line the athletic attendance zone for each school, a move that shifted Scotlandville and Byrd back to the Non-Select division. Also, a student voluntarily transferring from one school to another will be ineligible to participate in any sport at the new school for a full year. Another regulation requires private schools to use an approved fi­nancial aid processing service for its athletes.
What are the views of Brother Martin's Athletic Direc­tor Scott Williams ('90) on what has transpired and what does he foresee for the future?

I've been a complete optimist throughout the whole pro­cess. I want to believe kids come first. But the vote last January made me see it has nothing to do with creating a level playing field because they passed practically every­thing that the School Relations Committee proposed. But they still voted a second and third time [once in classifi­cation meetings and again in the entire group] to main­tain the split.
I sat in the back of the room, and some of the ADs around me cheered when the motion to continue the split passed. One principal came in his camouflage straight from hunt­ing. He put in his vote to continue the split, joked with his buddies at the table, and left. He didn't take it seriously at all.
They're not seeing the big picture. The minor sports in the public schools will suffer and some will be eliminated be­cause there won't be enough public schools participating in the sport.
I wonder how State Farm is feeling. They're the main sponsor of LHSAA. Suppose they pull their corporate sponsorship. People aren't seeing down the road.

The public schools paint with a broad brush when they implicitly accuse the private schools to offering de facto athletic scholarships.

When they accuse us of recruiting, we're lumped in with everybody by default. Certain schools give all of us a bad name. It's not fair. We do our best to uphold the integrity of our school and what athletics stand for. I'm not saying we're perfect, but we strive to do things the right way. We look at the LHSAA Handbook and ask, What does the rule say? Not what does the rule say and how can we get around it? It's frustrating knowing that schools do it right, but we're all being penalized. Do I think the majority of schools do it right? Yes. Is it about everybody getting a cupcake in this society? That's not life.
Grace King upset us in the soccer playoffs. I'm a steward of athletics. I love the lessons that are learned when you win and when you lose. You've got to lose with some type of grace and win with some type of humility. Do I want to win everything? Absolutely, but not at the cost of sacri­ficing the program and the school. I will not do that.
I'd love to give the soccer team something. Those are some great young men, and they learned a lesson in that process. They had a great season but experienced a road­block. They'll be stronger because of it. They'll experience disappointments in their professional careers and in their family life. Are you going to quit or give 120%? That's the lesson athletics teaches.
Our athletic program is character-based. Of course we want to win. But more importantly we're trying to teach these kids in the process. It's important to put good men in front of these kids to take that average player and pull something out of him he never thought he'd have in him. That's why we're competitive. Not because we're dropping money here and there and fudging things. If that's the allegation, I know what we do is with integrity. And I would hope every school would do that.
Our coaches have a standard line when they visit the playgrounds. We'll give you a great education and make you a better man. We talk about holistic education.
Athletics is a part of that. It's not, You can come vacuum the coaches' office once a week while out of season and come here free. Or wipe down the weights in the weight room. That's not our work-study program. Anyone who walks into our school can see what our program is. It's actually work.
We've been submitting the required reports to the LHSAA listing all athletes receiving financial aid. We reported three football players on financial aid. One was a backup on the varsity, another one played on the JV, and the third on the junior high team. I'm not part of the process of granting scholarships and financial aid, and I should not be. Financial decisions are based on what the parents' W2 form states. It's none of my business.

Some fallout from the vote to split has already started.

I sent a notice to our coaches the day after the vote. I typed up a list of the schools that voted for the split. We're not going to schedule them in the future. It started with spring football when we stopped scrimmaging Cov­ington. We used to play in the Fontainebleau Jamboree each football season. When they voted for the split, Rummel and St. Paul's immediately pulled out and we did too. This past year, we played in the West Bank Chal­lenge with Shaw and two public schools. We made a lot of money, but why go back? This year, we're hosting the Brothers of the Sacred Heart Jamboree: Teurlings, E. D. White, and Catholic High.
We've played Central Lafourche in baseball and in foot­ball. We're not playing them anymore. You think this split is in the best interests of your school. Then it's in the best interest of our school not to play you.
The effect is even greater in the minor sports. Why should we have public schools come to our cross country meet? Host your own. Why should we invite you to a cluster swim meet? Host your own. Is it ugly? Yes. Is it petty? I don't think so. This is what you asked for.

Scott sees three options for the future.

First, sit back and take it like we've been doing and let the chips fall where the chips fall. But we know where they're going to fall.
Secondly, completely split from the LHSAA, which I don't think is a feasible option. As much as people may have an opinion about the LHSAA, I think it does good work. It wasn't created in one night. There's an infrastructure, constitution, seed money. Where's all that going to come from? Will there be a problem with officials associations? Will they sign contracts with two associations?
Third, create Select and Non-Select divisions under the LHSAA umbrella. Why should we play these schools in districts, then split for the playoff? Let's split for the whole thing. That's easy for me to say because we're in a unique situation with an all-Catholic district. St. Paul's may not want to do that. At the least, this option gives time to create an infrastructure if you do decide to split.

All Catholic schools in the state will meet March 24.

We'll see where everyone is on these issues and discuss what direction to take. I think everybody will be on the same page.

Stay tuned.