Exploring separation of MSHSAA's public and private classification: Who’s right?

One of the things that you’ll always hear in public school fan circles after a season-ending loss to a private school is that they shouldn’t even be playing each other.

The Semoball.com comment sections have been flooded with different stances on this, but the consensus opinion seems to be that private schools have an unfair advantage over MSHSAA’s public schools when it comes to postseason play.

While there is certainly a noticeable uptick in talent with some of these private schools, it always begs the question, “Is this really the case with all of these private schools, or just some of them?”

We'll explore some of the noticeable cases state-wide that exemplify the large talent gap between some of these larger private schools, but also take a moment to acknowledge the potential harm in separating some of these smaller schools.

From a local perspective, you can look at Notre Dame and Saxony Lutheran. Both of these schools are known for having solid athletic programs, but nothing noticeably greater than the mean besides the recent ascension of Notre Dame’s girls basketball program.

If there were to be a separation between public and private schools, a la the existence of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) in the Lone Star State, it’d severely affect the performance of these schools that don’t recruit from large metropolitan areas.

If the state association broke these private schools off into small, medium and large-sized classes, perhaps there could be a higher level of competition between some of these schools that are less gifted with a large talent pool.

Perhaps there's a solution to be had with understanding the enrollment of a school but also taking into account the proximity to large areas with more bountiful prospects to be recruited.

Many of these schools closer to this talent have thrived on the ability to court athletes into coming to their programs. This has created a repetitive cycle of dominance, and has been the biggest attention-bringer to the debate of separation.

One of the most culpable examples of the private vs. public debate is the case of Incarnate Word Academy out of St. Louis and its seemingly unstoppable girls basketball team.

The Red Knights have won six consecutive MSHSAA championships, and have a winning streak that hasn’t been snapped since February 2020. In that span, they’ve won 102 consecutive games.

Their last loss came to Columbia’s Rock Bridge, which was avenged with a 27-point win in last year’s Class 6 state championship game. Incarnate Word is, virtually, untouchable, and it all stems from a recruiting advantage with a foothold in the St. Louis girls basketball scene.

In terms of football, which this debate largely stems from, the Metro Catholic Conference in St. Louis — Chaminade, Christian Brothers, De Smet, St. Louis University High and Vianney — has had a grip on the postseason for a while now.

De Smet and Christian Brothers have appeared in the Class 6 championship game in each of the past seven seasons, winning five of them. Vianney also tacked on Class 5 state championships in 2016 and 2018, firmly pushing the envelope.

Cardinal Ritter College Prep won a second consecutive state championship this year, dominating Republic in the Class 5 title championship game.

The success factor is great for schools like Valle Catholic, but Cardinal Ritter has reportedly maxed out its success factor — and still dominated the Class 5 scene, including a 30-point win against Cape Central in the semifinal.

On the other side of the state, Rockhurst always finds its way to one of the top rankings in Missouri during the football season out of Kansas City.

It doesn’t help that the Hawklets’ enrollment peaks at around 1,400 students, effectively making them a Class 7 or 8 team if you bring in the success factor.

The private schools aren’t untouchable. Liberty North proved that this past weekend with an undeniable 38-7 victory against Christian Brothers that left no doubt.

But the point shouldn’t be left behind: if MSHSAA explored separate classification for private and parochial schools, could it be beneficial to the competition of public schools? It’s always a hot topic, but there’s plenty of value in the argument.