pistlpete

Good luck to Trinity's new recruits. They are good kids.

Just for the record, I care and respect any and all religions that believe in Jesus Christ and/or God. With that said I must point out, again, that this thread has nothing to do with spiritual beliefs. Stalling, KHSAA rules state that any coach, school official or person associated with a school that was sent with the intent to recruit is in violation. However, my post stated that an alumnus and an asst. football coach approached me. This pair approached my son first. Yes, we may not all agree, but deep down inside I think we all know that recruiting the best talent from more than one state and using that talent to compete on a public school level is ludicrous. Then to be proud of such an accomplishment is laughable. My suggestions still stand....enforce a one year suspension from athletics for any student that wants to transfer to a private institution or take the private school athletics to a higher level. Problem and debate solved.

Stalling, If you go back and read what I wrote, you will see that in a number of places I separated Trinity from the rest of the private institutions in town. I know nothing about the rest of the private schools in Louisville and made that well known. However, I do know something about Trinity. Now, to address your 73rd post. Yes, I'm sure that public schools do recruit. In fact, that too has happened to my kid. However, recruiting among public schools is one thing. When paid tuition becomes involved, that becomes another matter. Please, don't waste your time telling me it doesn't happen. I know (and I stress the word know) better. You may want to watch the papers over the next few months. The difference in the two will become evident. Anyway, after reading your previous posts it appears that you do not even have a dog in this fight. My beef is with the green and white only.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news Stalling, but I can personally name many kids that have been approached by Trinity over the last twenty years. I have had a two under my own roof. I can recall on one occasion when a Trinity Asst. Football Coach and an alumnus approached my kid on a youth football field and outright asked me to enroll him at Trinity. This incident was 10-20 years ago. When I replied that I couldn't afford the tuition, the alumnus said "Don't worry about that. We have ways around it." This is one that I can testify to on a first hand basis. I personally had a Trinity coach recently approach another son of mine (who was attending public middle school) and asked me (in front of at least two Trinity parents and on three separate occasions) to enroll him at Trinity. Again, when I mentioned that money was an issue, he said to "fill out the tuition assistance papers and I will see what I can do about the money." I'm sure in your world this would not qualify as recruiting. In my world it can be nothing but recruiting. I can recall many other such stories that happened on the football field and the wrestling mat. I find it very strange how many of my Trinity friends can tell me about how their kid was also recruited and in some cases paid little or no tuition, but yet you can say "every athlete I know that goes to private school sought them out." Things are changing folks. I wouldn't want my kid to be stuck in the middle of sanctions with no place to compete.

I feel like a teacher in an elementary school class. Once again the topic has managed to gravitate toward nonsense. Please don't let the Trinity crowd divert our attention into a dead end conversation. I'm beginning to believe they are giving classes on damage control. That was sarcasm. Please don't divert the thread into some satirical tangent to draw attention away from the real problem. I hope we all believe in God and/or Jesus and to say that a particular school has Jesus is terrible. I'm sure Jesus would take exception. The problem that was originally stated here are the tactics used by a certain school over many years to acquire athletes. Before anybody starts crying foul let me say that some of you are in for a rude awakening in the next few months. In your school's attempt to dominate public school athletics, they have made many mistakes. You have some very unhappy parents that did not drink the Kool Aid and it's going to come back to haunt you. You may want to keep your "we have Jesus" speeches to yourselves for awhile. Enough said on that. The way I see it is this, if I start a private school and that school recruits athletes from Texas, Alabama, Florida, California, or anywhere in the world for that matter, and I manage to win at all the sports in Jefferson Co and the state, I would guess that Trinity would line up to cry foul. Particularly when they start losing recruits. But again, what has my new school accomplished? Where does it stop? Again refer to my "catching fish in a barrell" analogy. There is absolutely NO sport in catching fish in a barrell. If Trinity feels good about that type of winning, then I feel sad for them. If Trinity wants to win at all costs, fine. But take your teams, all of them, out of public school athletics and play athletics somewhere that gives you that type of similar competition. Win in that venue and then you can crow. In case some of you haven't noticed, Trinity is barely on any public school athletic schedules. People are getting a little irritated with the tactics. Is anyone besides myself seeing a trend here? In my humble opinion, if Trinity does not fix the problem itself or move to a different athletic venue soon, the next step will be to exclude them from district competition on the public school level. Then what? Now your kid is playing sports at a school that has nowhere to play. Better think twice before you make a choice like that.

No Stalling, we are not all living through our kids. I will help them all that I can or is reasonably necessary without sacraficing my ethics. Even if that were the case, a parent could succeed at living through their kids without selling his/her soul. As far as the comparison of academics, I will stack NOHS, Manual, Male or a handful of others against Trinity's academics any day. Trinity would lose and embarrasingly so. Let me allow you in on a little secret stalling. I have witnessed it, first hand. I didn't let myself become endoctrinated. Like I said before, it's easy to make it look good when you have six different levels of academics and no state agency looking over your shoulder. One has to ask, if Trinity will practice their brand of unethical behavior in athletics, what would they do in academics? Don't drink the Kool aid guys.

Again guys, don't let the lnfamous green and white damage control machine turn the tide. The question we are asking here is not where to send our kids to play sports, but why does Trinity have these unethically acquired athletes. Lets also be realistic here. Sending my kid or your kid to a school simply because he or she seems to have better than average athletic ability is simply a parent trying to live through his kids. Does anybody here know the number of Rondo's there actually are in Kentucky? I wouldn't want to gamble my kids education on the athletic history of a school. This portion of this thread was originally started to discuss the transfer of two North Oldham High School wrestlers to Trinity. Never in a million years would I trade the education one could receive at NOHS for one at Trinity. Sorry, but facts are facts. The academic scholarship dollars that are received at NOHS speaks for itself. Therefore, I have to assume that a parent that would trade the two is being misled (which is usually the case) or wanting to live through his child at the expense of that child. I love high school athletics, but be realistic. What per cent of kids actually play professional sports? Athletics builds character and rewards hard work. However, it is supposed to be a secondary focus. Bottom line, if you send your kid to Trinity to play football, wrestle, play the newest addition to the unethical merry-go-round basketball or whatever the next addition will be to their already preverse methods, then your priorities are warped. Don't let Trinity feed you the line about how great your kid could be to find out that he will be replaced by the next recruit. Trust me parents. it happens many times each year. I know many kids that fit that very description. If your child is really that special, he or she will excel where they are. They don't need to wear green and white to make their mark. It's just possible that the green and white will be playing under the black cloud of sanctions in the near future anyway.

I'm so happy that this thread has us all thinking about this problem. By my count there have been 1461 views. Obviously, some of us are interested. For all you coaches out there that want things to change, please consider my suggestion that requires any transfer to a private school to attend school in that private school's system for one year before that student can participate in athletics. That one simple, easily enforcable rule would greatly improve the ethics problem that exists. If we all don't start writing letters, making phone calls and talking to political officials the situation will never change. I for one will not sit by any longer. I am writing a letter tomorrow to the KHSAA and detailing all the rules violations that I witnessed with my kids. I urge all of you to do the same. After contacting the KHSAA, be sure to follow up with them. I think that Trent is correct. The KHSAA seems to be sitting on their hands except to hold them out for money. It's time for a change in leadership. Can anybody tell me how the KHSAA directors get their jobs?

Nowhere in my posts did I say that Trinity did not perform some good. There are some fine people at that school. There are many, many hours logged for community service from all schools. It's a requirement at most if not all high schools. However, the bad cannot hide behind the good. Everyone in Jefferson Co. and throughout most of the state knows what kind of garbage goes on with their athletics. If Trinity truly wants genuine respect, it does not come in the form of wins on the athletic field. Respect is gained from dealing squarely with people. The American College Dictionary defines ethics as "The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession.". They are obviously not doing so. Trinity does not govern by the same set of rules or standards in athletics as every other school in the state. I will admit that it is everybody's fault and not just Trinity's. They are merely taking advantage of hugh loopholes in the rules and/or relaxed enforcement of the rules. That still does not make it right or ethical. One last note, my statement concerning CAL was not based on religion. I would not hesitate to send my kid or kids to St. X or CAL if a good public school option were not present. Please do not add any other posts to this thread concerning Trinity. This thread was and is intended to thank Ranger and I am sorry that it transformed . I will honor that intent of the thread. Thanks Ranger.

I'm happy for you Fireman. However, if you really read the thread, which you either did not or want to charge into some misguided attempt to defend the offenders, you will see that my first post was to let the NOHS coach know that his school and program was doing a great job and to ask about the rumor. You obviously have a hidden agenda here. My guess is that you are somehow associated with one of the schools you mentioned and want to detract from my posts. As far as animosity is concerned, you bet. Whenever Trinity has to play by the same rules as everybody else, maybe the animosity the general pubic feels toward them will begin to subside. Trinity feels some sort of great accomplishment in playing the KY football or KY basketball or KY wrestling championships with the athletes that they chase all over various states and counties. I say BIG DEAL. What have they really accomplished? Please refer to my earlier reference about catching fish in a barrell. Trinity should be ashamed if they ever lose ANY competition, but they do. I want to again state that my views DO NOT include St. X as an unethical rule stretcher. I do not know much about them. I can even go as far to say that St. X seems to have ethics and priorities where this topic is concerned. I can't say that for the green and white athletics. Their version has become perverse. If anyone wants a fine example of priorites in a private school, take a look at CAL. My kids did not attend CAL but I wish they did. Maybe Trinity should take a tour. I did and what I found was God and academics and character came first. fireman, I hope your kid does attend Trinity. I can then read your posts in a few years and remind you of today. Good luck.

I agree that the thread took a different turn, however, the public vs private subject does fit this forum. In fact, it is a topic that needs to be addressed in depth. It is exactly what plagues KY wrestling and a few other KY sports, football for example. With 700 views on that thread it obviously is an issue. My problem with it is that there is an elephant in the room and the school that put him there has a fantastic way of making the families that own the room believe that it is not there at all. If we all want change in the way that high school sports conducts business, then it's time we voiced an opinion. The problem is that the incoming freshman families don't know any better and don't want to bite the hand that is petting them (notice I didn't say bite the hand that is feeding them). The second half of the problem is that the parents that are in place at Trinity don't want to disrespect a program that made them feel important even though it is misguided. Third, we need to insist that KHSAA Directors are in place to improve on an eye sore. I have a simple solution that would help all. Here it is...... Any student that wants to attend a private school for academic reasons is certainly welcome to do so. I for one appreciate the prayer and religious studies that are a part of the cirriculum. However, if that student wants to play ANY sports at private school he/she must attend a school for one full school year in that system. For instance, if my daughter is attending public school and wants to attend Assumption to play basketball, she would be required to attend Catholic school at the elementary or middle school or high school level before she plays basketball. This would keep the folks in the green and white jackets off the 8th grade football fields and 7th grade is mostly too young to judge an athlete. If a public school 8th grader wants to attend private school for athletics, that athlete would have to sit out of school sports his or her freshman year. It;'s not a complete fix, but is certainly an improvement over the totally biased lack of rules that are in place now.

old140, I see what you are trying to say. This is a big misconception with Trinity. The general public belives that Trinity has a great academic program because their students all seem to have great grades and in their upper, higher achieving levels they are as good as any of the public schools, but not better. The truth is that Trinity has at least six different levels of academics. The highest achievers to the lowest. Most public high schools have three or four. The difference as I see it is that public schools do not invent lower standards just to cater to the low achieving athlete. Before anybody goes off on a tangent, I realize that there are many high and medium achieving athletes in all schools. My point, Trinity has invented a very low academic level to help the kid that can run fast, carry a ball or wrestle. On this particular subject, their priorities are skewed. What is the lower achieving athlete to do in the real world after Trinity is done with him?

As anyone who reads my post can clearly read, my problem is not with St. X. I cannot make any claims about St. X stretching any ethics or rules. I do however levy claims against the green and white. I personally know how they acquire their athletes. Yes, sometimes athletes are replaced in public school when a better athlete comes along. However, public schools do not try to deceive a child and his unsuspecting parents and try to make them believe their son is the next big thing, only to replace him when another recruit comes along. Now, the first kid becomes a practice player for the second kid. As the green and white knows all too well, the first kid is now unavailable to play for the competition. They win in more than one way and the first kid loses in every way. Meanwhile, mom and dad are still paying through the nose. A good friend of mine who has sent three sons through that school once told me, "If my family were not Catholic and we were not EXPECTED to be there, I would not send my son there. It's a lot of money just to belong to a feel good club." I think change is in the wind. The majority of people have had enough. I personally couldn't feel good about winning with a team that acquired its players without the same set of rules as the competition. As my Dad used to say, "Sure, it's easy to shoot a bird sitting on a wire or catch fish in a barrell, but what have you really accomplished?"

The bologna which I write about is the belief that the green and white education is superior or that your kid will become a top wrestler in the state of KY or that he will become President or any other line of bologna that is handed out. As for education, the green and white has at least six levels of education to offer. Any school can make any student look good if you slow it down enough. As for the superior alumni that Mike claims, it is a good alumni association. However, not superior to a few of the public school alumni or booster associations which I have been associated. I will admit, they have "one of the winningest" athletic programs money can buy. Let's be honest for a minute. Who's paying for it? I'll tell you. The parents who are paying full tuition are the ones paying for the top football team or the 3rd place wrestling team (by the way, your money bought 3rd place behind not one, but two public schools. High price to pay for 3rd place). If your kid enrolls there, he will likely become nothing more than a practice player for the athlete the school really wanted. Parents, if you believe for a minute they won't replace your kid with a better athlete next year if one comes along, better think again. If your kid gets hurt, you will likely lose your scholarship (I know, they don't offer scholarships, they offer financial assistance to fast, athletic football players). Mike, I can't speak about your kid being approached and I don't doubt it. This is the present situation in Jefferson Co and it is a direct result of the tactics of at least one private school. I can also say that three of my sons were also approached over the years by the green and white and offered "financial assistance." I didn't see the green and white on W. Broadway offering under privledged children financial assistance. My sons were all approached for athletic reasons. Can anyone please tell me what is accomplished by "acquiring" the better athletes in the state or states (notice I didn't say county), and defeating the other area schools who are trying to keep priorities straight. Don't get me wrong, I love to win, but I won't try to win at all costs. I admire the teams who can win with level playing fields. For those of you who make all the excuses for attending the green and white, good luck. But you're not getting a better education than you would get at Ballard, Eastern, Male or Manual or a few other area schools. So what is the true reason you want to attend school there?

Stand-up, I hope they stay too. I wish that parents and their kids could see through the line of bologna that one of Louisville's private schools feeds us. I have heard that North is a superior school in academics. They are also on the rise in athletics, if the athletes will stay and wrestle (or play football) where they originally learned the sport. Where's the loyality? Trust me parents, they're not worth it.