Allowing Pinellas athletes to pick their school could promote illegal recruiting and limit growth of weak programs.
By JOHN C. COTEY, BOB PUTNAM and JOHN SCHWARB
Published October 7, 2003
Like every other eighth-grader who went through Pinellas County's new school choice program last year, Monica deHaas and her family pored through piles of information and applications looking for the perfect school. They wrestled over academics and other factors, but high on the list was a school that would help transform her into a college-caliber volleyball player.
It was important enough that deHaas ignored schools close to her St. Petersburg home and set her heart on playing for East Lake, a volleyball power that has advanced to the state semifinals the past two seasons.
"We were looking at a combination of things, but volleyball certainly played a big role in the decision," said Monica's father, Chris deHaas. "East Lake was choice No. 1."
Even if that meant an hour commute each way.
"There have certainly been some sacrifices that have come with it," said Chris deHaas, who drives his daughter to school. "But there's been a lot of enthusiasm about it, too."
This, Pinellas coaches will tell you, is the good and the bad of school choice. Having students pick a school they think best suits them is hard to argue with; athletes picking the school with the best teams terrifies some coaches.
DeHaas, a junior varsity player, was among the nearly 90 percent of the 19,000 students who participated in the choice plan who received their first or second choice of school. She is more an exception than the rule, said county athletic director Walter Weller, who estimated most athletes stayed closer to home.
But what if, many coaches ask, that becomes the rule? It could, they reason, drive a stake through the hearts of the less successful programs, creating a handful of power schools.
"It's good that kids are able to go to a school they want," Countryside volleyball and softball coach Kaylyn Bayly said, "but it's bad because you are going to have schools that are baseball schools, ones that are football schools and others that are basketball schools."
Under the choice plan, which Pinellas officials designed as a way out of court-ordered busing, students are free to request any high school in the county. The district uses a formula that includes, among many things, seat availability, sibling policies and grandfathering, then assigns students to schools.
Coaches know that although academics are important, student-athletes also have playoff games and scholarship opportunities on the brain.
So if Joe and Jane want to play for established powerhouses, perhaps they bypass schools such as Gibbs, Tarpon Springs, Pinellas Park and Osceola and opt for Seminole, Countryside, Lakewood and East Lake.
Consequently, the rich get richer and the poor stay that way, one of the biggest fears for coaches.
"The outlook, to be honest, is one that causes a lot of concern," Osceola football coach George Palmer said.
Osceola, along with Gibbs, Tarpon and Pinellas Park, were the bottom four finishers among county public schools in the 2001-02 Times High School All-Sports standings. None finished among the top 16 in the state in any sport, and just two (Osceola and Pinellas Park) claimed a district championship.
Seminole, Countryside, Lakewood and East Lake, on the other hand, ranked in the top 10 out of all public schools in the Tampa Bay area in 2001-02. Two won a state title, and all claimed multiple district crowns.
The next year Osceola, Gibbs, Tarpon and Pinellas Park were again near the bottom, the other four again among the top.
So even before school choice, which started this fall, there were haves and have-nots. But now athletic directors at the latter schools must turn into salespeople, convincing prospective students the programs' athletic plights are not permanent. And they have to do it without running afoul of state rules against recruiting.
Some schools at the bottom of the food chain remain optimistic.
Gibbs athletic director Julius Wynn sees his school becoming stronger as those who were bused elsewhere return to the neighborhood school, which is getting a facelift and new athletic facilities.
Schools hit hardest by busing, particularly those in the southern part of the county, are perceived as those that could undergo an athletic renaissance.
Others hope some students choose to become bigger fish in a smaller pond. Programs such as Dunedin baseball, Countryside softball and Lakewood basketball have many players who rarely play.
"We'll take the second- or third-string student and work them into a first-stringer," Pinellas Park athletic director Jill Dileanis said.
Choice will, all agree, make coaches work harder, and may benefit athletes everywhere. Coaches unwilling to take extra steps to help students find scholarships and those who are disinterested or unqualified could force their bosses to make changes.
"It places the onus on the athletic directors who hire the coaches, and those coaches have to bring their A game," Weller said.
For every deHaas, maybe there will be a Kyle McDowell. The Osceola quarterback and pitcher could have requested Seminole or Clearwater.
But he liked what he saw at his school - coaches who knew about winning and loved their jobs.
"I know most of the athletes wanted to stay here," McDowell said. "We all like the coaching staff. George Palmer has been here a long time (14 years) coaching football, and our baseball coach (Steve Smith) was named coach of the year last season. That was definitely something that influenced my decision."
Then there's this: Every baseball player can't go to Dunedin, nor every football player to Seminole.
There's not room.
At overcrowded Palm Harbor, athletes interested in being a Hurricane have to look elsewhere to schools with space.
Countryside's capacity before the first round of school choice last fall was 2,257, and PHU's was 1,647. On the last day of the 2001-02 school year, Countryside had 1,915 students, PHU 2,234.
Countryside since has added 419 students; PHU has added 100.
"They're busting at the seams," Countryside athletic director Liz Collins said. "We've got plenty of room."
PHU's athletic program is consistently among the county's best. It won the Superintendent's Trophy two years ago and has state championship trophies for boys soccer and softball.
Its academic reputation is rock-solid, as one of two county high schools to receive an A grade last year from the state. It has two popular magnet programs, International Baccalaureate and the Center for Wellness and Medical Professions.
But in what amounts to a competition for students, PHU simply will not have seats to offer.
"I'm going to be in a bad situation. We just don't have a lot of room," PHU football coach Mike June said.
As long as McDowell, deHaas and those like them make their own decisions, coaches will learn to deal with those choices.
But their biggest fear is something they refuse to live with: recruiting.
School choice alone isn't going to usher in an age of recruiting, which has been going on for years.
But does school choice make it easier? Of course.
Officials are encouraged to promote every aspect of their school, from academics and facilities to faculty, right down to the cafeteria, if they think that helps. So much as mention a sports team, however, and they might violate recruiting rules.
The gray areas for coaches can be like a minefield.
What if parents initiate the discussion? Randall Leath, former Countryside basketball coach, said he had parents ask him during the choice process what kind of holiday tournaments his team would travel to. If he answered, he could be in trouble.
And what about the coaches who also teach? Can they talk up their academic programs without crossing the line?
"If a coach is talking to a good athlete (about academics), to me that's against the rules," Northeast boys basketball coach Dave Redding said. "But who's going to stop them?
"We're already hearing stories about coaches going to fifth- and sixth- and seventh-graders, on AAU teams in the summer, talking about their schools," Redding said. "I'm hearing stories from coaches around the county. We've always had recruiting going on at some level, but now I think recruiting is going to run rampant."
FHSAA commissioner Dan Boyd said there is a simple rule if school officials want to avoid penalties: Keep coaches out of the choice process.
"I don't know that you let that basketball coach, who is also a science teacher, have access to that kid," he said. "The school should present a marketing plan to say who they are and what they are all about and give parents an opportunity to select a school."
Weller said his chief concern is summer camps and leagues. He wants coaches to know that if a student decides to transfer to his or her school after attending their camp, they will probably come under scrutiny. If it is determined the athlete transferred after having contact with the coach, he or she likely will be ineligible.
Weller is taking a number of steps not taken last year to make sure Pinellas doesn't slip into a recruiting war. While coaches complained last year the rules were not clear or explained to them, Weller organized a meeting with all the fall coaches and explained choice while providing written instructions detailing what coaches can and cannot do. He will do the same for winter coaches.
Weller said he has not had a formal recruiting complaint.
It may be the calm before the storm. Next year he expects to see greater movement of athletes, as parents grow familiar with the system.
"That's not the way we should be picking schools, but do they pick because of athletics? Of course they do, just like they do for academics. Next year I think we'll see a lot of people moving. And I believe that, unfortunately, when we see that movement, then there will be allegations."
Weller said he will be diligent in preventing recruiting and in punishing those who try. He hopes coaches who have expressed concerns will help him.
His plan for dealing with any problems beyond that: cloudy.
"I believe we're prepared," he said. "But it's like when a tidal wave hits. You have insurance for it, but does that really mean you're prepared for it?"
