Since I have no personal or inside knowledge of any recruitment, I'd be hard-presseed to make any accusations, but I'd have to admit that I harbor some suspicions that benevolence and high-minded ideals do not serve as the sole criteria in the selection process of who and who does not merit special consideration for admission. call me a cynic, but it would not surprise me that a little extra weight may be given to the steller athlete.
For what it's worth, I do not however believe that this notion of recruiting is so pervasive and prevalent in private education, so as to decidedly account for the overall athletic success of private high schools; nor do I choose to believe that requiring private schools to compete at the next higher level is fair to them.
I'll look forward to other's comments and perceptions.
Svo69, I can tell you that Saint James had two very talented wrestlers request visits with the school and had full intentions of transferring. Both were very good young men and have shown very good academic scores. Neither of these were allowed to transfer. I have no insight or knowledge why they were turned down, but I defintely know they were not on the Saint James wrestling roster this year. Those added points at state and St. James would have easily moved from an 8th place finish to no less than 4th. My point to that real life scenerio is to soften what some think is simply an "open door" policy at the private schools as long as you are a talented athlete. I know at SJA that is simply a myth. I have seen that proven wrong first hand.
When we visited the school, they never once mentioned Taylor's wrestling ability. They reviewed his transcripts, told us their academic expectations, and asked both Taylor and his mother and myself alot of questions about our academic outlook and goals. I am not completely sure that they knew about his athletic skills at all. I'm positive coach Medina knew, but not the admissions board.
You have to realize, I was not for this move before visiting the school. This was primarily a move my wife and son wanted to make. After visiting the school and the enrolment counselor I could feel myself changing positions. One of the very last things she said to us before leaving was that St. James had a very different view for their future than most schools. She said their goal was NOT to see how many students they could send on to college; but to see that every student that went on to college would also graduate from college and that was the most important number to them.
As an individual that completed 3 years of college and did not finish, that struck me very close to home. I thought it was outstanding that they considered themselves a college prep school who's goal was not just to get students in - but to get students graduated from college.
What helped us get Taylor into St. James as a Sophmore and not starting with the school immediately as a Freshman? I'm not completely sure, but I can guarantee it was NOT because he was a recruited athlete. I would like to credit it as my great "interview" skills, but more likely it may have had something to do with the fact he also attended Sacred Heart Catholic School in Colby in grades K-5.
