Special Report by Brian Thomas

• Fact: Of the 211 high school football teams in the state of Arkansas, 12 are from private schools. That adds up to 5.68%.
• Fact: Of the 130 Arkansas high school football teams who made the playoffs last year, 7 were from private schools. That adds up to 5.38%.
  

Inevitably, those who dislike private schools will bring up the most controversial advantage those schools supposedly enjoy – “recruiting.” That’s despite the fact that no private school has ever been caught recruiting. The practice is expressly forbidden by the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA), which threatens permanent athletics expulsion for any school found guilty of “knowingly using or permitting to be used” any athlete who was recruited by anyone, “whether that person is connected with the . . . school or not.” A very stiff penalty for an infraction that some think is a regular occurrence.

Lance Taylor, the executive director of the AAA, admitted in a July 2009 interview that both public and private schools try and attract transfers to their school. He cited recent transfers of high-profile athletes from public to private schools as a reason for the AAA to increase scrutiny, but declined to mention any names. Taylor also asserted that private schools in particular have a financial incentive to attract athletically gifted transfer students. This makes perfect sense when you remember that private schools don’t receive the government funding of their public counterparts.

Now that we’ve covered some facts, how about a little perspective?

Assistant Coach Gary Steelman of Camden Fairview -- a public school, we should point out -- has served on the Cardinals’ staff for the past seven seasons, most recently stepping off the senior high stage to coach the offensive backfield at the junior high level. Steelman works hard to develop today’s junior high prospects into tomorrow’s senior high performers.

When asked to enter the public vs. private debate, Coach Steelman said you’ll never hear him advocate separate divisions for the two. “I want to play the best,” he said. “And if you have two different state champions (public and private), how can you ever really know which team is the best? Both will say they’re better, but you’ll never know.”

Steelman’s Cardinals were twice knocked out of the playoffs by Pulaski Academy, once by a very large margin. Steelman didn’t want to say whether he thinks private schools intentionally run up the score, but did say most public school coaches would refrain from “walking the dog” on someone because they know that in a couple of seasons their opponent might have a chance to do the same to them. That’s something a private school, which doesn’t usually see as much fluctuation in talent, may not be concerned about.

The debate is fueled more by fans than coaches, in Steelman’s mind. “If you ask a hundred different coaches you’ll get a hundred different answers,” he says, “but most coaches want to play the best.  Fans see it through a different prism and it’s something for them to debate.” A debate, he admits, that gains heat whenever a fan’s team is drubbed at the hands of someone like Pulaski Academy or Shiloh Christian.

But “it doesn’t change the base line (of what makes the high school game the benefit it is to players),” Steelman asserts.  When a young man signs up to play on a team, he finds a place where “people care about him and want to see him through.” Playing football gives young men opportunities to find out what they’re capable of and how great a potential they have. A player may get hurt and someone gets switched to a different position and thrives there. “They realize they can do it -- all they needed was a chance,” Steelman says. He claims that when observing young people he can often tell which ones played football in high school because “they handle problems better. Being in an organized system, being held accountable, helps players learn how to deal with people and not-good situations.”

None of that changes when you face an opponent that plays for a different type of school than yours. “Football is a great example of the game of life,” the coach reasons. “It’s a metaphor for life.”  Like life, high school football is full of challenges -- there’s a new one staring you down every Friday night, whether you’re playing a public or private team. “There are advantages to both (public and private),” Coach Steelman observes. “A public school draws more numbers to its program, which can help them find better kids. A private school may have better facilities and, because they can cut kids from the team, can be more selective. They can attract the type of player (they want).They may have different challenges (than a public school), but they’ve still got to face them like we do.”

In a debate fueled by the passions of fans, a little perspective -- like that offered by Steelman -- can go a long way. He points out that the positive effects high school football can have on a young man’s life are not erased by playing a team that may have obtained its star quarterback illegally. While Steelman may be right about that, others might say that if players see a rival team succeed underhandedly and without discipline, it can undermine the character that men like Steelman spend their lives instilling in these student athletes. Why bother with integrity if there are no discernible benefits? Why bother to keep the rules when bending them wins championships?

Questions like these add depth and meaning to what otherwise might be just a pointless debate. And while the rage makes it interesting, it’s the reasoning that makes it important.

Top photo: Shiloh Christian players celebrate the Saints' 56-20 win over Lonoke in the 2009 Class 4A state championship in War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Photo by Andy Shupe.