Unpopular Opinion Part 3: Get Rid of Bonus Points, Reimagining Class A and B, Power Conferences
There’s a lot to get to in this article, so I won’t spend much time rehashing the first two articles, which were focused on providing data and facts that show private schools and wealthy school districts have an unfair advantage in the landscape of high school volleyball in Nebraska.
Read Part 1 about private schools here.
Read Part 2 about wealthy suburban schools here.
Please allow me just a few sentences, however, to really reinforce what this series of articles is intended to do. It is intended to start the conversation(s) about A.) the role socioeconomics plays in high school volleyball in Nebraska B.) the need to factor much more than just enrollment into how we classify schools and c.) that if high school athletics truly is “the other half of education,” then we need to provide the same nurturing opportunity for growth, confidence-building and learning for our kids on the volleyball court as we do – and/or expect them to be – provided in the classroom.
One final time, let me also stress that this is volleyball specific. And what I propose might seem radical, but it really isn’t. It’s not meant to be “the” answer, it’s meant to be the beginning of a conversation so that much smarter people can come up with even better solutions. However, I do feel strongly that there can not be any disagreement that the wealth of a school directly correlates to the success of its volleyball program. We all see it. We all know it. The data all backs that up. It would be a crime to continue to ignore it.
So, here are the three steps I would recommend as a starting point for the conversation about how to provide the most healthy competitive balance (like vs. like) in volleyball in Nebraska. As a reminder, we would never – ever – put a student into a class in school that the student simply hadn’t been properly prepared for. And, we would never, ever, expect that same student to have to compete in a classroom against other students that were properly prepared for that course. Those same principles should apply on the high school volleyball court – which is supposed to be an extension of the classroom.
Step 1: Eliminate bonus points in the NSAA wild card system for playing against opponents in a larger class and do away with enrollment-based classification in Classes A and B.
Let’s be clear – this rule of allowing bonus points for playing a school in a larger class is a sliver that has long needed extracting. With an enrollment-size based classification system and the bonus points, you’re assuming a larger school is always going to be better than the smaller school. We all know that’s bull, not to mention fundamentally wrong.
As an example, Class B Bennington defeated a 12-23 Lincoln High team last year and got bonus points for it since Lincoln High is in Class A. Bennington could then turn around and play nationally-ranked Skutt Catholic – and lose – and receive no bonus points because Skutt is Class B. If Skutt played Lincoln High 100 times, Skutt would win 100 times. Let’s not kid ourselves. Yet, this fundamentally wrong bonus point system rewards Bennington for playing a very poor Lincoln High team and gives it nothing for playing one of the top programs in the nation.
Another example would be this. If Howells-Dodge (enrollment last year of 37) played Cedar Bluffs (enrollment of 38), there would be no bonus points because both teams were in Class D1. If, however, Howells-Dodge played East Butler (enrollment of 39), it would get bonus points because East Butler was Class C2. So, by playing a school with one more girl in it, Howells-Dodge would be rewarded – regardless how good of a team it was. And don’t think these kind of things aren’t manipulated all the time when schedules are put together.
It’s these bonus points that explain why, for many years, Guardian Angels CC – predominately a Class C2 school – would come play in an OPS tournament, beat up on everyone and walk away with a boat load of bonus points. You can’t blame Guardian Angels for that, you have to blame the system that created the mess. Please, please realize that enrollment size plays a very minor part in the success of a volleyball program and these bonus points need to be done away with like Arya Stark took care of The Night King. The only thing the bonus points are doing is creating schedule manipulations and creating friction among conference members and between schools in general.
Even the Centennial Conference started seeding its conference tournament in volleyball by removing the bonus points teams had earned.
Do away with bonus points!
And we also need to take on the other issue that nobody wants to admit but knows that it is true. Class A and Class B should not be determined by enrollment size. Doing so is foolish and on the volleyball court it has created the exact situation outlined above. We are setting kids – especially from minority-heavy and less economically-thriving districts and communities – up for failure with such as system. We would never dream of making a club team made up of players from Omaha Public Schools play in the same division as a club team from all suburban and private schools. Yet, that’s exactly what we do in Class A and B high school volleyball. And that leads me right into the next point.
Step 2: Reimagine the classification process for Class A and B volleyball and revamp it using a combination of economic and social factors, enrollment and results-based numbers.
I do understand that enrollment numbers do need to play a role in classifying schools, but it should be a very minor role. What I would propose is that the 64 largest schools, by enrollment, are automatically put into either a 32-team Class A or a 32-team Class B.
From there, though, the determining factors for which of the two classes the schools belong in for volleyball is determined based on economic and social factors along with result from the previous six seasons. Here is what I mean. You put the 64 largest enrollment schools in the state into the pot. From there, you use a formula based on pre-determined social and economic factors along with the average NSAA wild-cart point total from the previous six seasons to come up with your 32 teams in Class A and 32 teams in Class B.
The social and economic factors speak for themselves, as I’ve outlined in the past two articles. By taking the average level of success (not just at state, but for the whole season) over the course of six years you get a full idea of the power a school’s volleyball program has. Any shorter time frame could be influenced by a strong group of athletes passing through over four years that would skew the numbers and that’s how you would determine the initial Class A and B teams in this process. Looking a couple years down the road (with the opening of a new Elkhorn school and likely two more OPS and two more LPS schools), here is how those classes would look in – say – 2022 or so.
Class A
- Millard North
- Millard South
- Grand Island
- Millard West
- Lincoln East
- Lincoln North Star
- Lincoln Southeast
- Lincoln Southwest
- Papio South
- Omaha Westside
- Papillion-LaVista
- Bellevue West
- Lincoln Northeast
- Kearney
- Fremont
- Omaha Marian
- Bellevue East
- Gretna
- Norfolk
- Elkhorn
- Elkhorn South
- Blair
- Lincoln Pius X
- Elkhorn North
- Norris
- Omaha Duchesne
- Omaha Skutt
- Bennington
- Waverly
- Ralston
- LPS additional HS
- LPS additional HS
Class B
- Omaha Central
- Omaha South
- Lincoln High
- Omaha Burke
- Omaha Bryan
- Omaha North
- Omaha Northwest
- Omaha Benson
- North Platte
- Columbus
- South Sioux City
- Hastings
- Scottsbluff
- Lexington
- Grand Island Northwest
- Omaha Mercy
- Beatrice
- Crete
- Seward
- Schuyler
- Plattsmouth
- Gering
- McCook
- Allliance
- York
- Nebraska City
- Platteview
- Omaha Gross
- Aurora
- OPS new
- OPS new
- Hastings Adams Central
OK, everyone take a deep breath. And before you ask me how in the world can Blair, Bennington, Waverly, Norris, Ralston, etc., compete in Class A with all those huge Millard schools and so on. Let me ask you this – aren’t those schools better prepared to compete at that level than the OPS schools now? Yes, yes they are. And those schools will only grow bigger and wealthier.
If you read yesterday’s article, I also told you that the word relegation would be important today. And here it comes. I realize that those classifications above may not be perfect now and may not be perfect in the future, but it’s a good starting point. How do you make sure that Class A and B, in such a system, maintains its competitive balance?
With relegation.
Every year, the social, economic and past results are reformulated to take into account updated information. And each year, the teams with the lowest four scores in that area in Class A are dropped to Class B. Conversely, the top four teams from Class B are moved up to Class A. Again, the results would be based on a six-year window, not year-to-year window. Also, the number of teams moving (four up, four down) is just an example. It could easily be two, three, six or whatever.
Even today we have teams that fluctuate between classes on an annual basis, so this would be nothing new. And, with the elimination of bonus points, it shouldn’t create any scheduling hostilities. Heck, this past year we had the Lincoln Pius X girls in Class A and the Lincoln Pius X boys in Class B. There isn’t any issue with schools being in different classes for different sports. In fact, it make much more sense than a one-size-fits-all classification system. Just like we moved from one enrollment number to separating the boys and girls we can just as easily separate the classification of individual sports.
Now, I ask that you look at that proposed Class A for volleyball with an open mind and then I want you to think about what the postseason playoffs/state tournament would look like for Class A. What I see is perhaps the greatest high school state tournament in the country. Better than Indiana basketball. Better than Minnesota hockey. It would be epic volleyball from the round of 32 all the way through to the conclusion. A true celebration of the talent and ability of our kids that play the sport.
I want to reconnect this with the “extended classroom” that athletics is supposed to be at the high school level. I was a terrible student. I think I graduated with a 2.5 GPA and I might be generous in that estimate. I happened to graduate with a guy who is now a U.S. Senator from our state. You think Senator Sasse and I were in the same classes? Nope. Do you think it would have been appropriate to put me and Senator Sasse in the same classes? Nope. You think I would have felt stupid and foolish in those classes and become disenfranchised with school if I were? Yup. You think Senator Sasse would have been bored out of his mind in my classes and his learning would have been stunted? Yup.
So, explain to me again why, in the extended classroom on the volleyball court, we find it acceptable to put kids from programs such as Omaha Bryan, Omaha Benson, Omaha North, Omaha South, etc., into the same classroom as Omaha Marian, the Millard Schools, the Papillion-LaVista schools, etc.
Maybe 32 schools in each class isn’t quite right. Maybe it needs to be 24 and 40 or 28 and 36. Like I said, I’m just offering a conversation starter. I just know that the way we are doing it now is an injustice to a large number of kids and nobody is doing anything about it and it is hurting the overall growth potential of volleyball.
Step 3: Create ‘Power Conferences’ and encourage the growth of them using proximity and financial strain on a school as the motivating factors instead of classification and public vs. private.
I really hate the fact that public schools are distancing themselves from private schools with a lot of this conference reshuffling. I don’t think it’s right, but each school needs to do what it feels is best for its students.
We can’t ignore that public schools wanting to get away from private schools is playing a major part in recent conference realignment and creation. The Eastern Midlands Conference has pretty much been blown up and the River Cities Conference as well. There is a lot going on right now.
Again – this is all volleyball specific – but, It’s my opinion that the Metro Conference and Heartland Conferences should take advantage of all the turmoil and grow into even bigger, stronger conferences with multiple divisions within each. I also think we need to get away from the notion that we have to be in a conference with schools our size or that are in communities “that look like ours” or that are in our same class. Being in a conference for the purpose of athletic success is misguided. The purpose of a conference should be for scheduling ease and to look out for the best interests of the member schools.
There isn’t a school district in this state that doesn’t need or want more funding. If there is, let me know which one it is. The fact that North Platte was recently turned down by a NSAA group when it requested to be dropped from Class A to Class B to ease travel concerns is ludicrous. Again, enrollment-based classification is – well – dumb, and the primary concerns should ALWAYS be what’s best for kids. If there is a way to help North Platte – or other schools – provide a better experience for athletes by not having to bus 4-hours one way to half of its contests, by God, we should try to make it happen. Not to mention the extra financial strain it puts on the school when we should all agree that money spent on actual education is way more important than paying for gas.
If we eliminate bonus points and eliminate the stigma of competing against schools the same size and focus rather on regional rivalries with similarly-skilled teams regardless of their enrollment size or if they are private or public, the closer we get to what high school sports is supposed to be about.
Again, what’s below is certainly not “the” answer. But it’s a starting point to talk about what Super Conferences should look like and how you could divide them up to keep similarly skilled teams competing with each other. And – especially with the Heartland and Metro Conference – they would have complete control over the fluidity of what divisions teams are in if adjustments need to be made. And, yes, I know this doesn’t jive with the current state of conferences. Again, this is just meant as a conversation starter. I honestly don’t know what to do with North Platte – or even South Sioux City – their locations makes it difficult to classify them on a location basis and Western Nebraska is always going to be difficult and I certainly don’t have the perfect answer for that either.
Metro Suburban (14 teams)
- Millard North
- Millard South
- Millard West
- Papio South
- Papillion-LaVista
- Bellevue West
- Bellevue East
- Omaha Marian
- Gretna
- Elkhorn
- Elkhorn South
- Elkhorn North
- Omaha Duchesne
- Omaha Skutt
Metro Classic (10 teams)
- Omaha Westside
- Omaha Central
- Omaha South
- Omaha Burke
- Omaha Bryan
- Omaha North
- Omaha Northwest
- Omaha Benson
- OPS new
- OPS new
Metro Greater Area (8 teams)
- Fremont
- Blair
- Bennington
- Ralston
- Omaha Mercy
- Plattsmouth
- Platteview
- Omaha Gross
Heartland Metro (8 teams)
- Lincoln East
- Lincoln North Star
- Lincoln Southeast
- Lincoln Southwest
- Lincoln Northeast
- Lincoln Pius X
- LPS additional
- LPS additional
Heartland Greater Area (10 teams)
- Norris
- Waverly
- Beatrice
- Crete
- Seward
- York
- Nebraska City
- Aurora
- Ashland-Greenwood
- Wahoo
Central Nebraska (10 teams)
- Grand Island
- Kearney
- Norfolk
- North Platte
- Columbus
- South Sioux City
- Hastings
- Grand Island Northwest
- Schuyler
- Hastings Adams Central
Western Nebraska (10 teams)
- Scottsbluff
- Lexington
- Gering
- McCook
- Alliance
- Holdrege
- Sidney
- Gothenburg
- Chadron
- Ogallala
Centennial Conference (10 teams)
- Hastings St. Cecilia
- David City Aquinas
- Lincoln Christian
- Columbus Scotus
- Omaha Concordia
- Lincoln Lutheran
- Grand Island CC
- Archbishop Bergan
- Bishop Neumann
- Kearney Catholic
I’ve included the Centennial Conference here because it is – in fact – one of the very best volleyball conferences in Nebraska. This is also the appropriate time to state the obvious – that those schools have long been the dominant volleyball programs in Class C1 and C2, and yet, I don’t mention them as needing to be moved up a class or anything.
Here is why: These schools are very small and it would be unfair, to a certain extent, to just shove them up. However, as mentioned above, I’m a HUGE believer in relegation. As I said earlier, relegation should take place with the bottom teams in Class A dropping to B with the top teams in B moving up to A, based on economic, social and success factors over a six-year period.
I also believe that the same should hold true in all classes. Meaning, based on economic, social and success factors over a six-year period, the top teams from C1 should be moved up to Class B and the bottom teams in B moved down to C1. The same process applies with all classes.
In my opinion, relegation like this ensures that similar schools – in terms of performance on the court – are naturally brought together based on the one factor that absolutely does reflect the quality of a program – what it does on the court.
Again, to tie athletics back to being an extension of the classroom, when students show mastery of a subject or advanced abilities and talent in a subject, those students are moved to more challenging classes in order to help them grow and develop to the best of their abilities. It is not seen as an insult or disrespect to say to a student who is really good at math, “we are going to move you into an advanced math path because you show great talent in that area.” As such, moving successful athletic programs – in this case, volleyball teams – to the next level is simply the result of that program having shown mastery of its current environment over a six year period. It should not be looked at as unfair, it should be looked at as a badge of honor.
With the the use of relegation, elimination of bonus points, moving away from enrollment-driven classifications and creating power conferences without regard to class, enrollment or private vs. public, you create a natural system that allows the programs – and the athletes that comprise them – to gravitate into balanced learning environments in regards to volleyball.
Tomorrow, I will wrap-up this series with Part 4, which ties the previous two articles and this one together into an action plan moving forward.