A "nationally recognized locale for competitive high school sports"

[Anonymous]

Great to see DCPS giving up on academics and going straight to sports. If you watch Last Chance U then you get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, this is extremely dumb. The STRUCTURAL barriers to this becoming anything other than a funnel of money to consultants are completely ridiculous.

Question 1: How many high schools in DC can field a competitive team in sport XXX? How many can field a semi-competitive team? They all play/compete against each other. That takes 6 weeks, with weekly games. Then what? Do teams from other counties/states play us? No, they all have their own leagues and their own high school athletics structures.

Dumb dumb dumb.

There are structural issues, but not the ones you are thinking of. There are 15 DCPS high schools, and even discounting the specialized programs with relatively weaker sports, they have a decent size for an athletic conference. Also, yes, of course DCPS high schools play schools from other states as well as privates. In DC, publics and privates play in DCSAA games throughout the season and in tournaments at the end of the season. Also, they play teams from other states. At Wilson, my kid's team played non-conference games in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania (in addition to out-of-state tournaments).

The structural issue is that talented DMV athletes from anywhere but Wilson have a tool to use to get out of DCPS, and they use it. If you're a standout athlete in DCPS, you are going to hear from WCAC and other high school coaches in middle school, and they have financial aid. In 8th grade, my not-superstar kid and his friends heard from WCAC schools and schools as far afield as Sandy Spring Friends School. If you're a standout athlete in-boundary for Dunbar and you get an offer to attend Gonzaga or St. John's you're probably going to take it. A kid on my son's travel team not only got an offer from a WCAC school, they offered his dad a job. It's impossible for DCPS schools to compete with that.

I totally agree that facilities are not going to solve this issue. Several DCPS schools have excellent athletic facilities (e.g. Ballou), but the nice facilities don't translate to better teams.
Kids with options would attend Wilson or Roosevelt, but they would not play for other DCPS schools -- they would take a free ride at a private school instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, this is extremely dumb. The STRUCTURAL barriers to this becoming anything other than a funnel of money to consultants are completely ridiculous.

Question 1: How many high schools in DC can field a competitive team in sport XXX? How many can field a semi-competitive team? They all play/compete against each other. That takes 6 weeks, with weekly games. Then what? Do teams from other counties/states play us? No, they all have their own leagues and their own high school athletics structures.

Dumb dumb dumb.

There are structural issues, but not the ones you are thinking of. There are 15 DCPS high schools, and even discounting the specialized programs with relatively weaker sports, they have a decent size for an athletic conference. Also, yes, of course DCPS high schools play schools from other states as well as privates. In DC, publics and privates play in DCSAA games throughout the season and in tournaments at the end of the season. Also, they play teams from other states. At Wilson, my kid's team played non-conference games in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania (in addition to out-of-state tournaments).

The structural issue is that talented DMV athletes from anywhere but Wilson have a tool to use to get out of DCPS, and they use it. If you're a standout athlete in DCPS, you are going to hear from WCAC and other high school coaches in middle school, and they have financial aid. In 8th grade, my not-superstar kid and his friends heard from WCAC schools and schools as far afield as Sandy Spring Friends School. If you're a standout athlete in-boundary for Dunbar and you get an offer to attend Gonzaga or St. John's you're probably going to take it. A kid on my son's travel team not only got an offer from a WCAC school, they offered his dad a job. It's impossible for DCPS schools to compete with that.

I totally agree that facilities are not going to solve this issue. Several DCPS schools have excellent athletic facilities (e.g. Ballou), but the nice facilities don't translate to better teams.
Kids with options would attend Wilson or Roosevelt, but they would not play for other DCPS schools -- they would take a free ride at a private school instead.

What exactly is the issue you feel needs to be solved?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, this is extremely dumb. The STRUCTURAL barriers to this becoming anything other than a funnel of money to consultants are completely ridiculous.

Question 1: How many high schools in DC can field a competitive team in sport XXX? How many can field a semi-competitive team? They all play/compete against each other. That takes 6 weeks, with weekly games. Then what? Do teams from other counties/states play us? No, they all have their own leagues and their own high school athletics structures.

Dumb dumb dumb.

There are structural issues, but not the ones you are thinking of. There are 15 DCPS high schools, and even discounting the specialized programs with relatively weaker sports, they have a decent size for an athletic conference. Also, yes, of course DCPS high schools play schools from other states as well as privates. In DC, publics and privates play in DCSAA games throughout the season and in tournaments at the end of the season. Also, they play teams from other states. At Wilson, my kid's team played non-conference games in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania (in addition to out-of-state tournaments).

The structural issue is that talented DMV athletes from anywhere but Wilson have a tool to use to get out of DCPS, and they use it. If you're a standout athlete in DCPS, you are going to hear from WCAC and other high school coaches in middle school, and they have financial aid. In 8th grade, my not-superstar kid and his friends heard from WCAC schools and schools as far afield as Sandy Spring Friends School. If you're a standout athlete in-boundary for Dunbar and you get an offer to attend Gonzaga or St. John's you're probably going to take it. A kid on my son's travel team not only got an offer from a WCAC school, they offered his dad a job. It's impossible for DCPS schools to compete with that.

I totally agree that facilities are not going to solve this issue. Several DCPS schools have excellent athletic facilities (e.g. Ballou), but the nice facilities don't translate to better teams.
Kids with options would attend Wilson or Roosevelt, but they would not play for other DCPS schools -- they would take a free ride at a private school instead.

What exactly is the issue you feel needs to be solved?

DP: No idea if PP feels an issue needs to be solved; what’s relevant here is that the Mayor thinks there is an issue to be solved. She wants DC should be “nationally” known for high school sports. If DCPS/DCPCS loses a bunch of their best athletes to private schools, then it’s hard for DC to ever be an athletic power house. And while some of the private schools are located in DC, the are not “DC” schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sigh. Worrying about comparative facilities and all is nice. But there are two huge things they need to do first, or all the rest is useless.

— Improve sports development *before* high school.

— Segment Deal’s and Wilson’s teams by academy or whatever to allow those schools to have more teams with a more reasonable level of competitiveness.

Consider, for example, middle school baseball. Deal plays other DCPS middle schools and hasn’t lost a game in eons. Some teams get trounced. There is no good excuse for DCPS schools to fhave weak teams when DC has a relatively huge investment in baseball fields across the city. Meanwhile, at Deal, even players who are strong in Little League sit on the bench because the Deal pool is sooooo vast.

Facility adjustments won’t help those problems.

You're accepting the premise that being better at competitive sports is even important to do. They should be talking about creating more opportunities for all kids and all kinds of sports. In particular, when people say "competitive sports," they're talking boys' sports.

PP here, and I agree with you that the goal should be good sports development for all kids, or at least all who want it. It should encompass competitive team sports, but should be broader than that.

Your comment made me wonder what the motivation for the “nationally recognized” competitive sports project is. Is it about what’s good for students, or about PR for DC?

This has the stench about it of catering to the fantasies of middle-aged men.

It definitely has a stench.

[Anonymous]

If you like it or not sports is an avenue to college and jobs.

Also sports teaches a lot of skills.

I love it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you like it or not sports is an avenue to college and jobs.

Also sports teaches a lot of skills.

I love it!

They should be looking to expand the availability of sports to all students then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, this is extremely dumb. The STRUCTURAL barriers to this becoming anything other than a funnel of money to consultants are completely ridiculous.

Question 1: How many high schools in DC can field a competitive team in sport XXX? How many can field a semi-competitive team? They all play/compete against each other. That takes 6 weeks, with weekly games. Then what? Do teams from other counties/states play us? No, they all have their own leagues and their own high school athletics structures.

Dumb dumb dumb.

There are structural issues, but not the ones you are thinking of. There are 15 DCPS high schools, and even discounting the specialized programs with relatively weaker sports, they have a decent size for an athletic conference. Also, yes, of course DCPS high schools play schools from other states as well as privates. In DC, publics and privates play in DCSAA games throughout the season and in tournaments at the end of the season. Also, they play teams from other states. At Wilson, my kid's team played non-conference games in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania (in addition to out-of-state tournaments).

The structural issue is that talented DMV athletes from anywhere but Wilson have a tool to use to get out of DCPS, and they use it. If you're a standout athlete in DCPS, you are going to hear from WCAC and other high school coaches in middle school, and they have financial aid. In 8th grade, my not-superstar kid and his friends heard from WCAC schools and schools as far afield as Sandy Spring Friends School. If you're a standout athlete in-boundary for Dunbar and you get an offer to attend Gonzaga or St. John's you're probably going to take it. A kid on my son's travel team not only got an offer from a WCAC school, they offered his dad a job. It's impossible for DCPS schools to compete with that.

I totally agree that facilities are not going to solve this issue. Several DCPS schools have excellent athletic facilities (e.g. Ballou), but the nice facilities don't translate to better teams.
Kids with options would attend Wilson or Roosevelt, but they would not play for other DCPS schools -- they would take a free ride at a private school instead.

What exactly is the issue you feel needs to be solved?

I’m the PP you asked this question. The only issue I see is that the notion of turning DCPS into a national sports powerhouse is dumb, and it reflects misplaced priorities. I think DCPS admin should focus on improving education, or if they must do something sports related, focus on increasing participation, especially for girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, this is extremely dumb. The STRUCTURAL barriers to this becoming anything other than a funnel of money to consultants are completely ridiculous.

Question 1: How many high schools in DC can field a competitive team in sport XXX? How many can field a semi-competitive team? They all play/compete against each other. That takes 6 weeks, with weekly games. Then what? Do teams from other counties/states play us? No, they all have their own leagues and their own high school athletics structures.

Dumb dumb dumb.

There are structural issues, but not the ones you are thinking of. There are 15 DCPS high schools, and even discounting the specialized programs with relatively weaker sports, they have a decent size for an athletic conference. Also, yes, of course DCPS high schools play schools from other states as well as privates. In DC, publics and privates play in DCSAA games throughout the season and in tournaments at the end of the season. Also, they play teams from other states. At Wilson, my kid's team played non-conference games in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania (in addition to out-of-state tournaments).

The structural issue is that talented DMV athletes from anywhere but Wilson have a tool to use to get out of DCPS, and they use it. If you're a standout athlete in DCPS, you are going to hear from WCAC and other high school coaches in middle school, and they have financial aid. In 8th grade, my not-superstar kid and his friends heard from WCAC schools and schools as far afield as Sandy Spring Friends School. If you're a standout athlete in-boundary for Dunbar and you get an offer to attend Gonzaga or St. John's you're probably going to take it. A kid on my son's travel team not only got an offer from a WCAC school, they offered his dad a job. It's impossible for DCPS schools to compete with that.

I totally agree that facilities are not going to solve this issue. Several DCPS schools have excellent athletic facilities (e.g. Ballou), but the nice facilities don't translate to better teams.
Kids with options would attend Wilson or Roosevelt, but they would not play for other DCPS schools -- they would take a free ride at a private school instead.

What exactly is the issue you feel needs to be solved?

I’m the PP you asked this question. The only issue I see is that the notion of turning DCPS into a national sports powerhouse is dumb, and it reflects misplaced priorities. I think DCPS admin should focus on improving education, or if they must do something sports related, focus on increasing participation, especially for girls.

I'm the PP who asked the question, and I agree. I'll go ever further and say it's beyond dumb, it's destructive.

[Anonymous]

They are giving up on educating many kids. Oh well. See if they can run.

[Anonymous]

maybe they can spend that stupid XQ money on this.

[Anonymous]

It's funny how the wokerati and the Klan often end up at the same place. The essence of this sports initiative is that blacks just aren't that smart, but they're good at sports. Let that sink in for a minute or two.

[Anonymous]

The notice does mention increasing access so you can write to the point of contact and/or show up at one of the mtgs to express your opinions about that.

They say they are soliciting input on draft recommendations. Have they made anything available other than the mtg agenda?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The notice does mention increasing access so you can write to the point of contact and/or show up at one of the mtgs to express your opinions about that.

They say they are soliciting input on draft recommendations. Have they made anything available other than the mtg agenda?

This is how the DC government operates. First they decide what to do, then they seek public input, then they do what they were going to do anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The notice does mention increasing access so you can write to the point of contact and/or show up at one of the mtgs to express your opinions about that.

They say they are soliciting input on draft recommendations. Have they made anything available other than the mtg agenda?

This is how the DC government operates. First they decide what to do, then they seek public input, then they do what they were going to do anyway.

So, that would be a no?