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Dear Mayor Fenty,
As a lifetime resident of the Washington, D.C. area, I thought I would share some thoughts with you regarding the current state of athletics within the D.C. Public Schools. I was born in D.C. and went to high school here too, so I feel that I am more than qualified to comment on athletics within the District.
There are a few different issues I would like to discuss with you, but none are as important as the transfer rule within the DCIAA. I realize that you have only been the Mayor since January of 2007, but you did attend Wilson High School and grew up in Mount Pleasant, so your knowledge of the DCIAA should be relatively strong. You also come to various athletic events when your job requires you too. Typically, you don't arrive on time, show much interest, and leave early, but you are there and I guess that counts.
Anyway, there is something that slipped through the cracks over the years that needs to be addressed. While I can't seem to find the answer to my question through the DCIAA website and the District doesn't have an athletic director at the current time, I have enough first-hand experience to asses the situation on my own. Just in case you are not aware of the situation, let me break it down for you as simply as possible.
There are 11 schools in the District that have varsity football teams. Those schools are Dunbar, H.D. Woodson, Coolidge, Cardozo, Theodore Roosevelt, Anacostia, Ballou, McKinley, Spingarn and Wilson, which is your alma mater. On average, three or four of the same schools are fighting for the championship each year. Some of this has to do with coaching, but a lot of it has to do with the ability to recruit players from other D.C. public schools like they are NFL free agents.
The NFL, also know as the National Football League, is home to some of D.C.'s greatest players. Byron Leftwich (H.D. Woodson) plays quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Cato June (Anacostia) is a linebacker for the Houston Texans. Vernon Davis (Dunbar/San Fransico 49ers) is another big star in the NFL. In the coming years, players like Arrelious Benn (Dunbar/Illinois) and Marvin Austin (Ballou/UNC) will most likely follow in their footsteps.
These players have a distinct advantage over their peers: they were free agents in high school. Most players in the NFL experience the free agency process for the first time after their rookie contract expires. Some become free agents if they aren't drafted out of college. In Washington, D.C., you become a free agent when you're 13 years old.
Still confused? Let me give you an example.
Johnny Quarterback goes to Ballou High School. He's the best player on the team, he leads his team to the Turkey Bowl and Ballou High School is crowned champions of the DCIAA. Because Johnny is only a junior, Ballou is the early favorite to be the champions the following year. Johnny's coach should be commended for building a championship team without having to replace all his seniors the following year.
Sounds pretty simple, right? Wrong.
After winning the championship for Ballou, Johnny is approached by other football coaches who want him to run their offense. I'm not talking about private schools that can recruit players from the public schools. I'm talking about other public schools in D.C. Yes, the same teams that were being beat by Johnny the year before. It's like the Yankees going after Johnny Damon the year after the Red Sox won the World Series. So instead of going back to Ballou High School for his senior year, Johnny decides to transfer to another public school in the District. Just to make it simple, let's call this school Coolidge.
Coolidge goes from a middle-of-the-road team to a favorite to win the DCIAA overnight. Ballou, on the other hand, has to replace their quarterback and team leader, rebuild their offense and try to compete. But that's not the only issue. Coolidge's quarterback from the previous year no longer has a starting position, so he decides to transfer to another school.
Just to simplify things, let's call this school Wilson. Basically, Coolidge needs a quarterback and offers Johnny a one-year deal. In turn, Wilson sees potential in Coolidge's old quarterback and offers him a one-year deal. Wilson's quarterback from the previous year is picked up by Anacostia. Ballou, however, is out of luck because the all of the free agent quarterbacks in the DCIAA have already signed one-year deals.
Other than the Ballou situation, it sounds pretty good, right? Wrong.
There are other schools who want to win. Unfortunately, when you are given the opportunity to play for a winning program that can get you college exposure, why would you go to a school like Eastern, Anacostia, Spingarn or McKinley? Therefore, all the good players from other schools transfer to the teams that are going to win now. When high school only lasts four years, who wants to spend that time rebuilding or losing every game? In turn, this creates a domino affect.
Spingarn, McKinley and Anacostia go a combined 5-23 and get outscored 1,100-305. Eastern attempts to play two games before cancelling the season. At various points during the season, Anacostia loses 51-0, 42-0, 63-0, 57-0, 36-0, and 38-0. McKinley has the same experience, losing 49-0, 42-0, 53-0 and 54-6. Spingarn has a little more success but suffers losses to the tune of 44-0, 46-0, 47-2, 62-6 and 53-6. Cardozo, who manages to win three games, none of which came in the DCIAA West, lost 62-0 to Coolidge and 60-6 to Dunbar. Ballou (5-5) finishes at .500, but they lose five games by the score of 54-14, 36-0, 45-12, 35-8 and 41-0. The coaches from Anacostia and Spingarn resign from their respective positions.
I know what you're thinking. Losing builds character, right? Wrong.
Out of all the issues in the DCIAA, character could be the biggest problem and it has nothing to do with the kids playing the game. In 2007, Coolidge forfeited games for playing with an ineligible player. Less than a month later, the playoffs were postponed while the D.C. Public School's office investigated claims that Ballou had played with an ineligible player. Ballou was eventually found guilty and Anacostia took Ballou's place in the playoffs.
Not convinced? Let's go back to Johnny Quarterback.
He's a well-spoken young man. His teammates like him. He is fast and has a great arm. And to top it off, he's playing with better talent at Coolidge that has already has college recruiters coming to their games.
Sounds good, right? Wrong.
Because he has been taught that loyalty has no meaning in the world of sports, he treats the colleges recruiting him the same way he treated the coaches that treated him in the DCIAA. He has a number of Division I schools offering full athletic scholarships, and he even gives a verbal commitment to one of them. The program and its fans are excited that they are getting a big-time college quarterback. However, a better program comes along and convinces Johnny to come to their school. Seeing that it's a better program with a bigger upside, Johnny changes his mind and gives the new school a verbal commitment.
The new school is excited and their fans are all talking about this kid from D.C. with the golden arm. HOWEVER, an even better program gets wind of this kid from D.C. and convinces him to come to their school. In the matter of a few months, Johnny has given verbal commitments to three different Division I schools.
Not a big deal, right? Wrong.
People talk, especially in the world of recruiting. Because Johnny was never taught to be loyal to one specific program, the D.C. Public Schools get a bad reputation. Commitments, especially verbal ones, mean nothing. College recruiters start to become skeptical about visiting D.C. public schools because verbal agreements mean nothing most of the time.
So what happens to correct the problem? Nothing, at least nothing that becomes official. The newly hired athletic director that was just lured over from Grambling quits, and "sources" close to the situation say the following:
"He has so many people over him that it's impossible to do anything," the source said. "The problem with this job is, nobody is going to allow you to make any major moves because they just want to save their job."
Others say the following:
"The level of dysfunction is so mountainous," said one DCPS athletic director, "there's no way Troy could've cleaned it up."
The only person willing to go on record says:
"I liked him a lot," Theodore Roosevelt Athletic Director Daryl Tilghman said. "He had a vision and he was trying to get things in place. But it seemed like he was hamstrung from doing the things he wanted to do."
So here we are again, starting from the ground floor.
I called the Department of Athletics the other day to find out where they were in hiring a new athletic director. The woman I spoke to told me that a national search was being conducted to find the right person. There is one problem with that.
Until Mayor Fenty and his people, whether it be Michelle Rhee or someone else, realizes that hiring someone from Texas or California with a good resume won't work, neither will the DCIAA. Impressive resumes mean nothing when those at the top of the food chain refuse to make the neccessary changes.
Hire someone from the District who is familiar with the system. Former Wilson athletic director Eddie Saah would be good choice. Because until something is addressed to resolve the real issues in the DCIAA, nothing will change.
Mayor Fenty, your kids are approaching high school. And while I'm confident they won't attend one of the very public schools you are so intent on reforming, treat the situation in the District like they are attending one of them. Then maybe something will be done.
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