Louisiana splits postseason for major high school sports

Louisiana voted this week to split the playoffs for many major sports, even reinstating the separation of the public and non-public football postseason.

The Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) voted to adopt different playoffs for basketball, baseball and softball. Select (private and charter) schools will compete in one playoff, while public schools (non-select) will compete in another.

The same will be done with football. Two weeks ago the association announced it was ending the football split because the vote to do so years ago violated the LHSAA’s constitution. This time, the vote was done properly, so the split is back in place.

The new format will create 12 champions in basketball, baseball and softball, according to WGNO.

From the article:

“I’m not about giving a trophy to everyone. I think you need to earn that, I do. But if you compete against schools of likeness, then there’s a champion,” said Norman Booker, Principal of Many High School.

Principal Booker proposed the split. He believes private and charter, or select, schools have an unfair advantage with recruiting student-athletes. He didn’t want to wait any longer to propose the split. Even though LHSAA Executive Director Eddie Bonine pleaded with principals to ‘pump the brakes’ and wait a few weeks to come up with a different plan.

“From what I heard, depending on who you talk to, (it’s) not a good day for Louisiana high school sports. But, 6 out of 10, if not more, have stated that’s where they think we should go. That’s the direction we’re going to go at this particular juncture until someone tells me differently,” said Bonine.

Principals voted 182-120 in favor of the split.

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