Forum Conversations

[vafootballjunkie]

Interesting to see Fuqua so swiftly and definitively condemned on this message board. Many of you seem very knowledgeable of their transgressions over the past few years. And since many of you are so well informed, I'm sure you know that the head of the VISAA went to the school, in person, to investigate what the school was doing. Please remind the rest of us what the VISAA determined from that visit and what Fuqua's sanctions were...

The same can be said about what is seemingly every other post on this page about North Cross. When you make general comments like they "have a bunch of 19 year olds" (they actually have ZERO 19 year olds playing this year) or you heard they have a 17-year-old freshman (which is so absurd it doesn't deserve a response), those are just accusations that have no basis in facts or reality. Do people really think that prep schools are reclassing kids so they can be good at high school sports? Do people realize that when a kid reclasses, the family then has to pay another year of tuition?

An accusation that a school is "selling its soul" to be good at athletics is a pretty harsh one. You know that a school like North Cross has its average SAT scores, recent college admissions records, and number of advanced placement offerings available on its website? For a school that has sold its soul for sports, they seem to be doing pretty well in those categories.

Finally, I think it is grossly inappropriate for adults to be discussing a kid's grades or academic struggles on a forum like this.

I get that inter-division or cross-town rivals aren't supposed to like each other, but everyone would be better off if our discussions on here were a little more factual and a little less emotional.

 

[vafootballjunkie]

I am aware of Fuqua's issues and the reaction of the conference for a perceived violation. I am just wondering if you or anyone can tell us what the final word from the VISAA was, considering they are ultimately the governing body. I need no education the VISAA's shortcomings, but I think something would have been done if there was a blatant violation.

I'm not an insider, just saw your comment about a bunch of 19 year olds and wondered if it was true. Admins send out eligibility rosters for each sport, as I'm sure you know. And I'm sure you're well enough connected at RC to ask some admin about NC's football roster. If you do that, you'll find the same thing I did.

I do not agree that prep schools are reclassifying kids to be good at high school sports. I know that is what some would like to think, but prep schools in VA have been doing this for decades, and it is because their kids WANT to reclass and it makes them better college applicants and college students. If a school is reclassing kids and they're not college bound or able to graduate, that would be one thing... but we're talking about college-bound kids here. This is a college admission and college performance discussion. Not to mention it is legal in the VISAA.

We'll have to disagree about the discussing a kid's grade on this forum.

 

[JOEWM2004]

Interesting to see Fuqua so swiftly and definitively condemned on this message board. Many of you seem very knowledgeable of their transgressions over the past few years. And since many of you are so well informed, I'm sure you know that the head of the VISAA went to the school, in person, to investigate what the school was doing. Please remind the rest of us what the VISAA determined from that visit and what Fuqua's sanctions were...

The same can be said about what is seemingly every other post on this page about North Cross. When you make general comments like they "have a bunch of 19 year olds" (they actually have ZERO 19 year olds playing this year) or you heard they have a 17-year-old freshman (which is so absurd it doesn't deserve a response), those are just accusations that have no basis in facts or reality. Do people really think that prep schools are reclassing kids so they can be good at high school sports? Do people realize that when a kid reclasses, the family then has to pay another year of tuition?

An accusation that a school is "selling its soul" to be good at athletics is a pretty harsh one. You know that a school like North Cross has its average SAT scores, recent college admissions records, and number of advanced placement offerings available on its website? For a school that has sold its soul for sports, they seem to be doing pretty well in those categories.

Finally, I think it is grossly inappropriate for adults to be discussing a kid's grades or academic struggles on a forum like this.

I get that inter-division or cross-town rivals aren't supposed to like each other, but everyone would be better off if our discussions on here were a little more factual and a little less emotional.

Good luck with this. I agree: the level of discourse on this board has really gone downhill.

 

[vafootballjunkie]

I certainly don't want to tell anyone how to think... just thought that we might want to do a little fact-checking or information-seeking before we blast institutions on this forum.

There's a big difference in reclassing a kid to him/her to achieve his/her college goals and doing it for the purpose of having good high school athletics. I'm not idealist, but I do believe that most of the quality academic institutions in the state operate appropriately in the classification of their students, both athletes and non-athletes.

 

[clueless in cfield]

The VCC let Fuqua back into the conference? Might want to get the facts straight. As a person is closely involved with the VCC, Fuqua has not been in the VCC for 2 years. THey weren't in football last year, weren't in volleyball, weren't in basketball (boys and girls), and weren't in baseball. To stop the lawsuit, they changed the name of the conference to the Virginia Colonial Conference instead of the Virginia Commonwealth Conference, and only invited teams back in they wanted. Fuqua was not one of them.

 

[JOEWM2004]

Ummm...YES. They did. For THAT year. The conference disbanded at the END of that season. But Fuqua WAS allowed back into the conference for that season - that's why the two players in questions were allowed to continue playing football that season - because the VCC allowed it to go under threat of lawsuit. YOU need to get your facts straight.

I would listen to clueless in cfield - he is right. All of the VCC schools quit the conference at the end of the fall season and the new Virginia Colonial Conferece, minus Fuqua, began play that winter.