The question of whether private schools should compete in public school state championships has been a big debate in high school sports for years. Many believe private schools have an unfair advantage because they can recruit players, have bigger budgets, and have access to better facilities. Public schools are limited by stricter rules, smaller budgets, and district boundaries. This creates an uneven playing field, making the competition feel unfair and discouraging for public school teams. To protect fairness and give every team a fair chance to succeed, it might be time to rethink if private schools should be allowed to compete in public school state championships.

Liberty Christian Academy (LCA), a private school in Lynchburg, Virginia, sued the Virginia High School League (VHSL) to gain eligibility to compete in public school state tournaments. The lawsuit, filed in 2015, argued that VHSL’s rules unfairly excluded private schools from participating in state-level competition, despite their willingness to meet the same standards as public schools. The legal challenge ultimately led to a settlement that allowed LCA and other private schools to meet certain criteria to join the VHSL, paving the way for greater inclusivity in Virginia high school athletics.

This past season our own Lady Titans went up to compete against LCA for the first time in the VHSL State Tournament. Senior and team captain Calli Anderson (12) shares some of her opinions about the advantages that LCA has and how this could have affected Hidden Valleys State Championship season. “The girls playing on LCA’s team were recruited and the team was built by picking and choosing rather than out team that was built from what we had in our small area, therefore it was an unfair advantage to teams such as ours that their school only covers a small part of Roanoke.” When Anderson was asked if LCA should be allowed to stay in the VHSL or go back to private school championships she stated, “It would be fine for them to play in district play with schools around them but they should not be allowed to play in the State Tournament due to the extra resources and recruitment.”

With all of the controversy about if LCA should be able to participate or not it takes away from the fun a joy sports bring to kids and their families. To eliminate this, LCA should be put back into private school play to create a fair playing ground for all of Virginia.