High school football has always been a big deal amongst the students attending the school when a school has a good team in their division but doesn’t realize the talent levels amongst the other schools in the division. I attended an Allatoona High School football game. They recently made the jump from 4A to 5A. In high school the divisions are separated based on population; however, with a higher population comes a wider base of talent making the school itself better and more competitive. I asked Kelechi Ohanu, a senior at Allatoona, if he felt that his school could compete with power houses in the division like Marietta, Lceachern, and Lassiter.
To put this into perspective each of these schools consistently produces Division One scholarship athletes. In fact at Marietta High School right now there is a quarterback committed to play at Louisiana State University (LSU). Allatoona has yet to produce an athlete of this caliber and from watching them play I can see that they are not ready. Ohanu took personal offense when I even suggested that they are not ready.
The point or question I am trying to ask is: should schools be sheltered from proper competition and set in divisions based on talent and not population? When schools that aren’t ready meet schools that are practically college-like, does it hurt school pride or advance the program? Not to mention some of these schools recruit middle schoolers by encouraging parents to move into their district. Up and coming programs lack that influence. These schools promise scholarships and a successful program; these are things not available to new schools.
Lets leave on a question: is it better to build a team for the future or build school pride now?

Luvert Allen, Former Editor of Sports