Don't blame Salesianum for recent competitive gulf in high school sports: Tresolini

This is not Salesianum’s fault.

As hard as that may be for some to accept, it’s true.

The all-boys Catholic high school in Wilmington won nine state titles in 13 possible sports in 2023-24. That has cast Salesianum as somewhat of a villain in the recent spate of debate and discussion involving First State high school sports. Sallies also won eight state titles in 2022-23.

But Salesianum winning state titles is nothing new. The Sals have been doing so since the advent of state championship competition.

They just win more now, and that’s mainly because traditional public high schools north of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, namely those in the Blue Hen Conference, are barely even in contention the way they once were.

That’s what needs to change.

The competitive athletic imbalance between the state’s traditional public high schools north of the canal and vast variety of private, parochial, charter and other magnet schools has become a hot topic, as it should.

The Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association board of directors’ recent narrow approval of name/image/likeness opportunities for high school athletes has contributed to that. While the DIAA recognized the national trend in approving NIL, it was also apparent Delaware’s small size and unique setup – with so many educational options for students outside their residential feeder zones, especially upstate – made some board members skeptical how it could work here.

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That NIL decision, along with the private schools’ dominance in state title competition, recently led Republican state senator Eric Buckson, a former high school athletic director and wrestling coach, to submit a bill separating public and non-public schools for those DIAA championships. While that awaits education committee discussion that likely won’t come until next year, Buckson has, at least, convinced the DIAA board of directors to discuss it.

Delaware is probably too small to actually have separate private and public state championships, making such a split very unlikely. But there certainly is a vast gulf.

The 34 state team champions from the just-concluded 2023-24 school year included 25 from private schools. The other nine were won by seven Henlopen Conference schools, including public charter Sussex Academy in Division II boys soccer, plus public charter Delaware Military Academy (Division II wrestling) and below-the-canal Blue Hen member Middletown (Division I girls soccer).

The only state title – not including Unified sports – won the last three years by a north-of-the-canal Blue Hen school was A.I. du Pont in 2023 Division II boys outdoor track and field. The fact the Tigers did that with just six athletes is an example of the numbers problems these schools often face.

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Certainly, Salesianum has some advantages over other schools, most importantly as a strong academic setting with a long history of preparing young men for adulthood. That’s why it has long been a valued educational destination for students and their families, including those from across state lines who frequently dot team rosters.

That helps fuel the Sals’ athletic successes, which is highlighted by state titles in cross country 40 of the last 45 years, swimming 24 of the last 26, soccer 18 of the last 20 and lacrosse 11 of the past 13.

The fact Delaware is such a small state with, depending on the sport, about 50 high schools has allowed Sallies to dominate in a way it certainly would not in neighboring Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Maryland.

But those northern Blue Hen Conference schools once competed against the Sals confidently, enthusiastically and often successfully. Due to changing demographics, fewer students and that multitude of options that lead students elsewhere, they just cannot anymore. That is a tragedy.

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An above-the-canal traditional public high school has not won the Division I or now Class 3A title in football since William Penn in 2014. Before that it was Newark in 2004. Thirteen years ago this fall, Newark beat Salesianum 43-35 at Hoffman Memorial Stadium in a rocking state Division I football semifinal, the likes of which we may not see again. That seems like ancient history now.

In boys soccer, Glasgow was the last above-the-canal public high school to make the finals (2001) and win the title (1995). Brandywine was the last to make the field hockey finals (2008) and William Penn the last to win it (1994). In girls volleyball, Christiana’s 1996 finals appearance and Concord’s 1992 state title are the most recent by those Blue Hen schools.

That’s just fall sports, and those were all a long, long time ago.

Even in boys basketball, which benefits from needing fewer players and Blue Hen schools having access to plenty of good ones, has seen a major drop-off. William Penn’s 2023 loss in the state finals to, ironically, Salesianum is the only title-game appearance by a traditional above-the-canal public school in the last 11 years. Those schools used to be regulars.

Other than Salesianum being a destination school that, like Sanford, Tower Hill and others, may pull players who might have attended some of those schools, it did not cause that drop-off. Those Blue Hen schools being less of an attraction, for whatever reason, did, and that’s what needs to change. That’s a challenge above and beyond athletics.

Giving Wilmington its high schools back – all city high school students have bussed to the burbs since the 1978 federal desegregation order – has long been viewed as a possible solution by many, though it does not appear likely.

Taking the Christina School District out of that plan has been proposed and would be a step in the right direction, as it has been the only district among the four that doesn’t actually border the city, making its three high schools, Newark, Glasgow and Christiana, particularly distant for Wilmington high school students.

Until city, community and state leaders do more to make high schools from the other three districts – Red Clay, Brandywine and Colonial – more appealing for those choosing their high school, the recent disparities in athletics will continue. That can’t blamed on Salesianum or its non-public ilk, provided they are adhering to DIAA transfer rules and recruiting prohibitions and those regulations are being enforced.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Don't blame Salesianum for recent competitive gulf in high school sports: Tresolini