There has been much talk of late about “regionalizing” Aquidneck Island schools. For those who haven’t been paying attention, basically, this means sending all island high school students to one high school.
There’s no telling if local politicians and school boards will ever allow this to happen. But the concept got me thinking about it, not surprisingly, from the sports angle. And the idea of one powerhouse athletic program on the island seems pretty cool.
Aside from the fact that such an arrangement would make our jobs in The Daily News sports department quite a bit easier — covering two fewer high schools — and Aquidneck Island high school would be fantastic for student-athletes and the Rhode Island Interscholastic League.
Imagine kids from Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth joining forces to be a dominant player on nearly every sports stage in the state. The school would almost certainly move up to the top division in each sport, and in all likelihood, be pretty damn good at all of them.
Each school year, we pick the top players from each Newport County school to make up our Newport Daily News All-County teams. I, for one, would love to see these players on the same actual team.
And with Tiverton exploring the possibility of closing its high school and sending kids elsewhere, presumably to the island, the sports possibilities are intriguing, to say the least.
The downside, from the kids’ perspective, is that one team per sport means fewer roster spots and more cuts. Not only that, but kids who were accustomed to seeing a lot of playing time might see that diminish.
But that’s the way most high school sports work all over the country. If you’re not good enough to make the team, get better. If you’re not getting the playing time you want, earn it.
With that kind of competition among classmates, there’s no doubt our local teams would be a force with which to be reckoned and be more than capable of knocking the likes of La Salle, Bishop Hendricken or Barrington from their pedestal as the top dogs of the RIIL.
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I'm split on this one. Sure, it would be awesome to compete for top-level state championships in a number of sports, but what about the rivalries that are already in place?
The crowd at the last Portsmouth-Rogers boys basketball game was awesome, or how about any Thanksgiving Day morning football game between Middletown and Portsmouth?
Those things would be lost.
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