As I mentioned, the public schools and private schools are playing by different rules. As a public school, Folsom cannot 'make' their kids pay for anything, including transportation fees, spirit packs, or meals. Comparing Folsom to St. Mary's or any other private school is ludicrous. And dismissing the actual costs of a preseason travel game as inconsequential is not reality. Clearly you have never fund raised for this type of event. All of you whining about their schedule, why don't you speak with your wallets and send Folsom a check? I am sure they could use it to fund travel.
How sad that you think that a 16-0 season, capped with a state D1AA title isn't good enough. How did your scheduling work out this year St. Mary's? You lost your QB and had other injuries.
I see no reason why Folsom or any other public school should make the private schools and their massive attendance boundaries, endless funding, youth football 'influence' camps their competitive bar. Some of you are just nuts.
Read my post again, please. I referenced Del Oro, as well. Last I checked, Del Oro is a public school. Maybe check with their athletic office, then?
LOL! Folsom, one of the richest cities in NorCal, as bragged about all over NorCalPreps by the Folsom homies, can't afford to help their football team travel? Wow! Yet, Stockton is the ghetto and magically can afford to travel, although many of St. Mary's parents already scrape to make ends meet and spend a ton of $ on tuition, books, etc., and even an annual athletic fee (if child participates in sports), for which they receive ZERO reimbursement from the government. Again, you make it sound like the $ falls from the sky. Wrong! St. Mary's conduct fundraisers just like every school, private or public, does. Yes, St. Mary's has their share of fundraising car washes, Scrip (shopping), and other fundraising events. The football team and other sports programs create a program (magazine) in which students and parents reach out to the community for sponsors, and also sell these programs at the home games. Maybe sit on the home side and buy one the next time you are at a St. Mary's game. St. Mary's even has a Texas Hold'em fundraising poker tournament. At each annual sports awards night for some of the teams, St. Mary's also conducts a silent auction fundraiser. In fact, in my den is a player autographed team picture of the 2008 section championship football team (my younger son was on), in which I won via silent auction for $ I donated. Maybe St. Mary's is little more creative, but I doubt it. But, I can guarantee that the parents have to pay extra $ or find ways to fundraise more so because they do not get any subsidies from the government. All it takes is a team parent(s) to help drive this effort. I'm confident Folsom has their share of very good team parents. It's called hard work, not entitlement.
Not saying the 16-0 season capped with the state D1AA title isn't good enough, quite the contrary. But, for those Folsom fans who complain their team does not get to play for the state Open championship, I and others here are simply stating it's time for Folsom to STEP UP! Don't step up, then don't complain. St. Mary's won section and NorCal region last year at the D1AA level, and playing SJB last year helped when it came to the playoffs even though they took a beaten. Had St. Mary's had not lost key players to injury or had played with injured key players, everyone knows that they would have presented a better challenge. Playing Mater Dei did not handi-cap them; unrelated injuries did.
BTW, the Rams did not lose any players from scheduling Mater Dei. No, they lost their QB during the very first game vs Serra @ home. Other players along the way were injured in other games. Risk of injures are part of the season. Unfortunate for St. Mary's whose student body is around 1/2 the size of Folsom's does not have the same depth for their football team to be able to recover and play in the playoffs at full strength when hit with the injury bug. Attendance boundary? Wow! Sounds like St. Mary's should have 4 times the # of students attending their school than any public school in the area. Brookside Christian is another private school in Stockton. I'm pretty sure they have the same attendance boundary as St. Mary's. Hmm? Central Catholic in Modesto has open boundaries, too. Yet, their enrollment is less than a 1/4 that of the public schools in the area. I guess St. Mary's and Central Catholic only take students who are outstanding atheletes/football players, like its a checkbox on the admissions application. LOL! Nope, it's not! And feeder programs? WTH! St. Mary's is one of the last high schools in the area to have feeder programs. The public schools have had feeder programs for so much longer. Heck, my sons played for the South Stockton Vikings before they attended St. Mary's, and they did not attend St. Mary's for football. We never looked at the South Stockton Vikings as a feeder program for our sons. They played the sport because they enjoyed it, not because they were preparing to play football at the high school level. In fact, both sons could have played water polo, having swam for the local clubs. They chose football. And the real reason they chose football their freshman year was because they heard this would be the sport where they would meet most of their fellow classmates. It wasn't to win championships or to some day be a pro football player. They attended St. Mary's for so much more. #1 priority for attending St. Mary's was academics along with continued religious education, followed by the sense of community this schools is known for, with sports being the lowest priority. You ask any St. Mary's parent and I can guarantee NONE of them expect their student to become a professional athlete. In fact, if you attend the orientation event for the student's sports program, one of the first things you will hear is that your child has a better chance of winning the lotto than becoming a pro athlete. Sure there is much pride in the sports programs at St. Mary's, but it is far from the top priority as to why the parents send their son/daughter to this school. And, NO! There is not an endless funding at this school. Heck, this is Stockton! Parents, coaches, work hard to raise $ for their athletic programs. You are NUTS to think otherwise.