GASTONIA - Can't high school coaches decide for themselves which opponents their teams should play?

That's my first complaint about a new policy approved by Gaston County's athletic directors on April 3.

In case you haven't heard, Gaston County Schools' high school athletic directors voted unanimously to ban the scheduling of private schools in all sports. The policy will go into effect as soon as county athletic director Butch Adams gains approval from each high school principal.

The primary issue, the athletic directors say, is that private schools and public schools play by different rules. They claim private schools recruit athletes and reclassify them, allowing them to repeat a grade.

I understand their concerns, but isn't a blanket policy a bit over the top?

If Hunter Huss wants to play Gaston Day in basketball, give the Huskies the chance. If South Point wants to schedule Charlotte Latin next football season, why is that a problem?

A coach should be able to determine which opponents are best for his program without limitation by an unfair policy. Sometimes, private schools actually offer stronger competition than a coach can find otherwise and this benefits the team in the long run.

The rule as it stands now would eliminate competition against not only Gaston County private schools, but all private schools.

Let's just be honest about it, though, and call it what it is: The Gaston Day rule.

Recruiting and reclassification was a serious problem with Gaston Day basketball a few years ago. But it no longer seems to the issue that it was.

I hear the same recruiting allegations everyone else hears, and I'm not so naïve as to believe there's no recruiting going on, but we all know recruiting done well is nearly impossible to prove.

And for the record, I believe holding open gym on Sundays is crossing the recruiting line even if it does provide a wholesome atmosphere for local kids.

But if Gaston Day is recruiting local kids from their districted high schools, then they must not be recruiting very effectively. Exactly how many former Gaston County Schools athletes do you see playing with the Spartans this year? Not many. In fact, if schools are worried about their kids being recruited away from their program, they need look no further than their rival public schools.

But for some reason, the public school athletic directors feel that every time they play Gaston Day, it provides the Spartans a recruiting opportunity - even moreso if the game takes place at Gaston Day, where the players can get a glimpse of their sometimes superior facilities.

It seems to me that there's a deeply ingrained perception in this area that will take a long time to change.

Want an example of how stubborn our local athletic directors have been about this issue?

They met with Gaston Day athletic director Kevin Sims and headmaster Richard Rankin in Dec. 2005 to discuss their concerns about alleged recruiting, reclassification and the awarding of athletic scholarships.

According to Sims, the "discussion" wasn't a discussion at all.

"We were talked to and there wasn't much talking with, at least not at that particular meeting," Sims said.

In other words, some of the athletic directors haven't handled the matter as professionally as they might have.

Before this past week, nobody would admit on the record to the existence of an unwritten rule that disallowed Gaston County Schools from playing against Gaston Day.

The rule led to some abruptly canceled games. In the fall of 2005, Gaston Day's volleyball schedule shrank from 14 to 10 games because the public schools couldn't play Gaston Day, Sims said. Some of the games were canceled only a few hours before they were to be contested, he added.

As far as I can tell, Gaston County athletic directors made no attempt to contact Gaston Day or any other private school one last time before voting earlier this month. During the discussion, nobody raised the slightest opposition or even played devil's advocate. They had already made up their minds.

Can't their concerns be addressed in other ways?

I thought it was great when the Gaston Day and Hunter Huss boys basketball teams played in Bobcats Arena in February. I thought the event would be the first of many Gaston Day vs. Gaston County games to come. I guess I was wrong.

Even if you believe the playing field isn't level between public and private schools, keep in mind we're talking about non-conference games.

Very seldom do Gaston County public schools face private schools in the playoffs (although Cherryville has a right to gripe about the charter school Winston-Salem being in the Class 1A).

Speaking of griping, we better not hear any when a local school has to travel 90 minutes to face quality competition when it could have scheduled a private school in Gaston County or Charlotte.