From time to time, we get letters here suggesting The Baltimore Sun’s Athlete of the Week picks are biased in favor of the area’s private schools. Anyone who looks at the list of recent winners can see how that conclusion could be reached.

Nine of the past 12 girls and boys athletes dating to Dec. 9, 2009, have come from the private schools.

But as one of the three staff members who select the winners, I feel compelled to at least discuss the way it happens. And to offer a suggestion of how some balance might be returned to the selections.

There are many Sunday nights and Monday mornings when my colleagues and I go through the voice mail to listen to the nominations only to find only one — if any. Other days, we find half a dozen, and the choice is always difficult. That is especially true when comparing apples, oranges and pears — basketball, track and field, and wrestling.

The stats and performances are so different, the numbers so diverse, it is a tormenting task. We look at the numbers. We look the competition against which those numbers were posted. We look at the overall achievement.

On the boys side this week, for instance, Digital Harbor nominated basketball player Davon Usher, who in two games had 49 points, 26 rebounds, 13 assists and two blocked shots. South River nominated wrestler Curtis Taylor, who is 20-0 on the season and went 7-0 last week. Additionally, the Owings Mills wrestling team, the Arundel basketball team and the Glenelg track and field team all had equally deserving nominees.

But then there was McDonogh’s Justin Gross, who produced the second-best long jump in the nation this year (23 feet, 6 inches) while winning that event at the Montgomery Invitational. He also had the 10th-fastest time nationally in the 55-meter high hurdles (7.63 seconds).

Who could ignore the second-best performance nationally by an indoor track performer? But if I were Davon Usher, I would be wondering what I had to do to be Athlete of the Week.

It’s those kinds of choices we face nearly every week.

And on the weeks we don’t, it is often because only one coach has taken the time to nominate his or her player. Much of the time the coaches doing most of the nominating are private school coaches, and that certainly increases their odds of seeing their athlete selected.

Maybe it’s one of those vicious cycles. Public school coaches see lots of private school kids getting the award and shrug off making the nomination call. And private school coaches, seeing so many private school kids winning the award, do make the call, thus helping to perpetuate the imbalance.

But here’s the thing: If the coach makes the call, there’s always a chance his kid will be Athlete of the Week, and even if he or she isn’t, he or she and his or her school get recognized as having someone good enough to have been considered for the award.

If no one makes the call, there is no chance and there is no recognition of anything.

So, this, in a way, is a plea to all you coaches out there, whether in the private or public schools. When one of your athletes does something deserving of note, pick up the phone and call 410-332-6801 and make the nomination.

If you do, something good will come of it. And if you don’t, nothing ever will.