There are plenty of things to contemplate as fans mull over Tuesday’s release of the new Georgia High School Association 2016-17 and 2017-18 region alignments.
The new alignments were made more interesting with the creation of a new Class AAAAAAA and after appeals were held for schools who requested to play up in classification. Several schools were granted permission, including Union County in the northeast Georgia area (from Class AA to Class AAA), while others were allowed to drop down a class.
Things are not completely set in stone, however. Appeals for schools wanting to request a lateral move within its classification will be heard next Monday -- though it is expected only a few schools will make formal requests to change regions.
A handful of schools located in northeast Georgia moved up a classification due the "three percent rule," including Buford, Jefferson, and Riverside Military Academy, which helped create some interesting region alignments. Others, like Johnson (Class AAAAA), Gainesville and Lanier (Class AAAAAA), and West Hall (Class AAAA) moved up based on projected enrollment. And some moved down based on those projections: North Hall (Class AAA) and Banks County (Class AA).
Despite all the changes, a number of area athletic directors were satisfied with the results.
“(The GHSA) had a big challenge with all the region makeups and the new classification. I think they did a pretty good job,” Buford’s Dexter Wood said.
The Wolves moved up to Class AAAAA and will be in the new 8-AAAAA with other area schools Flowery Branch and Johnson. Cedar Shoals, Clarke Central, Loganville, and Walnut Grove make up the rest of the region.
“It’s a very balanced region in my opinion,” Wood said. “I see a big challenge for us in all sports. There will still be some long road trips but I don’t see how anyone can expect to avoid that completely.”
Gainesville athletic director Billy Kirk felt the Red Elephants, who moved up to Class AAAAAA, got nearly everything they could have wanted. They were placed in 8-AAAAAA with current 8-AAAAA rivals Apalachee, Lanier and Winder-Barrow. Meanwhile, old rival Habersham Central will also join Dacula in the new league.
“We’re extremely pleased with where we ended up,” Kirk said. “There’s a good competitive balance in all sports. It’s a great region mainly for the logistics in that there aren’t any really long road trips. And, for football, with only six teams it will allow us to schedule some rivalry games outside of the region.”
Habersham Central’s athletic director Geep Cunningham felt the move out of the state’s largest classification will help the Raiders get back to a more competitive posture.
“We’re very happy,” Cunningham said. “It was a good day for us. We definitely feel like this will allow us to be more competitive in all sports. We’re familiar with the schools and the travel will be much better for us.”
For Union County, athletic director Mandy Hunter said it was a matter of logistics for their teams and fans in their desire to move from Class AA to Class AAA. The Panthers will be in the modified 7-AAA with holdovers Dawson County, East Hall, Fannin County, and Lumpkin County, and newcomers North Hall and Greater Atlanta Christian.
“We just felt it was in our best interest to be in a region that was closer for us,” Hunter said. “We were playing Washington-Wilkes and our kids and coaches sometimes didn’t get back until 3 a.m. This just made more sense for us. Now our fans can actually travel to our away games. We’re very pleased (the GHSA) approved us moving up.”
But, with the move up also comes what is expected to be stiffer competition. The Panthers are the smallest of the public schools in the region. Only GAC, a private school, is smaller population-wise in the region.
“We know it will be a jump in competition but we feel our coaches are ready to do what it takes to keep us competitive,” Hunter said. “We feel like we’re going to be just fine. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
West Hall, which moved up to Class AAAA, is the third-smallest public school in the classification. The Spartans were put in Region 7-AAAA with fellow Hall County schools Chestatee and Riverside Miltary, White County, and private-school powerhouses Marist and Blessed Trinity.
Spartans athletic director Ethan Banks said it is one of the most diverse of all the regions in the state regardless of classification.
"What an eclectic group of schools," Banks said. "You have White County, the only school in an entire county; a single-sex school in Riverside; two almost identical county schools in us and Chestatee; and then you throw in two private schools. An interesting mix to say the least."
Banks said the GHSA asked East Hall and Pike County, the two smallest AAAA schools not affected by the three percent rule, to play down to help balance out both AAA and AAAA. That created a ripple effect, Banks said.
"There were a lot of scenarios that we envisioned but we didn't see that one coming," he said about Marist and Blessed Trinity. "When (East Hall and Pike) moved down it left two holes in our region. We thought they might put Stephens County and Jefferson in but I guess they decided not to put Marist, Blessed Trinity, and St. Pius all in the same region. I'm sure it was a tough decision (for the GHSA) to have to make.
"But we're excited about where we are. We're going to make the best of it. There are more sports than just football and I think we'll be competitive overall."
Here are the regions including northeast Georgia schools as set on Tuesday (from largest classification to smallest, area teams in bold):
REGION 5-AAAAAAA
Forsyth Central
Lambert
Milton
North Forsyth
South Forsyth
West Forsyth
REGION 6-AAAAAAA
Collins Hill
Discovery
Duluth
North Gwinnett
Mill Creek
Mountain View
Peachtree Ridge
REGION 8-AAAAAA
Apalachee
Dacula
Gainesville
Habersham Central
Lanier
Winder-Barrow
REGION 8-AAAAA
Buford
Cedar Shoals
Clarke Central
Flowery Branch
Johnson
Loganville
Walnut Grove
REGION 7-AAAA
Blessed Trinity
Chestatee
Marist
Riverside Military
West Hall
White County
REGION 8-AAAA
Jefferson
Madison County
North Oconee
Oconee County
St. Pius X
Stephens County
REGION 7-AAA
Dawson County
East Hall
Fannin County
Greater Atlanta Christian
Lumpkin County
North Hall
Union County
REGION 8-AAA
East Jackson
Hart County
Jackson County
Franklin County
Monroe Area
Morgan County
REGION 8-AA
Banks County
Elbert County
Monticello
Oglethorpe County
Putnam County
Rabun County
Social Circle
REGION 8-A
Athens Academy
Athens Christian
Commerce
George Walton
Hebron Christian
Lakeview Academy
Prince Avenue
Providence Christian
Towns County
*Tallulah Falls
*Woody Gap
*-Schools not playing varsity football
Check back on accessWDUN throughout the day as we gather reaction from area coaches and administrators on the new region alignments.
Also, here is the remaining reclassification timetable for the GHSA:
- Dec. 7 – The deadline for schools to appeal for a lateral transfer within the same classification will be at noon.
- Dec. 8 – The Reclassification Committee will meet in Thomaston to hear appeals for lateral transfers within the same classification.
- Jan. 13 – Full Executive Committee meets to ratify the reclassification.
