Rebel Bert Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 I guess we won't know the exact direction in terms of numbers as to classes and regions as to who and when we go 7A-1A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Coach Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSSportsGuy Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 From the sound of this it is likely just a formality and that we will be in 7 classifications by 2023 at the latest. I will again say I think it's silly to have 7 in a state this small with a shrinking number of public schools and public school students overall. I referenced other states have a pretty big gap across their divisions and if this was truly about closing that, the association could just adjust the number of schools who are classified as 6A and 5A. The gap isn't new and has always been there to some degree and the same goes for travel. I am old and remember when 5A initially went to 8 team divisions/regions because those large schools could't find enough out of district games against schools that wanted to play them. The 8 team districts helped with scheduling but also created some of the travel issues that are unfortunate. Seven classes doesn't really solve travel problems for everyone, there will always be geographic outliers. I feel a bigger problem is how rigid the association has been about teams not playing up or down at all to possibly help reduce travel even if there is a minuscule difference in enrollment figures. That's something that does happen in some other states on occasion but doesn't appear to have really happened here. I also shook my head at Neaves talking about "increasing excitement" with another class. I wasn't aware excitement had been muted other than the fact it costs lots of money to travel to these games between fuel, tickets, concessions, and now people are able to receive scores and watch via digital media. This won't change by adding another class but adding another class will give more playoff games and championships. Program success is less about enrollment and more about culture. South Panola, during its winning streak, didn't have the same numbers as most 6A schools but they won and dominated because they had talent, coaching, and also a winning culture. Looking at the soon to be 7A list I see several schools who have large enrollments but probably couldn't consistently defeat schools in lower classes with winning cultures. Desoto Central is number 2 on the last enrollment list and their football program hasn't been overly successful throughout their history but this is being used as justification to add another class. These are just my own opinions and certainly no more valid than anyone else's. My kids are out of high school sports and I doubt I will ever attend many high school sporting events again unless it is a special occasion. The coaches and member schools will vote however they wish and that's their right. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastfootballfanman Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 20 minutes ago, MSSportsGuy said: Seven classes doesn't really solve travel problems for everyone, there will always be geographic outliers. I feel a bigger problem is how rigid the association has been about teams not playing up or down at all to possibly help reduce travel even if there is a minuscule difference in enrollment figures. That's something that does happen in some other states on occasion but doesn't appear to have really happened here. I also shook my head at Neaves talking about "increasing excitement" with another class. I wasn't aware excitement had been muted other than the fact it costs lots of money to travel to these games between fuel, tickets, concessions, and now people are able to receive scores and watch via digital media. This won't change by adding another class but adding another class will give more playoff games and championships. You made a ton of valid points in your post. Was a great read honestly. Almost makes me want to change my mind about going to 7 classes. LOL. I do agree, 7 classes are coming no matter what in my opinion. The question remains, how soon? I will say the way it was explained to me is that under the current system, there are many teams that travel 2+ hours for multiple region games. By shrinking the classes down and making regions smaller, it will cut down on the number of longer trips (instead of 3-4, it would take most down to 1-2; obviously it will not help everyone 100%). In doing this, the thought process is that these teams can now fill their non-region schedule with teams closer to them (a 4A team can play close by 5, 3, or 2A teams) which should help travel. You will still have some teams (Natchez sticks out to me) that are travel nightmares no matter how you slice it. However, I do think this will help some of the smaller classifications mainly in travel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Bert Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 On 2/9/2022 at 8:58 AM, coastfootballfanman said: You made a ton of valid points in your post. Was a great read honestly. Almost makes me want to change my mind about going to 7 classes. LOL. I do agree, 7 classes are coming no matter what in my opinion. The question remains, how soon? I will say the way it was explained to me is that under the current system, there are many teams that travel 2+ hours for multiple region games. By shrinking the classes down and making regions smaller, it will cut down on the number of longer trips (instead of 3-4, it would take most down to 1-2; obviously it will not help everyone 100%). In doing this, the thought process is that these teams can now fill their non-region schedule with teams closer to them (a 4A team can play close by 5, 3, or 2A teams) which should help travel. You will still have some teams (Natchez sticks out to me) that are travel nightmares no matter how you slice it. However, I do think this will help some of the smaller classifications mainly in travel. I think the smaller regions will be basically the same 5 minus the 6th school plus maybe 1 that goes up in class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Bert Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 Anyone seen the classification numbers for the April meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Bert Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 I am hearing that if you reclassified for 1 year the travel issue gets worse. 5A on the coast will only be 6 schools thus Hattiesburg and one other goes to R4. Only one Tupelo, South Panola, or Oxford goes to R2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vott Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 43 minutes ago, Rebel Bert said: I am hearing that if you reclassified for 1 year the travel issue gets worse. 5A on the coast will only be 6 schools thus Hattiesburg and one other goes to R4. Only one Tupelo, South Panola, or Oxford goes to R2. So you think HHS and Wayne co may go back to region 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Bert Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 2 hours ago, Vott said: So you think HHS and Wayne co may go back to region 4 HHS, Wayne County, or South Jones, 2 of the 3 if they go by the up dated #'s George County and West Harrison move up to 6A and 2 schools go to Region 3 6A 6A R4. 6A R3 West Harrison. George County Ocean Springs. Harrison Central Gulfport. Terry Biloxi. Petal D'Iberville. Oak Grove Hancock. Meridian St Martin. Brandon Pascagoula. Pearl 5A R4. 5A R3 PRC. West Jones Gautier. Brookhaven Picayune. Florence Vancleave. Laurel East Central. Forest Hill Long Beach. Vicksburg Hattiesburg. South Jones Wayne County. Jim Hill I can see Provine in the south but that trip from Vicksburg to maybe Columbus/New Hope or Cleveland tells me nau. Natchez is largest 4A for 1 year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonUnit1988 Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 19 hours ago, Rebel Bert said: I am hearing that if you reclassified for 1 year the travel issue gets worse. 5A on the coast will only be 6 schools thus Hattiesburg and one other goes to R4. Only one Tupelo, South Panola, or Oxford goes to R2. Hattiesburg and Wayne Co were in coast 5A region until this past season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonUnit1988 Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 16 hours ago, Rebel Bert said: HHS, Wayne County, or South Jones, 2 of the 3 if they go by the up dated #'s George County and West Harrison move up to 6A and 2 schools go to Region 3 6A 6A R4. 6A R3 West Harrison. George County Ocean Springs. Harrison Central Gulfport. Terry Biloxi. Petal D'Iberville. Oak Grove Hancock. Meridian St Martin. Brandon Pascagoula. Pearl 5A R4. 5A R3 PRC. West Jones Gautier. Brookhaven Picayune. Florence Vancleave. Laurel East Central. Forest Hill Long Beach. Vicksburg Hattiesburg. South Jones Wayne County. Jim Hill I can see Provine in the south but that trip from Vicksburg to maybe Columbus/New Hope or Cleveland tells me nau. Natchez is largest 4A for 1 year. This looks like a current classification scenario if 7A wasn't introduced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastfootballfanman Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 I was was able to talk with an AD friend over the weekend that is connected to some executive committee members and was told by him that going 7A is "a done deal". "Whether it happens this year, or in 2023, we are going to 7 classifications." He said the big divide currently is many want this to happen now and start in 2022, but there are others that want to stay on normal schedule and move to 7 classes in 2023. Was also told that is what the vote in April is going to be about. Whether to start in 2022 or 2023. He did say the committee member said he felt it would not be until 2023 though but that there was a enough coaches, ADs, etc. throughout the state clamoring for it happen now. He said there was minimal push-back on going to 7 classes so they are going forward with it. I asked about what numbers would they draw from if they did it this season and he said that was a great questions and one he did not even think to ask (LOL) but if he had to guess, just use the last counts numbers or you could easily pull October 1 data from the 21-22 school year. Will be interesting to see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vott Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 49 minutes ago, CrimsonUnit1988 said: Hattiesburg and Wayne Co were in coast 5A region until this past season. Yes they were. I loved playing in region 4. Coast trips were nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonUnit1988 Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Vott said: Yes they were. I loved playing in region 4. Coast trips were nice. I don't think those are bad trips. GC never minded traveling to OG or Petal. It was the Brandon, Pearl, NWR, Jim Hill, Terry, and Meridian trips that sucked. Edited February 14, 2022 by CrimsonUnit1988 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vott Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 15 minutes ago, CrimsonUnit1988 said: I don't think those are bad trips. GC never minded traveling to OG or Petal. It was the Brandon, Pearl, NWR, Jim Hill, Terry, and Meridian trips that sucked. I know its a long drive, but I dont mind the Natchez trip. Gives me a reason to take a day off from work and give me a three day weekend. I can handle one long trip per season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonUnit1988 Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 57 minutes ago, Vott said: I know its a long drive, but I dont mind the Natchez trip. Gives me a reason to take a day off from work and give me a three day weekend. I can handle one long trip per season. Yeah I think everybody is ok with one long trip. It's when it is 3-4 that makes it tough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vott Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 3 minutes ago, CrimsonUnit1988 said: Yeah I think everybody is ok with one long trip. It's when it is 3-4 that makes it tough. No doubt. And every year in region play Natchez is making 3 and 4 long trips each season. Brookhaven being the shortest drive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Bert Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 2 hours ago, CrimsonUnit1988 said: This looks like a current classification scenario if 7A wasn't introduced. It is current up to date #s with the 6 class set up. Not sure when they were posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Bert Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 Which St Joseph is coming back to MHSAA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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