Re: Is The AHSSA About To Make Major Alignment Changes
You make great points and may be spot on, however I'd go a bit higher than 1 or 2 and say 5 to 7 may go to AISA.
Using the last classification numbers, and changing the multiplier from 1.35 to 1.75, the following small private schools would move up:
Madison Academy 3a to 4a
Trinity - 3a to 4a
Montgomery Catholic - 3a to 4a
American Christian - 3a to 4a
Bayside Academy - 3a to 4a
Westminster Christian - 3a to 4a
Mars Hill - 3a to 4a
Montgomery Academy - 2a to 3a
Prattville Christian - 2a to 3a
Westbrook Christian - 2a to 3a
Houston Academy - 2a to 3a
Mobile Christian - 2a to 3a
Providence Christian - 2a to 3a
Altamont - 2a to 3a
Sumiton Christian - 1a to 2a
Holy Spirit - 1a to 2a
St Luke's - 1a to 2a (possibly 3a)
Decatur Heritage - 1a to 2a
Athens Bible - 1a to 2a
Shades Mtn Christian - 1a to 2a
Four or five of those schools (namely the real small ones) would have to shut down their money-making football programs altogether within the next year or two if the multiplier moved up, as they would get pummeled in the next classification.
Basically, the small private schools would suffer, while the large ones would be fine. With that said, the most fair thing to do would be to penalize the large private schools with a greater multiplier than the smaller ones.
My kid plays for Holy Spirit, and we got absolutely massacred this year (and last year, and the year before that...). We had 28 kids, grades 7-12 playing this year. In one game, we dressed 19 due to injuries.
Moving to 2A would be just a wonderful way to remediate that. It is patently unfair to punish private schools that don't recruit with a multiplier, especially since they're not allowed to take transfers from out of zone. Using Holy Spirit as an example, the school is located in the Tuscaloosa City zone, so a kid from Northridge, Bryant, or Tuscaloosa Central could transfer in without sitting out. This assumes they make the grades to be eligible to go to Holy Spirit and that their parents can afford the tuition (because Holy Spirit, unlike, say, American Christian, doesn't recruit because we just don't have the resources to do it).
If AHSAA is going to screw over the private schools that don't recruit by increasing the multiplier to 1.9 or something similarly ridiculous, they should allow "free" transfers from out of zone, so kids from Brookwood, Tuscaloosa County, Hillcrest, Sipsey Valley, Northside, West Blocton, Bibb County, Hale County, Pickens County (this year's 1A state champion, BTW), etc. could go if they so chose to do so. We have inquiries all the time from out of zone kids who would like to go to Holy Spirit, but don't want to sit out for a year.
It is amusing, to say the least, to hear the public schools get all hot and bothered about private school recruiting that largely doesn't happen, when schools like Mountain Brook, Tuscaloosa County, Hoover, etc. are obviously recruiting and facing no consequences.
As for a potential move to AISA, it has been discussed. The problem there is travel time and how AISA schools schedule other sports (basketball, volleyball, etc.). We would have kids getting out at noon several days per month to travel 3+ hours for games that start with JV at 4:30 and end with Varsity as late as 10:00, with the 3+ hour drive home. That's not acceptable to the parents and academic staff.