Mountain Brook To Move To 6A Classification

MOUNTAIN BROOK, AL — Mountain Brook High School will compete against a new group of opponents next fall, as the Alabama High School Athletic Association has moved the Spartans from Class 7A to Class 6A for the 2020-21 school year.

The AHSAA released the reclassification for football, volleyball, cross country and swimming Tuesday, placing Mountain Brook in Class 6A, Region 5, which includes:

• Briarwood Christian School
• Chelsea High School
• Homewood High School
• Huffman High School
• Mountain Brook High School
• Shades Valley High School
• Woodlawn High School

Currently, this reclassification affects football, volleyball and cross country. After the completion of the winter and spring sports seasons, the AHSAA will classify the schools in those sports.

Mountain Brook's reclassification comes after enrollment at the high school slipped below the top 32, which is the requirement to stay in Class 7A.

Mountain Brook joins McGill-Toolen and Lee-Montgomery as schools dropping from 7A to 6A, with Daphne, Albertville and Dothan High School replacing them.

Spartans head football coach Chris Yeager said the new classification presents new challenges.

"We have been one of the smallest 7A teams since the AHSAA adopted the seven class system in 2014," Yeager said. "Competing against schools twice our size we embraced the challenge, and always tried to come up with innovative ways to adapt. We look forward to taking all of the things we learned and using them in this next challenge. There are great players and teams in 6A. We are excited about the new challenges and opportunities."