GHSA Approves New 6A Classification

Georgia high schools will crown six state champions in each sport next year as the state moves from a Class AAAAA to Class AAAAAA system.

By a vote of 26-24, the Georgia High School Association Executive Committee approved Tuesday the six-class system proposed by former Brookwood High School Athletic Director Dave Hunter.

The vote came shortly after the committee overwhelmingly rejected the controversial 4/8 proposal advanced by Executive Committee Chairman Stan Ethridge of Savannah. It was lopsided with 35 of the 50 members opposed.

Principal Jay Floyd is a member of the Executive Committee and voted in favor of the 6A system. He said members had to not only consider the region and area in which their schools are located, but also the rest of the state.

“The primary issues that needed to be dealt with is travel, of course, with the price of diesel and the fact that a lot of school systems are cutting back, but the big issue that we don’t have to really deal with here in north Georgia or metro Atlanta is going to be the travel situation a lot of the schools are in in rural south Georgia,” Floyd said. “I felt like the parody and the balance in the straight six classification is a lot better than what we’re doing now. But at the same time, it kind of left the region play in tact…

“Also with the other proposals, there were regions that had two, three or four schools in those regions and that didn’t seem like a lot of parody to me.”

The 4/8 system would have divided Georgia high schools into four classifications for the regular season and subdivided them into eight classifications for the playoffs and would thus result in crowning eight state champions in each sport. 

The new Class AAAAAA system will be implemented starting with the 2012-13 school year. GHSA Communication Director Steve Figueroa said once the Department of Education determines the full-time enrollment at each school, 15 percent of high schools will be placed in Class 6A, 15 percent in 5A, 16 percent in 2A, 3A and 4A, and 22 percent in Class A.

If those changes were based on existing full-time enrollment, would move to a new region in AAAAA from its current Class AAAA, as would many schools.

Woodland’s Athletic Director Mike Tobin said he was not in favor of the 4/8 plan but the 6A system is “pretty good.”

“I think like everyone else, we, for the most part, wish we could play teams closer to us and build rivalries and have shorter travel distances,” Tobin said. “If nothing changes with the numbers, all of our trips would still be an hour long or 45 minutes away. It would be a lot more convenient and logical to me if played teams that were closer to us.”

He added that with region changes, Woodland could face several new opponents, which hurts existing rivalries.

The new system could mean less of a change for the Purple Hurricanes, Floyd said.

“A lot of the schools we’ve played over the last 10 years or so, we would still play,” Floyd said. “There’s some that have not been in our region that will be in this classification now, like Adairsville.

“I kind of like the way that we came out as well, even though that wasn’t a priority in the beginning.”

Also with existing counts, Cass would remain in its current class and region. As with other schools, most of which would change classifications and/or regions, the Colonels could face new opponents as the regions shift.

When the GHSA announces the new classifications after fall full-time enrollment number are gathered, the schools will have 14 days to appeal to the organization to be moved up or down in classification. That announcement could happen in October.