Ed Hooper
The Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA —
After dividing its member schools into a six classification system last month, the Georgia High School Association set new region alignments for the upcoming 2012-13 and 2013-14 athletic seasons on Tuesday.
The six classifications were each divided into eight regions. Every region statewide, except Region 6-AA, will be formed by subregions, which were created to reduce travel cost and the amount of time student-athletes will spend out of the classroom.
According to the GHSA’s official announcement, if a region chooses to subdivide because of the large number of schools that form the region, or due to the large travel distances in the region, then subdivisions established by the Committee must be used. Regions may also choose to play a full region schedule instead of using subregions by garnering a 2/3 vote of the Principals of the member schools in the region. The decision to play full region schedules may be on a sport-by-sport basis.
As for how the regions will look beginning in August, all five teams that currently form Region 1-AAAAA, Lowndes, Valdosta, Coffee, Colquitt County and Tift County, will move to Region 1-AAAAAA. Those schools will be joined in the new region by Camden County and Brunswick, the only other South Georgia schools that will make the move to the new 6A classification.
Camden County and Brunswick’s current region, 3-AAAAA, features primarily Savannah based schools, which will stay in Class 5A, thus opening the door for the consolidation of Camden County and Brunswick into Region 1.
The new Region 1-AAAAAA is broken into two subregions, with Lowndes, Valdosta, Colquitt County and Tift County forming Subregion A. Camden County, Coffee and Brunswick will form Subregion B.
Despite the subregions, nearly all regions, at all classifications, will likely play full region schedules in football, in order to fill the required 10 game seasons.
In the case of a full region schedule, Region 1-AAAAAA will likely be considered the toughest region in the state, considering Camden County and Lowndes have combined for six of the last nine state championships in football to go along with the recent success of Colquitt County, who has reached the quarterfinals in each of the last three seasons.
The remaining seven Class 6A regions are all located north of Macon.
The Cook Hornets, who were projected to make the jump to Class 3A starting next season, were moved back down to Class AA. The Hornets will remain in Region 1-AA, along with Brooks County, Berrien, Thomasville, Fitzgerald and Early County. Pelham and Atkinson County will join the region. Subregion A of Region 1-AA will be formed by Brooks County, Early County, Pelham and Thomasville, while subregion B will be formed by Atkinson County, Berrien, Cook and Fitzgerald. The Albany Indians, who are a member of Region 1-AA through the end of the 2011-12 athletic year, will move to Class 4A after appealing to the GHSA to play up another classification.
In Class A, the Lanier County Bulldogs and Clinch County Panthers will remain in Region 2-A. Charlton County, Echols County, Irwin County, Telfair County, Turner County and Wilcox County will all remain in the region. Subregion A will be formed by Irwin County, Telfair County, Turner County and Wilcox County. Subregion B will be formed by Charlton County, Clinch County, Echols County and Lanier County.
The deadline for member schools to appeal their region placement and to ask for a lateral transfer is Friday, Dec. 16 at noon. Those appeals will be heard by the Reclassification Committee on Dec. 19 at 10 a.m. at the GHSA office building in Thomaston.
Representatives from the sending region and/or the receiving region will have the opportunity to be heard, along with the school filing the appeal. The ratification of the new classifications and regions will be made in January by the GHSA.
