December 14, 2021
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Teams across the state gearing for next shuffling of AHSA classifications, not much movement expected locally
Tomorrow is one of the most anticipated days in Alabama high school sports and it doesn’t even involve anybody playing a game.
It’s that every two years exercise within the AHSAA that reshuffles the classifications to determine where its member schools are going to play for the next two years.
Most of the models don’t project a lot of movement for the Calhoun County schools and its neighbors, but there will be some.
Donoho volleyball coach Jamie Clendenin already knows his team is moving. With two blue maps and a red over the last three years, the Lady Falcons will move up to 2A in their sport to accommodate the AHSAA’s competitive balance initiative for private schools, while the rest of the school remains 1A.
Think of it like Sacred Heart the years it won all those state championships in basketball and the program bumped into 2A until the school discontinued athletics.
“We’ve known for a while; the biggest thing is who moves up and who moves down,” Clendenin said. “Some of the competition is about the same as 1A, but you have more solid teams towards the top. You’re going to have to win three really tough matches to in a state title.
“We’ve got to figure out how to get prepared for the next step. I’m not sure the approach is much different. We got into every summer like we’re going to play 6A and 7A schools. When we’re working in the summer it’s not to be the best in 1A-2A, it’s to be the top 10 team in the state all the way through 7A.”
Pleasant Valley is expected to move down to 2A and be a potential area rival with Donoho volleyball. It will move the Raiders out of their highly competitive and county-heavy football region and the girls basketball team away from the likes of Pisgah in regional play, but it will set up an anticipated battle with former Ohatchee coach Casey Howell’s Cold Springs program for a state cross country title.
Perhaps the biggest question locally is what happens at Jacksonville.
The Golden Eagles could remain one of the largest schools in Class 4A or move up to Class 5A. They could remain in the South for football or come back to the more favorable and geographically sound North.
“I think there’s a lot of question marks as far as what’s going to happen with us,” Jacksonville football coach Clint Smith said. “We’re just waiting to see. It’s one of those years there are a lot of different possibilities for us. It’s more anticipated than it has been.”
It all depends on how the numbers fall and how that private school calculation fits into the mix. While there’s a chance the details could be leaked overnight it won’t be official until around 10 a.m. Tuesday following a Central Board of Control vote. [**read more]
**When you click read more you will be taken to the EA Sports Today website. Please make sure to come back to read more Calhoun County News.
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