For most schools, the reclassification process that takes place by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association every two years is no big deal. Many are simply in the same class as they were before.
Some that are right on the enrollment border get a little anxious as to whether they will be moving up or down for the next two school years.
Almost all accept where they are and just start worrying about scheduling.
But for some, it is not that easy.
Locally, Huntington and Southwood are switching places as the Raiders are moving up to Class 5A and Southwood will move down to 4A. Neither is surprised by that and that switch seemingly makes for an easy swap. The rest of the public schools are staying put.
But here’s where things are starting to get interesting. The three private schools in town – Calvary, Evangel and Loyola – all have decisions to make. And they are not decisions that are made lightly.
There is the real possibility that none of them will be playing in the classification that their enrollment would otherwise dictate.
Consider Evangel (313 students). The Eagles have already been playing up as a member of District 1-4A but have made the decision to move to Class 5A next year. That would give the local 5A district nine teams.
“As a smaller school, we have to consider finances,” said head coach Denny Duron. “There are some games we play where there is a good gate, but others are not. In 5A, you know that most every home game is going to bring a good crowd. That’s a big factor in the decision.”
Consider Calvary (357). The Cavaliers have dominated District 1-2A in multiple sports. A move to Class 4A doesn’t seem to be out of the question. “But we are not going to sacrifice one sport just for the sake of another,” said Rodney Guin, head football coach and athletic director.
Consider Loyola (401). This is where it gets interesting. The Flyers’ enrollment numbers move them up to Class 3A (the fifth-smallest school), but there is one problem — there’s no local Class 3A district. As it stands, the closest 3A school is North Webster (an hour away). Joining with North Webster’s district would mean being in a district with teams such as Sterlington (112 miles), Bastrop (126) Madison (154).
That doesn’t sound like much fun on a Tuesday night for a basketball doubleheader. But there are bigger issues than that.
“We have put a major emphasis on developing our sports at all levels,” said principal John LeBlanc. “That means not just varsity, but JV and freshmen as well. That would be tough to schedule games for those teams with a district all the way across the state.”
Same goes for Calvary, if the Cavaliers wanted to consider moving up to Class 3A. Whereas in Class 3A, the closest opponent would be North Webster (Springhill), in 4A the farthest opponent would be Minden.
So do Calvary and Loyola both go to Class 4A? If so that district would have nine teams in it. That’s not unprecedented, but it would mean district football games would begin in the second week of the season. Same for 5A with Evangel now moving up.
On the other hand, scheduling in sports such as basketball and baseball would be much easier as more than half of those seasons would consist of district games (if it were a home-and-home schedule).
In the last 10 years, Loyola has played in Classes 2A, 3A and 4A. When the Flyers played in Class 4A (2013-14 and 2014-15), the ability to schedule local games was an overriding factor.
And there’s one more major issue. In football, the LHSAA uses a five-classification system for the regular season and district placement, but a four-division system for the playoffs. Which is why a team such as Northwood, a 4A school, plays in the Division I playoffs (mostly 5A schools). The divisions are supposed to be based strictly on enrollment.
“That’s the other major thing,” Guin said. “People are having to make decisions not even knowing how it’s going to be drawn up. That’s a handicap on any decision we make.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com