Realignment Ramifications Already Being Felt
By John Breech and Tim Altork / STAFF
As the 2008 high school football season continually draws nearer, fans of the North Fulton programs are undoubtedly starting to pay attention to something that was announced last season; realignment. Every three years, the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) picks up their dry erase markers and thumb tacks and divides the state into what they believe to be geographically intelligent regions.
And for the third straight realignment period, Chattahoochee was treated like the red headed stepchild of high school football. In 2005, they were tossed into a region that actually made sense, with natural rivals like Alpharetta, Milton and Centennial. For 2008, the GHSA must have thought that the Cougars were getting a little complacent in their new region.
So now, along with Northview, Chattahoochee has been shipped off to region seven. It’s a region that includes perennial powers Peachtree Ridge and Norcross along with some other giants of Gwinnett County like Collins Hill and Mill Creek.
How does Cougar coach Terry Crowder feel about that?
“The realignment for the state is kind of a mess,” he said. “I’m sure the GHSA and the commission are doing what they think is best. I think we may be the only school that’s moved as much as we have. It takes us away from some of our natural rivals, but it’s a great challenge for us to and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
It maintains a pattern of consistency in the flip-flopping of the school’s region affiliation. In the 1999-2001 realignment the Cougars were in Region 6. In the 2002-04 seasons they went back to Region 7.
Another school that has experienced the GHSA flip-flop in the past is Centennial. The pattern in the recent past has been that wherever the Cougars went the Knights were sure to go too. But the Knights will be playing at least the next three seasons in the friendly (or not so friendly, depending on your point of view) confines of Region 6. That means they get to maintain their budding cross-town rivalry with Roswell as a region matchup, a rivalry that had been interrupted as Centennial was shuffled back and forth between regions. As Centennial coach Jeff Measor sees it, one new school in the region is enough.
“We’re gaining Campbell, but there’s really no change for us. Roswell and Walton are still the two teams to beat,” explained Measor. He also mentioned that the fourth playoff spot in the realigned Region 6 is one his team just might earn. “Those three teams (Roswell, Walton, Campbell) are probably the top three teams and the rest of us are just fighting out for the last spot.”
It’s one thing to jump regions. It’s another thing entirely to jump classes, as is the case of Blessed Trinity. They’ll drop down from Class AAA to AA where they will contend with the powers of Region 6 – Buford, Lovett and Greater Atlanta Christian, among others. Buford and Lovett met for the state title last season with Buford winning that game 50-0. Many of the new teams will be familiar foes, however, that either shared a region with the Titans or were non-region opponents in the past.
“We’re going to have to figure out what they’re doing,” said BT head coach Ricky Turner. “So we’re going to have to prepare for these teams differently than we have over the past four or six years.”
The Titans were affected by the GHSA’s decision to drop the “1.5 rule” that applied to private schools. Before this realignment cycle private schools’ attendance numbers were multiplied by 1.5 in determining their classification level. The rule was implemented in an attempt to offset any advantage a private school may have in drawing students from outside of their geographic region.
Now a private school’s attendance is counted like any other school’s.
“It doesn’t mean it’s any easier, but you are going against schools that are the same size,” Turner said. “That’s the way we would prefer it be done.”
The exact science behind realignment seems to be a little bit like string theory. Nobody quite understands it. Why, for instance, move a team like Chattahoochee every season and not Alpharetta?
“When you look at the other schools, Centennial and Alpharetta stayed in Region 6 and they’re pretty close to the [Ga.] 400 line,” Crowder said, “while us and Northview are removed from 400 a little bit, so I think that’s kind of a factor.”
Crowder also stressed that his team isn’t sore about the move and he doesn’t think the GHSA is out to get Chattahoochee. “Certainly if I was doing it, I would take care of Chattahoochee. I think the guys that are in charge of the committees are doing the best they can. I don’t know that there is a fair way to do it.”
Turner echoed that sentiment, but admitted that he was pleased with the way the realignment shook out for his program.
“You aren’t always going to make everybody happy, but the way we look at it is wherever Georgia High School puts you, that’s where we’re going to play,” he said. “We’re going to go out and compete the best we can and do it the right way. Eventually, if you get to the playoffs you’re going to have to play the teams from the other regions that you may have been put in anyway, so we’ll just play where they put us.”
The football season begins on Friday, August 29.