Conference Re-alignment

Hey Mudcat:

I heard the other day that East Rutherford and Chase HS might end up in the same conference as the Henderson Co. Teams.

That would make for some good conference matchups!

 

That's not what we are hearing up this way. I doubt seriously there will be any mountain teams headin down 74 to play the next realignment. But stranger things have happened with that bunch in Raleigh. Hendersonville is still 1A so that would make it a split conference. If they are looking at 1A/2A combined conferences then there are much better options in the area here.

The proposed conference is Thomas Jefferson Academy (don't even know where that is), East Rutherford, Chase, Polk County (1A), Hendersonville (1A), North Henderson, East Henderson, and West Henderson. The Henderson County schools are going to fight this because it eliminates a lot of long time natural rivalries here in the mountains. If they want split conferences what would make more since travel wise would be the 4 Henderson County schools with Brevard, Polk, and Rosman. 4 2A schools and 3 1A schools. We were hoping for a 6 team 2A conference with West Henderson, North Henderson, East Henderson, Brevard, Pisgah, and Smoky Mountain.

 

For our friends in the Charlotte area

Initial projected conferences from the Charlotte Observer: (can’t provide a direct link because charlotte.com requires an ID/Password).

The Interstate-85 (I’m stuck in traffic, start the game without us) Conference: Gastonia Ashbrook, East Gaston, West Meck, Harding, Berry Academy and Garinger

The North-Side (How did Vance and West Charlotte get stuck with all those country folks) Conference: Concord Robinson, Central Cabarrus, Hopewell, North Meck, West Charlotte and Vance.

The South-Side (Aren’t you glad you don’t have OUR traffic) Conference: Weddington, Providence, East Meck, Myers Park, Independence, South Meck and Butler.

The South South West South East 3A (We’d drive anywhere for a game, and now we have to) Conference: Charlotte Catholic, Olympic, Waddell, Gastonia Forestview, North Gaston and South Point.

 

Here is a more detailed list of the Western Part of the state. The information was released by the NCHSAA an printed in the Charlotte Observer. The online list is available at Charlotte.com and listed under "sports", "Potential Conferences"

This is still subject to gerrymandering and political horse-shoe tossing so don't think anything is cast in stone. It makes a nice place to begin an argument though.....

 

Shelby in a 10-team conference with no county rivals? That would mean the Golden Lions would not have enough room to play county rivals Burns, Crest, and Kings Mountain nonconference! I could not imagine a year where my Burns Bulldogs did not play Shelby. I hope they can find an alternative. Maybe they can petition to play up in 3A and take Crest's place in the Southwestern Foothills 3A, although from a competitive standpoint, I would not want that to happen. Maybe the Cleveland County Schools merger will affect this.

Strange that Hunter Huss' enrollment dropped enough to have to move down to 2A after being 4A as recently as 2000 yet Ashbrook, the other school that lost students to Forestview, will be 4A again.

 

10 team conferences wouldn't necessarily play every team twice a year. They may only play once/season in conference, trading home/away games each year. That leaves plenty of room for non-conference opponents.

Ashbrook's ADM numbers are helped by the rapid growth on the east side of Gaston County. The 4A schools in the state were taken from the top-90 schools in attendance. Ashbrook and East Gaston are both in the Top 90, so the move to 4A is legitimate. Hunter Huss's enrollment is much lower than the other Gaston County schools.

Remember: As was said by the representative of the NCHSAA and reported in the Observer. "This is cast in Jello...." EXPECT CHANGES

 

Sorry, I should have clarified that I was talking about football (11-game season max) since this is the baseball board. Playing 9 conference games only leaves 2 non-conference slots open in football. No, there is no way to have a double round robin with 10 teams in a conference in baseball, or basketball either.

 

Shows how focused I am ... you mean there are other sports in HS????

Seriously, I have to agree with you. We have an 8 team conference and that's the maximum size I would go for. I believe in baseball, you can have 24 regular season games. In an 8 team conference, that's 2 weeks of non-conference before you dive into the season. In a 10-team conference, you would have to start your first game of the season as a conference matchup and then squeeze in a couple non-conference games here/there. It wouldn't be too much fun.

Find 2 more teams and divide the conference into 2 6's...and remember ... there is NO WAY this is going to be approved without changes ... probably drastic changes. The AD's haven't gotten hold of it yet and the fur will fly when they get the chance to respond for the very reasons that you mention.

 

Good article in the Asheville Citizen Times about realignment and the mountain schools

http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/hs_gateway/48653

 

Article in the Observer about the Gaston County schools reaction to the re-alignment also. The change would disolve the Big South 3A and mix up the Gaston County schools with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools in different conferences.

I really think this re-alignment attempt is headed down the tubes as it is currently written. I expect major changes to occur.