UHSAA looking to change prep football realignment


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

MIDVALE — The Utah High School Activities Association will be holding an informative meeting regarding a “success factor” when determining a school’s enrollment number for a reclassification system, but not everyone is happy about it.

The success factor would affect the realignment numbers for the 2015-17 school years and pertains to football only. Previously, alignments have been based primarily on enrollment numbers without consideration for other factors such as socioeconomics or graduation rates that may affect a school or team’s success, according to UHSAA Assistant Director Bart Thompson.

“We wanted to look at (success rate) sport by sport, since football is already separated out from all of the rest (of high school sports)," Thompson said. "We decided to use football first in applying success rate as a factor in determining classification."

The process is designed to help improve competitive balance throughout the state. Teams who have not qualified for their state tournament over the past four seasons now have a greater chance of moving down, particularly those schools whom were already on the bubble for moving down. For whatever the reason, these schools should now be in a better situation to compete.

On the other side, teams that have enjoyed major success over the past four years, such as Timpview High School, will have a great chance of moving up. However, Timpview coach Cary Whittingham is one who does not believe the new system will achieve more competitive balance, but rather punish success.


We are going into this proposal opposing it. We feel like it is flawed in a few ways. That's what we're going to present at the meetings. I think it's not the correct process to provide a competitive environment.

–Cary Whittingham


“We are going into this proposal opposing it," Whittingham said. "We feel like it is flawed in a few ways. That’s what we’re going to present at the meetings. I think it’s not the correct process to provide a competitive environment."

Views are split on the new system depending on who you ask: “Depends quite a bit on agenda, on why people some will support it and some won’t,” Whittingham said.

Under the new formula, state tournament success from 2010 to 2013 will alter a school’s enrollment figures to a maximum of plus-or-minus 15 percent. Teams will be assigned a success rating based on qualifying for and winning at their respective state tournaments.

Traditional rivalries and regions could change more frequently with the possibility of teams competing at different classifications despite proximity. Furthermore, football classifications and regions will now have the chance to be different than other sports. A team may compete in one classification for football while the rest of their school’s teams will compete in a different classification and region.

The open meeting will be Aug. 7 at 2 p.m. at the UHSAA office located at 199 E. 7200 South in Midvale. According to the UHSAA officials, the meeting will be to explain how the process will work with a question and answer session to follow. The meeting will precede a public hearing on Aug. 27 and then a UHSAA Board of Trustees meeting on Aug. 28 where a final decision will be made.

The UHSAA continues to seek feedback on the new system; you can provide your thoughts at uhsaa.org/realignment.

Most recent Sports stories

Related topics

SportsHigh School
Cleon Wall

    ARE YOU GAME?

    From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast