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MIDVALE — Around two dozen people gathered in a room at the offices of the Utah High School Activities Association in Midvale for an informal question-and-answer session related to the group’s proposal for a new realignment model for high school football.
The small turnout may be fitting, as the proposed regulations would likely affect only a handful of the state’s member schools.
“It will affect every school, but it will not affect every school enough to change them from one classification to another,” UHSAA assistant director Bart Thompson told the crowd.
The proposal, which would apply only to football, has the potential to move some schools into different classifications based on enrollment numbers and modified for postseason success in football.
Each school would be awarded a value based on competitiveness in the state playoffs over a two-year realignment cycle. That value would then be compared to the statewide average score, and any difference would raise or lower the school’s enrollment numbers by no more than 15 percent.
Schools on the edge of each classification, such as 3A to 4A or 4A to 5A, could theoretically be moved up or down, based on their competitive advantage in the football postseason.
It will affect every school, but it will not affect every school enough to change them from one classification to another.
–Bart Thompson, UHSAA assistant director
“Because football is classified separately, it allows us to take success in that sport and apply it directly,” Thompson said. “Trying to do that across all sports would be more difficult. Football allows us to look at each school separately.”
If the proposal, which will go before the UHSAA Board of Trustees on Aug. 28, is approved and deemed successful, it could lead to implementation across all sports. That scenario likely wouldn’t happen for several years, Thompson added.
The greatest change, for now, would likely occur in the 4A ranks, where school enrollment numbers are closer together. Movement involving 3AA, 4A to 5A might see some effect. There would be little change in lower classifications, and no school would be forced into a new “6A” class.
“The lower schools don’t see as much bracket because they are further apart,” Thompson said. “The worst you could do is about the average of the state, and changes won’t make much of an adjustment.”
A portion of those in attendance were concerned about the perception of schools that were made to move down based on competitiveness and low enrollment numbers. Thompson said that while that is a concern, no proposal is perfect or can perfectly address every social concern.
“There is a concern there, and I think that’s a legitimate concern,” he added.
Further discussion of the proposal will continue Aug. 27 at the UHSAA offices at 199 E. 7200 South in Midvale when the public is invited to voice approval or opposition. The board of trustees could make a final decision as early as Aug. 28.
The full proposal can be viewed online at uhsaa.org.
