A 7A classification could come to MS schools. What does that mean for high school sports?
The Mississippi High School Athletic Association is set to vote in April on a proposal from Director Rickey Neaves that would add a seventh classification.
According to Neaves, the current six-classification system leaves some schools at a competitive disadvantage due to the difference in student-boy enrollment between the smallest and largest schools in each class.
The 24 largest schools in the state would join the new 7A under the proposal with the next largest 24 falling in the sixth class. The 24 largest schools below those levels will fill out 5A while the remaining schools would be divided up between 1A and 4A.
Under the proposal, all but one current 6A school in South Mississippi would move up to the 7A level. Pascagoula High School would remain in 6A if last year’s enrollment figures did not waiver.
The competitive impact on Pascagoula would be significant as its student body figures have moved the school between 5A and 6A numerous times in the last decade. While in 5A, Pascagoula found plenty of success on the football field as one of the largest schools in the class.
As a 6A school, however, Pascagoula has yet to make a single postseason appearance in five seasons. The new proposal would make Pascagoula the largest South Mississippi 6A school, but there would only be a 210-student difference between it and the new smallest 6A school in Gautier.
“The difference between the smallest school and the largest school, other than 7A, (Would be) much improved,” Pascagoula head football coach Lewis Sims told the Sun Herald. “I think the MHSAA, their heart is in the right place. They’re trying to level the playing field for as many people as possible. People on the other side of the argument will say you’re watering down the field for state champions.”
Not every school would benefit from the addition, though. In fact, in some rare cases, it may have a negative impact. Such as with St. Martin, which is currently the second smallest 6A school on the Coast.
A seventh classification may very well put St. Martin at the very bottom of the largest class.
“I understand the rationale behind it,” St. Martin athletic director Jesse Kanode said. “They’re trying to minimize the disparity between the top school and the lowest school in each division. If we wind up the No. 24 school in 7A, there’s probably going to be about a 700 or 800 student difference between us and Tupelo or whoever winds up in that No. 1 spot. If we wind up at the very, very bottom of 7A it’s going to be a challenge.”
Based on the numbers from the last round of reclassification, there is a 563-student difference between St. Martin and Ocean Springs, a school separated by 12 miles. Both would compete within the seventh class if the enrollments held today.
One administrative leader with a unique perspective is outgoing Vancleave athletic director Matt Walters, who was recently named Gulfport’s newest AD.
The proposal would come as a benefit for his current school but not as much so for his new digs.
“I looked at it and I thought, ‘Hey, this great for a school like Vancleave,’” Walters said. “I think it takes out some of the bigger schools and we would still be 5A. But now looking at it from being the Gulfport High School athletic director, I think it makes it probably that much harder to win a 7A state championship because you’re dealing with playing the best of the best all of the time.”
It is yet to be known exactly what the regions would look like, other than the proposal calls for uniform regions across all sports.
One challenge the state faces with a new class is uneven regions. As is, South Mississippi has an even eight schools in each of the top classes. If the largest 24 schools separate, that would leave 7A with seven Coast schools, 6A with just six area schools and 5A with only four.
“My first thought is, is Mississippi big enough for seven classifications?” Walters said. “That was my first concern... I think there’s going to be some travel issues. I think it’s going to happen more in the lower classifications. Like 1A already struggles a little bit with travel but I think it’s going to be exasperated by it.”
Here’s a look at where each Coast school would land under the new proposal, using last year’s enrollments and ordered largest to smallest.
7A
- Ocean Springs
- Gulfport
- Biloxi
- Harrison Central
- Hancock
- D’Iberville
- St. Martin
6A
- Pascagoula
- West Harrison
- George County
- Pearl River Central
- Long Beach
- Gautier
5A
- Picayune
- Vancleave
- Stone
- Pass Christian
The full proposal to state leaders in April will reveal where remaining schools will fall between 1A and 4A.
