Suwanee AD Favors New 6-A Class

Updated Monday, March 21, 7:13 a.m.

Georgia High School Association officials may make a radical change in high school sports soon. And a Suwanee high school athletic director likes the idea of a new AAAAAA classification.

On Sunday, members of the GHSA Reclassification Committee were to study three plans to change from the current five-classification system. The most radical of the three calls for a reduction in the number of classes to four for the regular season and then splitting into eight classes for the state playoffs.

A second plan involves adding a sixth class, AAAAAA.

The third plan is to make only minor modifications to the current system.

When the Reclassification Committee settles on one plan, it will pass it on to the Executive Committee to review during its meeting Monday, March 21. If adopted, that plan would go into effect as early as the 2012-2013 season.

(The GHSA voted Sunday for the 4/8 plan, according to news reports. The executive committee reportedly will vote on that plan Monday.)

There are two issues motivating officials to seek a change: economics and ensuring a level playing field for all schools.

Most school athletic directors agree those problems need to be addressed. They also agree there is no perfect system or any system that will satisfy everyone.

Peachtree Ridge Athletic Director Bill Holleman said, "Our preference would be the six-classification plan." Suwanee's three high schools -- Peachtree Ridge, North Gwinnett and Collins Hill -- are members of Region 7-AAAAA.

For him, the so-called 4/8 plan, was a non-starter.

"Reducing the number of classifications even when they are divided into two tiers, seems to make no sense. The next best option for me would be to leave it where it is."

Holleman said he understood the problem faced by the schools in south Georgia that sometimes have to travel 150 miles to play a region game. The travel issue isn't as big an issue in football, which only plays five regular-season road games a year. But for other sports, it can become a real pain in the pocketbook, especially with gas prices at $4 a gallon possible.

But Holleman said the disparity in school enrollment is an even bigger problem, especially in Class AAAA, where a school with a larger enrollment will have a greater advantage.

"For me the biggest issue is the number of students you have to pick from. Potential for success is far greater at a school with 3,000 students than one with 2,000."

There are other issues, of course, like the longstanding debate over competition advantages between public and private schools and city versus county school systems.

But economics seems to be the driving force, a force that will be dealt with this weekend.