AHSAA adjustments leave most River Region private school teams in same place

Trinity head coach Brian Seymore and the Wildcats remain a Class 3A football program despite changes made by the AHSAA last week. (File Photo)

By TIM GAYLE

Four of the five Capital City Conference schools found their regions were adjusted after the Alabama High School Athletic Association changed classifications for several schools, but one did not get their wish and get adjusted to a new classification because of Competitive Balance Factor.

A day after releasing classification data for 2024-25 and 2025-26, the Alabama High School Athletic Association made another change to the data, affecting 11 football regions in Class 3A, 4A and 5A as well as those in cross country and volleyball. 

AHSAA officials attributed the adjustment to an error in the holdback-promotion portion of the data reported by the Alabama State Department of Education. That prompted a change in classification for four schools, with Brooks and Anniston moving down from 5A to 4A and J.B. Pennington and Winfield moving from 4A to 3A.

Trinity, which is the state’s smallest 3A, could have been moved from 3A to 2A except the Wildcats had already been elevated to 5A in Competitive Balance Factor and were not eligible to drop in classification in football based on CBF modifications made in April.

Trinity’s average daily enrollment of 155 high school students in grades nine through 11 place the Wildcats 48th among the 62 Class 2A programs, but an AHSAA multiplier added to private school enrollment in 1999 boosts Trinity’s enrollment to 209.25, just 0.75 above the state’s largest 2A program, Clarke County High. 

It would have been simple for AHSAA officials to change the cutoff for 2A, especially after moving two schools from 5A to 4A and two from 4A to 3A, but the new Competitive Balance Factor guidelines would have prevented Trinity from dropping in football.   

Private schools face an additional burden placed on them last April by the AHSAA Central Board, which noted that “all private schools are under the CBF,” preventing any private schools from dropping in classification if they reached the lower threshold of points regardless of whether they were elevated by Competitive Balance Factor.

In 2022, the Central Board attempted to prevent Alabama Christian from dropping from 4A to 3A based on enrollment, citing the same interpretation of its 2019 guidelines, but ACA won the appeal and was permitted to drop because no ACA athletic program had ever been elevated by CBF.

The April modifications to the rule apply the minimum threshold of one point earned by every program over a two-year period to every private school regardless of whether they had initially been elevated by CBF. Because Trinity reached the quarterfinals of the football playoffs and earned a point (as well as 0.5 points by reaching the 2022 second round), the Wildcats could not have dropped in classification in football even if their enrollment numbers placed them in 2A. 

While the adjusted data and changing regions affect Trinity, Alabama Christian, Montgomery Academy and St. James, none of the adjustments to volleyball affected any of the Capital City Conference members. 

Catholic, which won the 4A state championship earlier this month, was bumped to 5A by Competitive Balance Factor and will be in a region with Andalusia, Carroll, Charles Henderson, Eufaula, Greenville and Headland. The only changes to 5A (other than dropping Brooks and Anniston to 4A) involved two north Alabama regions with Center Point moving from Region 5 to Region 6 and Fairview moving from Region 8 to Region 7. 

St. James, which was elevated to 4A by Competitive Balance Factor, remains in Region 3 after the changes but swapped two region opponents for two new ones. In addition to Booker T. Washington, Bullock County, Handley, Talladega and Tallassee, the Trojans picked up Cleburne County and Munford. Both had previously been in Region 6. 

Bibb County and West Blocton, initially in Region 3, were moved to Region 4.

In addition, Dora and Fultondale were moved from Region 4 to Region 5, Anniston was added to Region 6 and Brooks was added to Region 7.

Montgomery Academy, elevated in 2022 and 2023 by Competitive Balance Factor, dropped from 4A to 3A after failing to reach the threshold with a pair of first-round playoff losses and will be in Region 2 with Alabama Christian, Houston Academy, Northside Methodist, Slocomb, Trinity and Wicksburg. 

Prattville Christian Academy, which had previously been in Region 3, will join Region 2.

Hale County was added to Region 3, Winfield was added to Region 5 and J.B. Pennington was added to Region 6.