Proposal changes high school landscape

LITTLE ROCK -- The landscape of Arkansas high school conferences will change again in 2016.

The Arkansas Activities Association governing body passed a proposal Wednesday at its annual meeting in Little Rock that will establish blended conferences effective for the 2016-2018 reclassification cycle. The proposal passed by a 163-21 vote.

Proposals, voting results

Results of the Arkansas Activities Association governing body vote Wednesday:

PROPOSAL 1 Volleyball tournaments can include preliminary sets for the purpose of seeding teams into bracket play. Up to six teams per seeding group are permitted. Teams should play no more than 10 total 25-point sets in preliminary play. PASSED (129-2)

PROPOSAL 2 Football-participating schools should receive finals money based on finals attendance, rather than preliminary rounds gate receipts. The proposal encourages schools to promote and sell tickets for the finals games. After expenses, the AAA would allocate prorated shares to the schools participating — 20 percent to the AAA and 40 percent to member schools for walk-up ticket sales and 20 percent to the AAA and 80 percent to participating schools for presale tickets. PASSED (117-1)

PROPOSAL 3 Limit full contact in football practices. During preseason, schools cannot have consecutive practices of full contact after Day 5. Teams can have three days of full-contact practice during the week in the regular season; included in those days are junior varsity and varsity level games. This period shall begin six days prior to the first regular-season contest and continue through the state championships. In spring football, teams are allowed three full-contact practices per week with no full-contact practices to occur on consecutive days. A spring game will count as a full-contact practice. PASSED (163-21)

PROPOSAL 4 Elimination of blended conferences in Class 7A and 6A. Two eight-team conferences in Class 7A and 6A with the top four teams from each conference advancing to the playoffs. Class 7A schools will only face other Class 7A members in conference play in basketball, baseball and softball. Class 6A and 5A would combine for conference play in basketball, baseball and softball before splitting into their appropriate classifications for the state playoffs. The other two districts would be Classes 4A and 3A and Classes 2A and 1A. PASSED (163-21)

PROPOSAL 5 Move up the start date for the first week of football by one week in an effort to avoid the possibility of inclement weather in the state playoffs. FAILED (129-54)

The new system means high school football essentially will return to the same format that was in place for the 2010-2012 reclassification cycle.

Starting in 2016, Classes 7A and 6A will each have two eight-team conferences in football, with the top four teams advancing to the playoffs from each conference. Class 7A and Class 6A football members will only play members from their respective classifications during conference play.

Under the current system, Class 7A and Class 6A football members play each other during conference play before splitting into their respective classifications for the state playoffs.

Guidelines for Classes 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A football members will remain the same as they are now under the new structure.

While football is returning to a more traditional format, basketball, baseball and softball are going in another direction.

Class 7A members will only face other Class 7A members during conference play in basketball, baseball and softball under the new plan, while districts will be formed in all remaining classes.

Class 6A and Class 5A members will combine for conference play in those sports before splitting into their respective classifications for the postseason. Classes 4A and 3A also will combine for conference play before going back to their respective classifications for the playoffs, and Classes 2A and 1A will do the same.

Each combined conference will be split into districts with at least seven teams but no more than 10. Each district will feature a double round-robin conference schedule. Following the conference season, teams from the six smaller classifications will move to their conference tournaments. Coaches from each assigned conference will meet to seed teams for the conference tournament, but that process has not been revealed yet.

Classes 6A and 5A will advance the top four from each conference tournament to the state tournament. Classes 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A will qualify four teams from their conference tournaments for their regional tournaments, with the top four from the regional tournaments advancing to state tournaments.

While the plan eventually passed easily, some expressed concern at first over the proposal. Ed Sellers, Vilonia's assistant superintendent and athletic director, requested that the proposal be delayed for one year, but the request was voted down 83-47.

Farmington Athletic Director Brad Blew said he believed the elimination from the proposal of blended conferences for football allowed it to go forward.

"When they eliminated football, then people seemed to be a little more tolerable," Blew said. "It was something we weren't for, but when you look at numbers of the vote, it's a 2-1 majority."

Mountain Home and Siloam Springs, both Class 6A members, have been unhappy with the current format, which has led to long trips for its sports teams. In fact, Mountain Home Athletic Director Janet Wood and Superintendent Lonnie Myers have gone as far as to plead their case to the Arkansas legislature.

Mountain Home is in north-central Arkansas, near the Missouri border in Baxter County. It currently plays in the 7A/6A-East Conference with Cabot, Jonesboro, Little Rock Central, North Little Rock, Marion, Searcy and West Memphis.

The school district's longest trip is 374 miles to West Memphis and back. The shortest trip is 240 miles to Searcy, a four- to five-hour round-trip.

Myers encouraged voting members to vote in favor of the new plan.

"It will give us more classroom time," Myers said. "It will allow the kids to come home earlier."

Siloam Springs' football team will play in the 7A/6A Central for the next two seasons with Alma, Bryant, Conway, Greenwood, Little Rock Catholic, Russellville and Van Buren. The Panthers' longest trip this season in football is to Little Rock Catholic, a 434-mile round trip.

Siloam Springs Athletic Director Kevin Downing said his district supported the new plan.

"Football, we have three long trips," he said. "That's once a week. We're OK with traveling to play other 6A schools."

Downing said travel is more of an issue for basketball, volleyball and baseball, and that the proposal is a step in the right direction.

"Going to Marion every other year, you can do it in football. It's hard to do it in other sports," Downing said. "Wherever they put us, we'll do our best and compete."

Blew, however, wasn't happy with the proposal even if it meant shorter trips.

"It's certainly going to have a big effect on us," Blew said. "It (the travel) will be shorter, but we'll be with a majority of 6A schools."

Farmington begins play in Class 5A this season. It is the smallest school in the classification with 501 students and will play in the 5A-West with Clarksville, Greenbrier, Harrison, Little Rock Christian, Maumelle, Morrilton and Vilonia.

"We're taking a big step this year," Blew said, "and we're taking a bigger step two years from now."

Sports on 08/10/2014