Mediapolis played on a shared baseball/football field up until 6-7 years ago, have turf with a great facility around it.
Realignment Classifications
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Sentral-Fenton...haven’t heard that in a long time haha crazy how that school is still in use and they not only joined forces to become North Kossuth but are now apart of North Union.
I actually thought saint Ansgar was a private school until a couple of years ago... my bad.
I’ve done this the last two cycles, so why not do it again? Here are some maps of the districts for next fall ... it always is interesting for me to see how they’re spaced out visually, so if anybody else likes to see that too, here you go.
http://thirdandamile.blogspot.com/2020/02/some-things-are-new-for-2020.html
http://thirdandamile.blogspot.com/2020/02/some-things-are-new-for-2020.html
Curious on thoughts about the growing divide between the top and bottom schools in 3A. So much focus by the Association on the 4A issues (and rightfully so) has caused or is causing some of the same issues in 3A. Based on the old bed counts the top is 810 and the bottom at 330. This is a substantial difference. There will always be a divide but at some point it needs to be addressed and sooner rather than later.
So...if Solon and Assumption had the same enrollment, what is the determining factor for why Solon dropped to 2A? My apologies in advance as I'm sure that's been answered before.
If I had a guess, I’d say Assumption requested to remain 3A because let’s face it, going from being a 4A PO team (less than 10 years ago) to a 2A school could be a little difficult to accept.
My understanding is ties would be broken by alphabetical tie breaker, but in this case I don't think it came to that.
Lol. Solon has had more 3A football success than Assumption in recent years, including an appearance in the 3A title game last season. Why wouldn’t people have preferred that Solon stay up?
The schools cant request to play in a higher class. The association determines the classes. Schools have no control over what class they participate in.
Could be off but I think I read one time a school had requested/appealed it’s classification...but I could be mistaken.
I don’t think that’s true, although I don’t have evidence handy at the moment. I think I did see somewhere in IHSAA materials online that a school does have the option to request to play up a class. The real question, though, is why would you want to do that? Would Solon earn anything tangible by being a playoff team in 3A that they wouldn’t get by being a playoff team in 2A?
EDIT: Found it! At least in the 2019 Regular Season manual ... “Any school interested in playing up a classification needs to notify the Iowa High School Athletic Association by December 1st of the year prior to the redistricting format.”
I’m not sure what a school would be after by asking to compete in a larger class ... maybe after winning multiple championships and you think you have nothing left to prove, but it’s high school and your team members change every year. Look at Regina ... they went undefeated and won 6 straight state titles in 1A, made the championship game for 2 years after that, then the very next season they missed the playoffs entirely.
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Sidney is appealing their classification as we speak, although their appeal is that the state put them in 11-player Class A instead of 8-player. So they claim the state has them classified too high. Could a school also appeal that they’ve been classified too low? I imagine they could ... although as I mentioned, a school can just ask the IHSAA to play up (although they need to ask in December, before they’d even know where they’d be classified).
One more thing about the current structure that’s been nagging at me - I’ve always said I like an 8-district setup better than 9, and I’ve been puzzled why the IHSAA stuck with 54 teams in 3A/2A/1A instead of 56. While it does just seem, I don’t know, more elegant to have 8 districts of 7 teams instead of 9 districts of 6, there’s another more pertinent reason in my view.
This system has two distinct types of playoff teams, your district championship and your at-larges. The only real benefit a district champion gets is that home field in the first round, and that makes sense ... win your district, get a home game. Except with 9 districts, one of those champions has to go on the road! You set up a system to reward your district winners, then you gum it up by having an odd number of districts so not all of your champions get that one benefit. I don’t like that.
This system has two distinct types of playoff teams, your district championship and your at-larges. The only real benefit a district champion gets is that home field in the first round, and that makes sense ... win your district, get a home game. Except with 9 districts, one of those champions has to go on the road! You set up a system to reward your district winners, then you gum it up by having an odd number of districts so not all of your champions get that one benefit. I don’t like that.
If you go to the state website, click on general, go to resources and then click on 19-20 football classifications it actually has the updated BEDs even though it says 19-20. Assumption has an enrollment of 366 and Solon has an enrollment of 346. I believe Nevada at 352 is the lowest BEDs in 3A.
Problem with this is that the 8 man cap is 120 and they have been far over that for the past 4 years and now want to stay in 8 man. Not sure how that is fair at all. It has not been for the better part of 4 years. If you are over, you play 11 man. Simple as that. No need for waivers and all that BS. put the number at 110 and then you get rid of about 5-6 teams and the 8 man - 3A all even out and make more sense.
My question is why does the state allow teams that are above the cutoff for 8man to play 8man but it does nothing to address the issue in the other classes.
Meaning a school that is 2A for instance, they aren't pushing them down to 1A so they can be more competitive.
Meaning a school that is 2A for instance, they aren't pushing them down to 1A so they can be more competitive.
The public school BEDs are out and have been since 1/28. There isn't breakdown of the big cities with multiple schools or parochial schools though. On the spreadsheet it is the 9th, 10th, and 11th grade columns.
Solon - 346
CPU - 348
Vinton - 352
South Tama - 353
Maquoketa - 357
Nevada - 358
https://educateiowa.gov/documents/p...race-and-gender/2020/01/2019-2020-iowa-public
It looks like 3 schools less than 120 are playing 11-man football:
Gehlen Catholic, LeMars (110)
North Tama, Traer (110)
Bishop Garrigan, Algona (107)
and 7 schools over 120 are playing 8 man football
Newell-Fonda (133)
AGWSR, Ackley (131)
New London (129)
Iowa Valley, Marengo (128)
East Union, Afton (125)
Southeast Warren, Liberty Center (124)
Northwood-Kensett (122)
Good question about IAHSAA's thinking on this...
This is a serious question to Tom Keating and Todd Tharp. why are these teams allowed to play down when the hard number is 120. If these teams were forced to play 11 man like they are supposed to then teams like Regina wouldn't be in class A. It is ridiculous the state says one thing then does another and favors teams or other others.
I think Regina would still be in A usually it doesn’t have a set number of teams like the other classes do, it is just the remaining 11 man teams. The other thing I look at is the fact that Sidney is bringing in kids from Hamburg in the 9th grade which isn’t going to lead to many participants in football. Yes they have been ok in football, but you look at the other teams on that list they all have pretty consistent programs that go to the playoffs and a few have made the dome. There is always the excuse that we have a big class, but I know that this is at least the 3rd time NK has been over and NF has been over more then once as well I’m sure if we looked back most of these would usually be right around 120 or higher, it’s time for the state to say if you are above 120 then you play 11 man.
The state already said that last year as it was a point of emphasis by Todd Tharp that 120 is the cap no exceptions. Well guess what plenty of exceptions here.
And combine that with the fact that Tharp said 8-man teams would be allowed to have a say for non-district opponents, and then changed their mind on that as well. What a circus Tharp has created.
Let's go in-depth to the enrollment classification numbers:
Class 4A
Waukee is at the top with 2267; Iowa City Liberty is at the bottom with 843. That's a spread of 1424, or 169% of Liberty's enrollment. Thanks to the two monster schools above 2000, Waukee and Valley, the spread between the top and the bottom of the class is BIGGER than the average enrollment of 4A as a whole (1256). If you take out those two huge schools, the spread drops to 933, or 111% of Liberty's number.
The average enrollment in 4A is 1256 (just about Cedar Falls), while the median is 1151 (between Davenport Central and Dubuque Senior).
Class 3A
Mason City is the top school at 816; Nevada is at the bottom of the list with 358. That's a spread of 458, or 128% of Nevada's enrollment. There are seven schools with enrollment above 700; there are also seven schools at 350 or below.
The average in 3A is 499 (just about Le Mars), while the median is 471 (between Decorah and Bondurant-Farrar).
Class 2A
The largest school here is Maquoketa at 357 (just one less than Nevada); the smallest is Unity Christian at 227. That spread is 130, or just 57% of Unity Christian's enrollment.
The average number in 2A is 283 (Davis County); the median is 286 (between Albia and West Liberty).
Class 1A
The largest schools in 1A are OABCIG and Southeast Valley, both at 226 and just one less than Unity Christian; the smallest enrollment is Central Springs at 166. That's a spread of 60, or only 36% of Central Springs' enrollment.
The average in 1A is 190 (West Central Valley and West Sioux); the median is 186.5 (between Waterloo Columbus and Missouri Valley/Woodward-Granger).
Class A
The largest Class A school is Ridge View at 165 (just one less than Central Springs). The smallest enrollment is Bishop Garrigan, Algona at 107. That spread is 58, or 54% of Garrigan's number.
The average in Class A is 141 (West Hancock) while the median is 144 (Alburnett, Earlham, and South O'Brien).
As noted above, Mason City Newman, Le Mars Gehlen, North Tama, and Garrigan are all below the threshold for 8-player football, but have chosen to continue with the 11-player game. Riverside, Oakland is right at 120.
8-Player
The largest school assigned to the 8-player class is Newell-Fonda, with 133. The smallest is Mormon Trail at 45. That spread is 88, or 196% of Mormon Trail's enrollment.
The average enrollment in 8-player is 95 (Griswold). The median is 98.5 (between the 99s of Central City, River Valley, and Woodbine and the 98 of English Valleys).
There are seven 8-player schools with enrollments listed above the 120-student cutoff: Newell-Fonda (133), AGWSR (131), New London (129), Iowa Valley Marengo (128), East Union (125), Southeast Warren (124), and Northwood-Kensett (122). FOURTEEN Class A schools have a lower enrollment than the top two in 8-player.
Class 4A
Waukee is at the top with 2267; Iowa City Liberty is at the bottom with 843. That's a spread of 1424, or 169% of Liberty's enrollment. Thanks to the two monster schools above 2000, Waukee and Valley, the spread between the top and the bottom of the class is BIGGER than the average enrollment of 4A as a whole (1256). If you take out those two huge schools, the spread drops to 933, or 111% of Liberty's number.
The average enrollment in 4A is 1256 (just about Cedar Falls), while the median is 1151 (between Davenport Central and Dubuque Senior).
Class 3A
Mason City is the top school at 816; Nevada is at the bottom of the list with 358. That's a spread of 458, or 128% of Nevada's enrollment. There are seven schools with enrollment above 700; there are also seven schools at 350 or below.
The average in 3A is 499 (just about Le Mars), while the median is 471 (between Decorah and Bondurant-Farrar).
Class 2A
The largest school here is Maquoketa at 357 (just one less than Nevada); the smallest is Unity Christian at 227. That spread is 130, or just 57% of Unity Christian's enrollment.
The average number in 2A is 283 (Davis County); the median is 286 (between Albia and West Liberty).
Class 1A
The largest schools in 1A are OABCIG and Southeast Valley, both at 226 and just one less than Unity Christian; the smallest enrollment is Central Springs at 166. That's a spread of 60, or only 36% of Central Springs' enrollment.
The average in 1A is 190 (West Central Valley and West Sioux); the median is 186.5 (between Waterloo Columbus and Missouri Valley/Woodward-Granger).
Class A
The largest Class A school is Ridge View at 165 (just one less than Central Springs). The smallest enrollment is Bishop Garrigan, Algona at 107. That spread is 58, or 54% of Garrigan's number.
The average in Class A is 141 (West Hancock) while the median is 144 (Alburnett, Earlham, and South O'Brien).
As noted above, Mason City Newman, Le Mars Gehlen, North Tama, and Garrigan are all below the threshold for 8-player football, but have chosen to continue with the 11-player game. Riverside, Oakland is right at 120.
8-Player
The largest school assigned to the 8-player class is Newell-Fonda, with 133. The smallest is Mormon Trail at 45. That spread is 88, or 196% of Mormon Trail's enrollment.
The average enrollment in 8-player is 95 (Griswold). The median is 98.5 (between the 99s of Central City, River Valley, and Woodbine and the 98 of English Valleys).
There are seven 8-player schools with enrollments listed above the 120-student cutoff: Newell-Fonda (133), AGWSR (131), New London (129), Iowa Valley Marengo (128), East Union (125), Southeast Warren (124), and Northwood-Kensett (122). FOURTEEN Class A schools have a lower enrollment than the top two in 8-player.
And, just because I can, how different would things look if the state used 8 districts of 7 teams each in 3A/2A/1A? Having 56 in each class instead of 54 - a simple change that would eliminate the problem of having one district champion have to play their first round playoff game on the road. I mean, come on, IHSAA ... district champions get one benefit! Why screw one of them out of that?
Maquoketa and South Tama would be included in 3A.
OABCIG, Southeast Valley, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, and Kuemper, Carroll would be added to 2A.
Ridge View, Manson Northwest Webster, Bellevue, Postville, Iowa City Regina, and Woodward Academy would be included in 1A.
That would leave 54 teams in Class A rather than the 60 in the current structure (with AHSTW, Alta-Aurelia, and Tri-Center at the top of the class with enrollments of 156). So instead of 10 districts with 6 members, they'd have 9 districts with 6 members ... and one district champion having to travel in the first round instead of two.
You're welcome, IHSAA. My work is available to you for just a small consultation fee. Give me a ring.
Maquoketa and South Tama would be included in 3A.
OABCIG, Southeast Valley, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, and Kuemper, Carroll would be added to 2A.
Ridge View, Manson Northwest Webster, Bellevue, Postville, Iowa City Regina, and Woodward Academy would be included in 1A.
That would leave 54 teams in Class A rather than the 60 in the current structure (with AHSTW, Alta-Aurelia, and Tri-Center at the top of the class with enrollments of 156). So instead of 10 districts with 6 members, they'd have 9 districts with 6 members ... and one district champion having to travel in the first round instead of two.
You're welcome, IHSAA. My work is available to you for just a small consultation fee. Give me a ring.
7 in a district means each team will need a non-district game in a specific week (between weeks 3-9), which leads back to the necessity of a sister district for at least that one game. That effectively cuts the number of non-district games that the school can request to 2 (weeks 1-2).
How many times does a school get more than 2 of their requested non-district opponents?
Remember you can play outside your class, too, so that opens up the “sister district” thing at least a little bit. Xavier, for example, played 4A Dowling, 3A Assumption, and 1A Regina for non-district games in 2014-15. But yes, districts with an odd number of teams have their unique challenges, you are right.
Still worth it so all the district champs get a home game, in my opinion.
Another idea, to have 8 districts with an even number of members ... go to 48 across the board. Use your “success model” or whatever to bring the top 8 from 3A into 4A, then 48 in 3A/2A/1A. That would end up with 70 teams in A, if my math is right.
Actually, Solon's BEDS number is relatively unchanged (around 350). Their "drop" to 2A is due to a couple other schools leapfrogging them in population (Benton, BH-RV) and 4A dropping to 40 teams. Solon has always been one of the bottom schools in 3A BEDS numbers since they moved up around 10 years ago.
I get the sentiment, but it's not that easy. Waukee's population is booming, WDM, not so much. Anybody remember when Waukee was 2A about 20 years ago? That said, with Waukee's continued expansion, it makes sense to split to keep the school from overpopulation. That's not the case for WDM, whose school population has stayed somewhat consistent and will stay that way, as WMD, unlike Waukee, is a landlocked district with little room for growth. Why would they split when their school and resources are able to support their population?
Oh I don’t know, maybe because they’re about twice the enrollment of most other 4A schools! Hey I get the point they’re not growing but then neither are most districts. Perhaps they should investigate redrawing the district boundaries to neighboring schools to balance things out a little. Point is, enrollment wise it’s almost like combining the Bettendorf and Pleasant Valley schools and if that were done for athletics it wouldn’t be pretty.
