Ron Seibel: Keep local rivalries intact

The always dicey subject of reclassification came up this week when the GHSA assigned schools to new classifications.

Reclassification always brings an element of mystery. People ask if long-standing region rivalries will be saved, or if a school will have to learn about new opponents and -- let's be practical here -- figure out new postgame meal stops after night games.

The consternation begins when rivalries that have formed across several reclassification cycles have been broken. That is what's playing out here in Middle Georgia, where a four-school combination that has given us some really good games the past four years is about to be split up.

Split up, that is, unless some schools decide to play up a classification.

For the past two cycles, the four largest schools in Middle Georgia -- Houston County, Jones County, Northside and Warner Robins -- have been grouped together in a larger region that includes schools from Augusta. It's a good setup for those Middle Georgia programs, with those four schools dominating in football and remaining competitive in most other sports.

For now, that group won't stick together come next fall. Houston County and Northside will move up to Class 6A, while Jones County and Warner Robins will be joined by Veterans -- a move-up from the current Class 4A -- in Class 5A. The GHSA is adding an extra class next year, shifting the dividing lines between the classes.

If that alignment stands, it will become a lot harder to track local teams. While the Northside-Warner Robins football rivalry won't end any time soon, there's no guarantee that any rivalry will continue.

While the GHSA is trying to address competitive balance, there's the negative side effect of adding travel time to achieve that balance. A shining example of what local rivalries can do to boost a program is Jones County, which began playing Houston County, Northside and Warner Robins in region competition in 2012.

Jones County had a four-year stretch in which it had few local rivals in region competition. Its only local region opponent in the 2008-10 cycle was Westside, and there were no local opponents in region play during the 2010-12 cycle as it played schools from the southern suburbs of Atlanta.

Without several nearby rivals on the region schedule, the Greyhounds became lost in the shuffle a bit in the Middle Georgia high school football picture, a somewhat forgotten program that wasn't playing anyone from Middle Georgia. Jones County's football records during that time were OK. The Greyhounds floated around the .500 mark, part of a decent six-year head coaching stint by Dwight Jones that came to a close two years ago when he took the Harris County job.

The Jones County softball program had no problem playing in an extended region in 2010, winning the Class 4A title. But when Jones County entered a region with more local teams, which it did in 2012, the seeds were planted for some real growth across the Greyhounds' athletics program, especially in football, where the Greyhounds defeated the eventual Class 5A champion in 2014 (Northside) and the eventual Region 2-5A champion this year (Houston County).

There's no telling where local schools could be slotted if the classifications remain the same. The GHSA has sent isolated (or semi-isolated) Middle Georgia programs in every direction, and the presence of just two teams in Class 6A and three teams in Class 5A will just about guarantee a good bit of travel.

If the three Class 5A schools in the next cycle (Jones County, Veterans and Warner Robins) petition the GHSA to allow them to play in Class 6A the next two years, their region games will be that much more meaningful.

The split in Middle Georgia isn't as big as the one in Valdosta, where Valdosta and Lowndes are on track to no longer be region opponents. But the way the classifications settle here will play a role in how locally relevant some teams' schedules are, and it's better for all of us if teams had some local rivals to play against during the regular season.

The GHSA should expand the use of power ratings, allowing member schools to form their own conferences and determine every playoff seed through power ratings alone. Ohio has used that system for years, and other states use variations of that system.

In the short term, schools should take it upon themselves to keep local teams on the schedule. In this case, it's prudent for Jones County, Veterans and Warner Robins to move up to Class 6A, so long as those schools can be guaranteed spots in the same region as Houston County and Northside.

Contact Ron Seibel at 744-4222 or rseibel@macon.com

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Ron Seibel: Keep local rivalries intact ."