Major changes could be coming to the way the Florida High School Activities Association runs its football playoffs.
Currently, championships are held in eight different classes (1A-8A) and those classifications are determined solely by the number of students enrolled at the school. A new proposal would crown eight state champions over four classes of two different divisions — Metro and Suburban.
The Metro division would consist of the state’s eight most populous counties — Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Orange, Seminole and Duval. The rest — including Osceola — would be the Suburban class.
Competitive balance and making it easier for teams from lesser populated areas to have a better chance to compete for a state championship were the reasons given for the proposal. Since 2011, only 35 schools have won a possible 77 football championships; 87 percent of those titles have been won by what would be classified as Metro Division schools.
Many believe school choice enrollment policies have given an unfair advantage to schools located in areas with highdensity populations.
“It’s definitely easier for a kid to transfer to a different school in a big city, where he may have three or four schools close enough to his home where transportation does not become a huge issue,” Osceola Coach Eric Pinellas said. “There’s a feeling that it gives certain schools in bigger cities a big advantage.”
Reaction to the proposed changes from county coaches and athletic directors has ranged from support to indifference to opposition.
The rule change could make it slightly easier for a team like Osceola, which was eliminated in the playoffs four of the last five years by what would be Metro Division schools.
“I can’t say I am opposed to what they are trying to do,” Pinellas said. “I find it an interesting proposition. I can see why many coaches think there is a problem, but on the other hand there is nothing the FHSAA can do that will make everyone happy. There are several states that are operating under a similar system. It may be an idea worth trying.”
Gateway coach Marlin Roberts believes these changes would have little effect on the Panthers.
“Assuming Liberty and Poinciana remain independent, we most likely our going to be placed in the same district we are now, meaning we are going to be competing against the same Polk County schools -- so nothing really changes for us,” Roberts said. “I think they are trying to create more competitive balance, but the problem is that as long as open enrollment and school choice exists, a lot of kids are still going to transfer to the best programs and the inequities are going to continue.”
St. Cloud coach Bryan Smart says he will take a wait and see attitude. “When you talk about dividing enrollment from eight down to four classes, my gut feeling is St. Cloud will end up in the highest class and are we going to be in an even more competitive disadvantage by having to play schools with twice as many students,” he said. “I get what they are trying to do, but it’s hard for me to say whether it will be a good thing or a bad thing until I find out what district we end up in.”
Harmony coach Don Simon believes the proposed changes will solve nothing and is against the idea.
“Open enrollment is the main reason we have a competitive balance. The best kids are able to freely transfer to the best programs. Until that issue is addressed, nothing really changes, except for maybe the names on top,” he said. “What it really means is the top teams in the Suburban Division will no longer have to go through any big city schools in the playoffs to win a state title and in the long run, that may just make those teams stronger because kids in that area will still want to transfer there. I really do understand what they are trying to accomplish, I just don’t think this proposal will solve the problem.”
Celebration AD Rick Tribit has several concerns with the proposal — among them that it may have the opposite effect of creating a more balanced system.
“If it makes it easier for a so-called Suburban school to win a state championship, will it make students at other schools close to that school be even more inclined to want to transfer there? I also have concerns that we may be creating a ‘Power 5’ mentality in high school football, will a Suburban state champion be recognized the same as the Metro champion?” he asked.
“History shows that once the FHSAA changes its rules change they seldom revert back, even if the old rules proved to be better way of doing things. The apparent urgency to change this thing as soon as possible bothers me. Why not take a year and discuss other avenues? I don’t think there’s any question that certain changes need to be made, but the fact remains that with school choice we have created a ‘transfer portal’ mentality at the high school level and that is the biggest reason why a lot of schools are not competitive. This proposal does not address that issue.”
Beyond that, Tribit would rather see the FHSAA spend more time on other matters, including creating more sensible districts.
“A few years ago in volleyball, we were in the same district as Osceola but we also had Wharton and Newsome in our district. We had kids getting home from an away match at 11 or 11:30 p.m. on a school night,” he says. “I view that is a far bigger problem than worrying about state titles.”
