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The Osceola girls volleyball team reached the Class 7A state semifinal last year, and would have been part of a 32-team 'Open' championship classification if it existed in 2022. FILE PHOTO
A radical new plan on how the state determines state champions in team sports may be coming as soon as next school year.
The new change would come just two years after another experiment that split schools into Metro and Suburban football classifications, where schools in Florida’s seven most populous counties were placed in the Metro division while the rest of the state was put in one of four Suburban classes. Osceola County is in the Suburban classification, while Orange and Seminole county neighbors play in the Metro.
The football model, revered by some coaches and administrators but highly could be replaced by another revolutionary plan that would also include bracket team sports like baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball and possibly all bracket team sports.
The FHSAA Board of Directors is considering placing the 32 highest-ranked teams at the end of the regular season, regardless of enrollment, in an “Open” classification and would compete for one coveted state championship. Schools not ranked in the top 32 would still compete for other state titles based on enrollment like the Class 1A-7A of years past.
If the model was adopted this year, no Osceola County football teams would currently be in the top 32. In other sports, Osceola’s Lady Kowboy volleyball team would currently qualify, and Celebration’s boys have qualified on past results.
Not surprisingly, local reaction to new plan from Osceola County coaches and administrators was mixed.
“Obviously, I would really like to see how the entire plan would work before deciding on whether it was a good idea or not,” St. Cloud Athletics Director Bryan Smart said. “My first reaction is that it would crown a true state champion regardless of size and that would be a lot of fun to watch as a fan.
“If you are ranked in the top 32 and win that division, there is no question you are the best team in the state. On the other hand, if you are ranked 31th in football and you are a 4S school, are you going to tank a game to avoid the Open division and play in one of the other classifications were you would have a better chance of winning? You also have to wonder whether crowning a best of the best or true state champion would dilute the idea of being a state champion in the (non-open) classes.”
“I really don’t like the idea,” Tohopekaliga Athletics Director Don Simon said. “I think it just really creates a whole new set of problems and criticisms starting with the idea that some teams will try to manipulate the system to avoid being placed in the open division.”
“I think I might buy helmet stickers with the number 33 on it for my football team,” Osceola Athletic Director Rick Tribit joked. “Seriously, I am strongly opposed to this. First, the FHSAA and MaxPreps uses a ranking system but they won’t tell anyone how it works. Last year, they told us if you played a tougher schedule, you would be rewarded. We played arguably the toughest schedule in the state — Lakeland, Jones, Seminole, Treasure Coast and were 4-3 after seven games. They had us ranked 33rd in class 4S, which meant we wouldn’t even be in the playoffs if we didn’t win our district. Ask (state champion) Lakeland who we lost to by a couple of points and 3S state runner-up Mainland, who we hammered 33-6, whether they thought we were only the 33rd best team in 4S. Those secret rankings are a joke and now they want to use that system to determine the top 32 teams in the state? No thank you.”
Harmony’s Athletic Director Dan Kerr is not a fan, either. “They are trying to reinvent the wheel and it doesn’t need to be reinvented. The better teams in some classifications that are ranked in the lower 20s and 30s are definitely going to try to manipulate their rankings to get out of the top 32.”
Financially, especially in football, there would be a good reason for some good programs ranked in the 20s or early 30s, to want to stay out of the top 32. A team ranked 32 would have to endure the expense of traveling to a first-round away game, while team No. 33 could host a at least one regional round home game that could be worth $10,000 or more to the school’s athletic budget.
Celebration’s longtime soccer coach Chad Boudreaux, who stepped down last year to become the school’s athletic director after leading the Storm to several deep runs in the playoffs, says he’s undecided on whether he supports it.
“I definitely see a lot of positives and negatives,” Boudreaux noted. “If they pass it, you won’t have the same one or two teams dominating their classifications like they do now. They will be in the Open Division and competing against each other to be the best in the state and to tell the truth, that tournament would be phenomenal to watch from a fan’s standpoint.
“Still you have to wonder how a team ranked closer to 28-32 is going to feel. Instead of being in their regular classification where they would have a chance to host and win a few rounds in the post-season they are probably going to be a one-and-done in the Open division.”
Boudreaux also pointed out that travel under this proposal could be difficult. “Football is viewed a little different, but under this proposal it’s possible that a soccer or basketball team from the panhandle would have to travel 11 hours to Miami for a first round playoff game and that would be an expensive proposition.”
