Looks like there will be a whole lot more teams in Colorado who will be playing six-man football in 2014-2015. The Colorado High School Activities Association took a different approach for the next football class alignment for 2014-2016 as they determined a "midline" cut-off number for enrollment figures for six-man and eight-man football. They put all of the small schools' enrollment numbers in a database - half of the schools will be playing eight-man and the other half will be playing six-man. The 2014 season should be interesting with a whole lot more teams playing at the six-man level, including some traditional eight-man powerhouse teams.
Change in Colorado alignment rules
- Thread starter AZ2TX6Man
- Start date
coach_jshelton
Six-man fan
Can CO schools no longer "opt" to continue to play 8-man even if their numbers are below the midline cut-off number?
Good question . . . yes they can, but I only know of one school that is opting to stay at the eight-man level: Pikes Peak Christian. The head coach is a long-time eight-man coach and he sees his numbers growing. It appears that everyone else is more than willing to move down. Many eight-man schools were playing with 12-15 players this season and they weren't competitive against those schools with 20+ players.
freeagent
Six-man pro
AZ2TX6Man":34qm09gk said:
When is the Colorado realignment coming out?
coach_jshelton
Six-man fan
Interesting - 9 years ago they were trying to kill 6-man & make 2 divisions of 8 man. Good to see the growth.
freeagent
Six-man pro
I was looking at the Colorado HSAA website and their football 2013 plan ... but not sure if this realignment plan really changes the number of schools playing 6 man and 8 man. There are 70 schools in Colorado playing 6 man and 8 man, 25 are in 6 man and 45 in 8 man.
As noted above, Colorado does allow their 6 man schools (1-75) to play up to 8 man (76-135). And from what I see, 11 of them already do. My guess is that those schools chose to play 8 man because of previous participation, travel, or other reasons, and if those 11 schools had decided to stay 6 man, the numbers would be 36 six-man and 34 eight-man.
Obviously, the numbers used for enrollment here are the 2011 numbers (for 2012-2014) and there could be differences, as well as some of the smaller eleven-man schools having to look at 6 or 8 man participation. I believe Colorado also allows schools to "co-op," which allows two schools to join together to form a team (two eight-man teams are "co-op"). There are also two schools in the 1A eleven-man classification that have 6 or 8 man numbers and another four schools under 150 enrollment (one of those two schools, however, is a growing private school in North Denver, and will be an 11 man school).
Will be interesting to see if Pikes Peak (which is defined as 8 man by enrollment) is the only school that elects to "play up."
John, once something official is out, I sure would like to see it.
As noted above, Colorado does allow their 6 man schools (1-75) to play up to 8 man (76-135). And from what I see, 11 of them already do. My guess is that those schools chose to play 8 man because of previous participation, travel, or other reasons, and if those 11 schools had decided to stay 6 man, the numbers would be 36 six-man and 34 eight-man.
Obviously, the numbers used for enrollment here are the 2011 numbers (for 2012-2014) and there could be differences, as well as some of the smaller eleven-man schools having to look at 6 or 8 man participation. I believe Colorado also allows schools to "co-op," which allows two schools to join together to form a team (two eight-man teams are "co-op"). There are also two schools in the 1A eleven-man classification that have 6 or 8 man numbers and another four schools under 150 enrollment (one of those two schools, however, is a growing private school in North Denver, and will be an 11 man school).
Will be interesting to see if Pikes Peak (which is defined as 8 man by enrollment) is the only school that elects to "play up."
John, once something official is out, I sure would like to see it.
It will be an interesting situation . . . for what it's worth, more than half of the eight-man schools in the Black Forest League, which comprises Colorado Springs and east of the Springs will be going to six-man for next season, so it looks like the Black Forest League football members will be split up and put into two other leagues. However, it appears that this arrangement will only be for football - all of the other sports will stay in the league. Beyond the Black Forest league, I'm not sure what's happening - leagues are talking among themselves on what to do.
One of the struggles that these teams are dealing with is the issue of injuries. Teams seem to be dealing with more injuries than ever before, especially with concussions. Whether it is six-man or eight-man, if you lose 2-3 of your best players, it's devastating to your success, but it seems more so with eight-man. So there are a lot of schools wanting to move down to six-man.
It also appears that CHSAA is trying to discourage the co-op arrangements due to the unfair advantage teams can gain with combining teams. The best players from both schools are usually the ones playing in these situations and other schools who are barely unable to do this are objecting to these arrangements. Also, the fans from these schools aren't really liking these co-ops because they are usually archrivals and figuring out what school name and mascot will be used can be a sore subject. It's entertaining to hear them cheer for their teams and then occasionally correct themselves on what school they're supposed to be cheering for. Most of the time, they cheer for specific players.
One of the struggles that these teams are dealing with is the issue of injuries. Teams seem to be dealing with more injuries than ever before, especially with concussions. Whether it is six-man or eight-man, if you lose 2-3 of your best players, it's devastating to your success, but it seems more so with eight-man. So there are a lot of schools wanting to move down to six-man.
It also appears that CHSAA is trying to discourage the co-op arrangements due to the unfair advantage teams can gain with combining teams. The best players from both schools are usually the ones playing in these situations and other schools who are barely unable to do this are objecting to these arrangements. Also, the fans from these schools aren't really liking these co-ops because they are usually archrivals and figuring out what school name and mascot will be used can be a sore subject. It's entertaining to hear them cheer for their teams and then occasionally correct themselves on what school they're supposed to be cheering for. Most of the time, they cheer for specific players.
coach_jshelton
Six-man fan
Yeah I still can't get over my hometown Julesburg Lions co-oping with the county rival Revere Raiders. Sedgwick County Cougars just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Latest update (11/26/2013) on the CHSAA football realignment proposals, as posted on the Colorado Springs Gazette website . . . just like any state activities association realignment proposal, this is likely to change somewhat, which explains at least one alternative proposal posted here and at least two additional proposals which will likely be submitted soon:
8-man
OPTION A (Submitted by the CHSAA)
Arkansas Valley (6)
Granada*, Holly, Las Animas, McClave, Springfield, Wiley*
I-25 (8)
Elbert*, Gilpin County *, Justice, Longmont Chr. *, Nederland **, Rocky Mountain Lutheran *, Vail Chr., West Grand
Mountain (7)
Del Norte, Dove Creek *, Mancos, Sanford, Sangre de Cristo, Sargent, Sierra Grande
Plains (6)
Akron, Caliche, Dayspring Chr., Haxtun, Merino, Sedgwick County
Southern (8)
Custer County, Cripple Creek-Victor, Fowler, Hoehne, Kiowa, Simla, Swink, Pikes Peak Chr.*
Western Slope (6)
Hayden, Norwood, Nucla*, Plateau Valley*, Rangely, Soroco
OPTION B (submitted by Don Steiner, Black Forest League)
Arkansas Valley (6)
Granada*, Holly, Las Animas, McClave, Springfield, Wiley*
I-25 (9)
Elbert*, Gilpin County *, Justice, Longmont Chr. *, Nederland **, Pikes Peak Chr.*, Rocky Mountain Lutheran *, Vail Chr., West Grand,
Mountain (7)
Del Norte, Dove Creek *, Mancos, Sanford, Sangre de Cristo, Sargent, Sierra Grande
Plains (6)
Akron, Caliche, Dayspring Chr., Haxtun, Merino, Sedgwick County
Southern (8)
Custer County, Cripple Creek-Victor, Fowler, Hoehne, Kiowa, Simla, Swink
Western Slope (6)
Hayden, Norwood, Nucla*, Plateau Valley*, Rangely, Soroco
6-Man
OPTION A (submitted by the CHSAA)
Central (6)
South Park**, Colorado Deaf & Blind, Deer Trail, Hanover, Miami-Yoder**, Genoa Hugo
East Central (7)
Hi-Plains, Otis, Arickaree, Idalia, Stratton, Flagler, Bethune
North (7)
North Park, Prairie, Weldon Valley, Briggsdale, Pawnee, Peetz, Fleming
Southeast (6)
Walsh, Cheraw, Manzanola, Eads, Cheyenne Wells, Kit Carson
Southwest (6)
Cotopaxi, Mountain Valley, La Veta, Aguilar, Antonito**, Primero
* Means a team is playing up. ** Means a team is playing down.
8-man
OPTION A (Submitted by the CHSAA)
Arkansas Valley (6)
Granada*, Holly, Las Animas, McClave, Springfield, Wiley*
I-25 (8)
Elbert*, Gilpin County *, Justice, Longmont Chr. *, Nederland **, Rocky Mountain Lutheran *, Vail Chr., West Grand
Mountain (7)
Del Norte, Dove Creek *, Mancos, Sanford, Sangre de Cristo, Sargent, Sierra Grande
Plains (6)
Akron, Caliche, Dayspring Chr., Haxtun, Merino, Sedgwick County
Southern (8)
Custer County, Cripple Creek-Victor, Fowler, Hoehne, Kiowa, Simla, Swink, Pikes Peak Chr.*
Western Slope (6)
Hayden, Norwood, Nucla*, Plateau Valley*, Rangely, Soroco
OPTION B (submitted by Don Steiner, Black Forest League)
Arkansas Valley (6)
Granada*, Holly, Las Animas, McClave, Springfield, Wiley*
I-25 (9)
Elbert*, Gilpin County *, Justice, Longmont Chr. *, Nederland **, Pikes Peak Chr.*, Rocky Mountain Lutheran *, Vail Chr., West Grand,
Mountain (7)
Del Norte, Dove Creek *, Mancos, Sanford, Sangre de Cristo, Sargent, Sierra Grande
Plains (6)
Akron, Caliche, Dayspring Chr., Haxtun, Merino, Sedgwick County
Southern (8)
Custer County, Cripple Creek-Victor, Fowler, Hoehne, Kiowa, Simla, Swink
Western Slope (6)
Hayden, Norwood, Nucla*, Plateau Valley*, Rangely, Soroco
6-Man
OPTION A (submitted by the CHSAA)
Central (6)
South Park**, Colorado Deaf & Blind, Deer Trail, Hanover, Miami-Yoder**, Genoa Hugo
East Central (7)
Hi-Plains, Otis, Arickaree, Idalia, Stratton, Flagler, Bethune
North (7)
North Park, Prairie, Weldon Valley, Briggsdale, Pawnee, Peetz, Fleming
Southeast (6)
Walsh, Cheraw, Manzanola, Eads, Cheyenne Wells, Kit Carson
Southwest (6)
Cotopaxi, Mountain Valley, La Veta, Aguilar, Antonito**, Primero
* Means a team is playing up. ** Means a team is playing down.
freeagent
Six-man pro
John ... Thanks for the listing.
In a quick check (and I could have missed stuff), I find the following Colorado schools will no longer be playing six-man under this proposal (nor do I see them on the 8 man lists):
Otis Lone Star
Woodlin
Liberty Joes
Colorado Springs Heartland Christian
Vilas
Yoder Edison
And the following schools move into six-man
South Park
Genoa Hugo
Miami-Yoder
Walsh
Manzanola
Cheyenne Wells
LaVeta
Aguilar
Antoinito
In a quick check (and I could have missed stuff), I find the following Colorado schools will no longer be playing six-man under this proposal (nor do I see them on the 8 man lists):
Otis Lone Star
Woodlin
Liberty Joes
Colorado Springs Heartland Christian
Vilas
Yoder Edison
And the following schools move into six-man
South Park
Genoa Hugo
Miami-Yoder
Walsh
Manzanola
Cheyenne Wells
LaVeta
Aguilar
Antoinito
I think you're right on what you've posted. Yoder Edison HS had been combining with Hanover for a couple of years and this year they tried to play as separate teams, so we can probably put Edison back with Hanover for football.
There has been some last-minute maneuvering with some schools, especially Elbert - they petitioned out of the six-man district. So that 50/50 split between six- and eight-man didn't happen as closely as anticipated. Many of these communities have been playing eight-man for years.
There has been some last-minute maneuvering with some schools, especially Elbert - they petitioned out of the six-man district. So that 50/50 split between six- and eight-man didn't happen as closely as anticipated. Many of these communities have been playing eight-man for years.
