Schools
Adairsville Joins Cartersville in AAA
The new six-class setup for Georgia high school sports separates Cass and Woodland next year.
Bartow County is likely to gain one new regional sports rivalry while losing another under the reclassification the Georgia High School Association unveiled Monday.
The adds a sixth level to Georgia high school sports next year. The GHSA grouped the schools based on their self-reported enrollments this year from ninth to 11th grade.
Just as no Bartow school is in AAAAA under the current system, no school is big enough to be among the 65 schools in AAAAAA under the new system.
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All schools have until Dec. 5 to ask to move into a higher classification, usually for geographic convenience, but here’s how things stand now.
will stay at the A level.
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will remain at the 70-school AAA level, joined by Adairsville, which is AA now. Although the GHSA won’t release proposed regions until Dec. 6, it’s safe to assume that the Purple Hurricanes and the Tigers will be grouped together.
But Cartersville, projected to be the second-largest school in the new AAA, won’t see many familiar uniforms when it takes the field next year.
The only other school in Region 7-AAA that is staying in AAA is Ringgold. Murray County is moving down to AA. is moving up to AAAAA. The rest will be in the 71-team AAAA classification.
There, Dalton, Cedartown, Gilmer, Pickens and the others will join , which, like Cartersville, is keeping its current classification while most of the teams in its region move up.
Only Northwest Whitfield among Cass’ current foes in Region 7-AAAA is staying in AAAA; , , and are moving all the way to AAAAAA, indicating that Cass is playing much larger schools.
Among the schools moving from AAAA to AAAAA is , so the Colonels and Wildcats no longer will be in the same region.
Schools from neighboring counties in the 71-team AAAAA, and thus candidates to be in a region with Woodland, include and in Cherokee County; Allatoona, , , and in Cobb County; , , , and in Paulding County; and Rome in Floyd County. Current Region 7-AAAA rival also is joining Woodland in AAAAA.
With 71 teams, the most balanced alignment would have nine schools in each of seven regions and eight schools in one.
The attached PDF file shows all six classifications, including each school’s current or projected enrollment of ninth- to 11th-graders. There are 65 schools in AAAAAA, 71 each in AAAAA and AAAA, 70 in AAA, 66 in AA and 97 in A, although only 71 of the A schools play football.
You can read more about the reclassification in The Daily Tribune News, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Marietta Daily Journal and Score Atlanta.
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