Questions Remain for Apple Valley, Eastview About New High School Football Class

Though the Minnesota State High School League board of directors , questions remain among and administrators about which schools will make up the class when it’s introduced for the 2012 season, and how the remaining classes will shake out.

The configuration for the new Class 6A the MSHSL announced a week ago included 32 teams at the high schools with the greatest enrollments, with Eastview and six other South Suburban Conference teams among the ranks. The current football Class 5A contains the state’s 57 highest-enrollment schools, and would become 48 teams in 2012.

Eastview officials knew because of the school's 2,056-student enrollment that its football team would be in the new class, Eastview Assistant Principal for Curriculum and Athletics Matt Percival said. Enrollments in 6A span from 3,060 at Wayzata, to 1,656 at Park in Cottage Grove.

He said he believes 6A is where Eastview should compete.

But schools that weren’t placed in Class 6A still can opt up, Percival said, and it wasn’t totally clear whether the class would remain at 32 teams, with opt-ups bumping down some of the 32 largest schools, or how that would be determined.

Schools also can opt down if more than 50 percent of its students participate in the free or reduced-price lunch program, he said.

According to a post on the MSHSL website last week by media specialist John Millea: “A few of the largest 32 schools will opt down from Class 6A, and some who are not among the biggest 32 will opt up to play in 6A. All we know at this point is that 6A will have 32 schools, split into four eight-team sections.”

While the opt-up option likely won’t affect Eastview’s placement in Class 6A, it could affect Apple Valley, which didn’t make the top-32 cut but is near the borderline.

Administrators will discuss whether Apple Valley would opt up, and they'll consider what scenario would be best for the students on the team, Athletics Director Pete Buesgens said.

“It’s still two years out,” he said. “For us, it’s not that pressing.”

He also said he could see teams like Totino-Grace or Cretin-Derham Hall, among others, opting up to Class 6A.

“Whatever class we’re in, we’re gonna compete,” Buesgens said.

Buesgens noted that enrollments could change by fall 2012, and though Apple Valley’s enrollment isn’t projected to increase, the MSHSL hasn’t specified whether or when it would re-evaluate enrollments before fall 2012.

As for the effect on section play, Eastview still could see many conference opponents during playoffs. If Apple Valley remains in Class 5A, the teams it sees in sections would be different than most it faces during the season and in the current 5A playoffs.

Percival and Buesgens said enrollment disparity is a much-talked-about issue when it comes to Minnesota’s high school football classes.

Though with many sports, the talk is of reducing the number of classes, Percival said most people tend to agree that school enrollment matters more with football—a sport that has to field large teams—compared to individual-athlete sports or a sport like basketball that requires fewer players.

Buesgens said he’s fine with the additional class; from top enrollment to bottom, there’s still a spread of 1,400 students, which is “pretty significant,” he said.

Percival said he expects schools will get more information in coming weeks.

“It’ll be interesting to see how it goes,” he said.