NSAA Classification Committee Meeting Minutes - August 3, 2016

[Alum-Ni]

The NSAA Committee on Classification met on Wednesday, August 3, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. in Grand Island. Jay Bellar, NSAA District III Board of Director, chaired the meeting. The mission of the committee was to discuss a potential proposal for football classifications, review the 8-man and 6-man football numbers, and consider classifications for other sports and activities.

Committee members present were: Wendy Henrichs, Lincoln East; Dr. Dan Endorf, North Bend Central; Dr. Bob Reznicek, Boys Town; Jay Bellar, Battle Creek; Tracy Douglas, Hastings; Gus Brown, Valentine; Dr. Jon Cerny, Bancroft-Rosalie; Dr. Troy Unzicker, Alliance; Kyle Hemmerling, Elwood; and Mike Brockhaus, Sidney. NSAA Staff present were Dr. Jim Tenopir, Jennifer Schwartz, Jon Dolliver, Nate Neuhaus, Dan Masters, and Jeff Stauss. Stu Pospisil from the Omaha World-Herald was also in attendance.

Dr. Tenopir presented a classification proposal for football using the three-grade boys enrollment count and using established numerical cutoffs for each of the six classes of football in an effort to standardize the ratios in each class. Using the three-grade boys enrollment count would be placed in the following classes: Class A (425 and above), Class B (160 to 424), Class C1 (70 to 159), Class C2 (69 and below), Class D1 (33 and above) and Class D2 (32 and below). The committee agreed to submit this proposal in each of the respective NSAA districts.

The committee also discussed the cut-off number for schools to be able to participate in the playoffs for 8-man and 6-man football. The committee tentatively agreed to submit a proposal in each of their respective NSAA districts which set the playoff eligibility number for 8-man football at 47 (three-grade boys enrollment count) and 6-man football at 25 (three-grade boys enrollment count).

It was determined that the committee would continue to meet until all of the issues were considered, specifically the classification for other sports and activities.

With no further business, the committee adjourned at 11:50 a.m.

The next meeting of the Classification Committee is tentatively scheduled after the November NSAA District meetings.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Stu Pospisil from the OWH has a story on this topic

http://www.omaha.com/neprepzone/foo...cle_3087fa6c-0f71-5cc6-b731-ec4db6d35121.html

 

[Alum-Ni]

There was also a committee meeting on Public and Non-Public School competition:

The Committee on Public and Non-Public Competition met on Wednesday, August 3, 2016 at 1:30 p.m. in Grand Island. Dr. Bob Reznicek, NSAA District II Board of Director, chaired the meeting. The purpose of the committee was to discuss a success factor proposal and determine if additional proposals or research needed to be done.

Committee members present were Tim Aylward, Lincoln Pius X; Ryan Ruhl, Norris; Dr. Bob Reznicek, Boys Town; Greg Lamberty, Bennington; Mark Lenihan, Wayne; Mark Stillstad, North Platte St. Patrick's; Jason Alexander, Ord; Dr. Dennis Shipp, Bertrand; Robert Drews, Holdrege; Glen Koski, Gering; Tammy Tillman, Bayard; NSAA Staff present were Dr. Jim Tenopir, Jennifer Schwartz, Jon Dolliver, Nate Neuhaus, Dan Masters, and Jeff Stauss. Stu Pospisil from the Omaha World-Herald was also in attendance.

Dr. Tenopir presented a potential proposal for classification of sports using a success factor that included the following criteria: (1) Whether or not the school had the ability to decline admission or enrollment to a student who resided within that school's public school district or designated geographic area; (2) The school was located within a 15-mile radius of the district boundaries of a Class A school; (3) Fewer than 25% of the students enrolled at the school in grades nine through twelve qualify for free or reduced lunch prices, and; (4) The school has been in the state tournament three of the past five years or has played in the state finals in that sport two of the past five years.

After much discussion on the presented proposal, the committee felt a stronger emphasis needed to be placed on a school's success; therefore, it was decided a proposal be developed using success as determined by an established point system and then factor in NDE free or reduced priced lunch percentages, proximity to a Class A school, the ability to decline admission or enrollment, and if data is available NDE special education percentages prior to a school moving up a classification in a particular sport.

With no further business, the committee adjourned at 3:10 p.m.

The next meeting for the Public and Non-Public Competition Committee is tentatively scheduled for prior to the November NSAA District meetings.

 

[Sean Callahan]

The classification proposal really makes sense. I like how it's built to handle future growth in OPS, LPS, Millard, Elkhorn and Gretna and is based on total boys. That only makes sense vs. a hard number of schools in the class. Just judging from afar, Skutt will be the big winner in this thing the way Class B would reshape. Class C-1 will also get even more competitive than it is now with Aurora, Gross, etc. all playing in it.

 

[Alum-Ni]

The classification proposal really makes sense. I like how it's built to handle future growth in OPS, LPS, Millard, Elkhorn and Gretna and is based on total boys. That only makes sense vs. a hard number of schools in the class. Just judging from afar, Skutt will be the big winner in this thing the way Class B would reshape. Class C-1 will also get even more competitive than it is now with Aurora, Gross, etc. all playing in it.

Yes. Class B will become a lot more "equal" from a numbers standpoint.

The big issue is what to do with the cutoff in the 8-man/6-man ranks. Those enrollments and numbers are pretty volatile right now

 

[huskers_2001]

Should be interesting how things shake out. A lot of different variables going on with this proposal. I do think the proximity to a class A school is a interesting and valid factor.

 

[teachmehowtosnuggie]

Can someone smarter than me take the time to take a stab at what the classes may look like based on 2016/2017 numbers? It'd be interesting to see.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Can someone smarter than me take the time to take a stab at what the classes may look like based on 2016/2017 numbers? It'd be interesting to see.

The latest numbers the NSAA has out for classifications uses boy+girl enrollment figures. These proposals would use just boy-only numbers. I'll try to find boys-only enrollment, but it might take a while

 

[Alum-Ni]

Can someone smarter than me take the time to take a stab at what the classes may look like based on 2016/2017 numbers? It'd be interesting to see.

Stu Pospisil has already done the leg work at the link above

- Class A would grow to 31 teams with South Sioux City, Elkhorn South and Ralston moving up

- Class B would shrink to 25 teams

- Class C1: Aurora, Holdrege, Platteview and Omaha Gross would move down from B, while Valentine and St. Paul (both in C2 this year) would move back into C1 for a total of 47 teams

- Class C2: Auburn and Southern/Lewiston would move down from C1, giving this class 42 teams

8 and 6-man will vary depending on what is decided for cut-off numbers

 

[huskers_2001]

Auburn is one of the larger C1 schools, how would they drop a class?

 

[hazard05]

Auburn is one of the larger C1 schools, how would they drop a class?

This is a good question. Currently, Auburn is 19 out of 43 schools that fall under the class C1 umbrella. Their combined Boy/Girl enrollment is 173.

Without knowing the ratio of girls to boys in the total enrollment, it is hard to do a data breakdown. I would have to assume that Stu has access to this information (or has made an error).

 

[Alum-Ni]

Auburn is one of the larger C1 schools, how would they drop a class?

You would have to assume they have a pretty high girl to boy ratio at the school. I've been looking for the "boy-only" enrollment numbers, but so far have had no luck.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Alright, I got the boys-only enrollment numbers thru the Nebraska Dept. of Education. So here are what the classes would look like, with "boys-only" enrollment numbers listed.

I had to calculate these enrollment numbers, so there could be a slight error here or there, but this should be the general gist based on the proposal above. Generally, 8-man and 6-man teams are placed in classes below based on where they declared to play for this fall.

CLASS A (425 and up)
1. Omaha South - 983
2. Millard West - 980
3. Grand Island - 929
4. Millard North - 926
5. Omaha Central - 870
6. Lincoln North Star - 856
7. Millard South - 848
8. Lincoln Southeast - 821
9. Omaha Creighton Prep - 795
10. Omaha Burke - 769
11. Lincoln Southwest - 731
12. Omaha North - 719
13. Omaha Bryan - 708
13. Omaha Westside - 708
15. Lincoln East - 688
16. Lincoln High - 668
17. Papillion-LaVista - 666
18. Omaha Northwest - 658
19. Bellevue West - 641
20. Papillion-LaVista South - 625
21. Bellevue East - 567
22. Kearney - 554
23. Lincoln Northeast - 553
24. Fremont - 526
25. Omaha Benson - 525
26. Lincoln Pius X - 491
27. North Platte - 479
28. Norfolk - 468
29. South Sioux City - 452
30. Elkhorn South - 426
30. Ralston - 426

CLASS B (160-424)
1. Columbus - 416
2. Hastings - 411
3. Gretna - 398
4. Elkhorn - 358
5. Scottsbluff - 352
6. Lexington - 319
7. Blair - 290
8. Omaha Skutt - 287
9. Grand Island Northwest - 278
10. Beatrice - 261
11. Norris - 258
12. Gering - 241
13. Crete - 234
14. Waverly - 230
15. Schuyler - 215
16. Plattsmouth - 203
17. McCook - 194
18. Seward - 192
19. Omaha Roncalli - 190
20. Bennington - 187
21. Elkhorn Mt. Michael - 183
22. Alliance - 177
23. Nebraska City - 176
24. York - 162
25. Sidney - 160

CLASS C1 (70-159)
1. Omaha Gross - 154
2. Platteview - 152
3. Aurora - 148
4. Douglas County West - 144
5. Holdrege - 138
6. Boys Town - 134
7. Columbus Lakeview - 123
8. Omaha Concordia/Omaha Street School - 122
8. Wahoo - 122
10. Gothenburg - 119
11. Milford/Dorchester - 110
12. Hastings Adams Central - 108
13. Columbus Scotus - 103
14. Wayne - 102
15. Cozad - 101
16. Falls City - 97
16. Ogallala - 97
18. Fort Calhoun - 96
19. Ashland-Greenwood - 92
20. Kearney Catholic - 91
20. O'Neill - 91
20. West Point-Beemer - 91
23. Fairbury - 90
24. Minden - 89
25. Boone Central/Newman Grove - 87
25. Broken Bow - 87
25. Gordon-Rushville - 87
28. Chadron - 85
29. Syracuse - 84
30. Pierce - 82
31. Arlington - 79
31. Mitchell - 79
33. Grand Island Central Catholic - 77
33. Valentine - 77
35. North Bend - 75
36. Conestoga - 74
36. David City Aquinas - 74
36. Ord - 74
36. Raymond Central - 74
40. Chase County - 73
40. David City - 73
40. Wahoo Neumann - 73
43. Lincoln Christian - 72
43. St. Paul - 72
45. Norfolk Catholic - 71
46. Louisville - 70
46. Madison - 70

CLASS C2 (69 and below)
1. Fillmore Central - 69
2. Auburn - 68
2. Southern Valley - 68
4. Malcolm - 67
5. Hershey - 66
6. Elmwood-Murdock - 65
7. Centennial - 64
7. Central City - 64
7. Sutton - 64
10. Gibbon - 62
10. Logan View - 62
10. Yutan - 62
13. Southern/Lewiston - 61
13. Tekamah-Herman - 61
15. Wood River - 60
16. Johnson County Central - 59
16. Wilber-Clatonia - 59
18. Battle Creek - 58
18. Centura - 58
18. Kimball - 58
18. Ponca - 58
22. Bridgeport - 57
23. Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons-Decatur Northeast - 56
23. Shelby/Rising City - 56
25. Hartington Cedar Catholic - 55
25. Lincoln Lutheran - 55
27. Omaha Brownell-Talbot - 54
28. Sandy Creek - 53
29. Doniphan-Trumbull - 52
29. Hastings St. Cecilia - 52
31. Crofton - 51
31. Stanton - 51
31. Twin River - 51
34. Hemingford - 50
34. Oakland-Craig - 50
34. Palmyra - 50
37. Arcadia/Loup City - 49
37. Bayard - 49
37. Cross County - 49
37. Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer - 49
41. Niobrara/Verdigre - 48
41. North Platte St. Patrick's - 48
43. Wisner-Pilger - 47 (opts up)
44. Fremont Bergan - 22 (opts up)

8-MAN (47 is the current proposed cutoff for playoff eligibility)

CLASS D1 (35 and above)
1. Winnebago - 68
2. Southwest - 55
3. Homer - 51
3. Perkins County - 51
5. Ravenna - 50
5. Superior - 50
5. Sutherland - 50
8. Ainsworth - 49
8. Omaha Nation - 49
10. Neligh-Oakdale - 48
10. Thayer Central - 48
12. Plainview - 46
12. Wakefield - 46
14. Diller-Odell - 45
14. Freeman - 45
14. Nebraska Christian - 45
17. Kenesaw - 44
18. Atkinson West Holt - 42
18. Creighton - 42
18. Guardian Angels Central Catholic - 42
21. Amherst - 41
21. Hartington-Newcastle - 41
21. Howells-Dodge - 41
24. Medicine Valley - 40
24. Overton - 40
24. Tri County - 40
27. Lutheran High Northeast - 39
28. Alma - 38
28. Cambridge - 38
28. Dundy County-Stratton - 38
28. McCool Junction - 38
32. Arapahoe - 37
32. Boyd County - 37
32. Burwell - 37
32. Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family - 37
32. Johnson-Brock - 37
32. Laurel-Concord-Coleridge - 37
32. Nebraska Lutheran - 37
39. Clearwater/Orchard - 36
39. Elgin/Elgin Pope John - 36
39. Elm Creek - 36
39. Omaha Christian - 36
39. Palmer - 36
39. South Loup - 36
45. Bruning-Davenport/Shickley - 35
45. Chambers/Wheeler Central/Ewing - 35
45. East Butler - 35

CLASS D2 (34 and below)
1. Bertrand - 34
1. Clarkson/Leigh - 34
3. Creek Valley - 33
3. High Plains - 33
3. Nebraska City Lourdes - 33
3. Osceola - 33
3. Paxton - 33
8. Elkhorn Valley - 32
8. Heartland - 32
8. Lawrence-Nelson - 32
8. Morrill - 32
8. Pender - 32
13. Pawnee City - 31
14. Ansley/Litchfield - 30
14. Bloomfield - 30
14. Crawford - 30
14. Falls City Sacred Heart - 30
14. Garden County - 30
14. Meridian - 30
14. Weeping Water - 30
21. Humphrey St. Francis - 29
21. Maxwell - 29
21. Osmond - 29
21. Twin Loup - 29
25. Central Valley - 28
25. Franklin - 28
25. Friend - 28
25. Fullerton - 28
25. Mullen - 28
25. North Central - 28
25. Scribner-Snyder - 28
25. Shelton - 28
33. Blue Hill - 27
33. Hitchcock County - 27
33. Mead - 27
33. O'Neill St. Mary's - 27
33. Pleasanton - 27
33. Sterling - 27
33. Winside - 27
40. Cedar Bluffs - 26
40. Randolph - 26
42. Emerson-Hubbard - 25
42. Wauneta-Palisade - 25
44. Giltner - 24
45. Brady - 23
45. Exeter-Milligan - 23
47. Leyton - 22
47. Loomis - 22
47. Sandhills/Thedford - 22
47. Wallace - 22
51. Allen - 21
51. Anselmo-Merna - 21
51. Axtell - 21
51. Eustis-Farnam - 21
51. Parkview Christian - 21
51. Stapleton - 21
51. Sumner-Eddyville-Miller - 21
51. Wynot - 21
59. Wausa - 18
60. Stuart - 17

SIX-MAN (proposal to have cutoff of 25 for playoff eligibility)
1. Harvard - 43
2. Walthill - 34
3. Potter-Dix - 32
4. Deshler - 27
5. Wilcox-Hildreth - 26
6. Minatare - 25
7. Cody-Kilgore - 22
7. Elwood - 22
7. Riverside - 22
10. Heartland Lutheran - 21
10. South Platte - 21
12. Maywood/Hayes Center - 20
12. St. Edward - 20
14. Hampton - 19
14. Red Cloud - 19
14. Santee - 19
14. Silver Lake - 19
18. Hyannis - 18
18. Spalding Academy - 18
20. Elba - 16
20. Hay Springs - 16
22. Banner County - 15
23. Arthur County - 11
24. McPherson County - 10
25. Sioux County - 7

 

[runningback43]

Thanks for doing this.

 

[nenebskers]

Thanks Alumni!

I always find D1 the most interesting in the way it plays out. Ultimately if a school is A or B, B or C1, etc.... is one thing but C-2 to D1 is a totally differant field, game, playoff eligibility, etc....

Comparing D1 now to the proposed, I believe 8 schools would be effected. Wakefield, Nebraska Christian, Laurel Concord Coleridge, and Plainview would now be eligible for the playoffs. Omaha Nation, Southwest, Sutherland, and Perkins County would not be eligible.

I still wish they would raise D1 somewhere between 50 and 55 boys and allow schools to option up to C-2 if they would like. Also raise 6-man to around 30 to encourage more schools to join. Overall though I think we can all agree that using boys and girls only enrollment is a big and good change. For best example look at Laurel Concord Coleridge. They would go from being ineligible to one of the smallest in D1, only 3 short from being D2. Obviously these are not the same numbers as last year but now we get a good idea of why the struggled to field a team the past two years.

 

[teachmehowtosnuggie]

Alum-Ni, you are one dedicated soul. Many thanks.

 

[HUSKER10]

Wow, Norfolk Catholic is a lot smaller than I thought. Amazing they keep rolling.

 

[Alum-Ni]

One thing I've always wondered and never really looked into, why does the NSAA use just three-grade enrollment figures (9-10-11.......and as I have used above) and not full four grade enrollment (9-10-11-12)?

 

[Antone13]

The NSAA uses 3 grades because they create a two year schedule to have a home and away for both teams so the 9 10 and 11 grades in the first year will be there to play and in the 2nd year of the schedule they will be 10 11 and 12th grades. This way they keep a standard for enrollment on both years for the schedule.

 

[Antone13]

I think the idea of using boys enrollment for boys sports and girls enrollment for girls sports will be a great idea. As for where to make the divide line is tough every year and I don't think a certain number works for every year. I think the more interesting part is the teams that make state and have to move up a class. They will have graduated their talent and will have move up a class.

 

[Alum-Ni]

The NSAA uses 3 grades because they create a two year schedule to have a home and away for both teams so the 9 10 and 11 grades in the first year will be there to play and in the 2nd year of the schedule they will be 10 11 and 12th grades. This way they keep a standard for enrollment on both years for the schedule.

That makes sense. Thanks!

 

[Alum-Ni]

I think the idea of using boys enrollment for boys sports and girls enrollment for girls sports will be a great idea. As for where to make the divide line is tough every year and I don't think a certain number works for every year. I think the more interesting part is the teams that make state and have to move up a class. They will have graduated their talent and will have move up a class.

Actually the proposal above isn't necessarily a hard enrollment number for the cutoff between classes, but rather a ratio from the largest enrollment to smallest enrollment per class.

Class A would be (2.3 : 1)

Class B (2.65 : 1)

Class C1 (2.27 : 1)

Class C2 (3.1 : 1)

 

[Sean Callahan]

My question is will you be able to opt up? For example if Gross or Aurora want to play in Class B still can they? Or will they be forced to go down?

 

[Alum-Ni]

My question is will you be able to opt up? For example if Gross or Aurora want to play in Class B still can they? Or will they be forced to go down?

Good question. There have been years where the NSAA has allowed that and years they haven't.

 

[Mavric]

The NSAA uses 3 grades because they create a two year schedule to have a home and away for both teams so the 9 10 and 11 grades in the first year will be there to play and in the 2nd year of the schedule they will be 10 11 and 12th grades. This way they keep a standard for enrollment on both years for the schedule.

That is true but I'm pretty sure they used the three class system before the state took over scheduling (i.e., before the two year cycle) plus the same system is used in other sports that are all on a every year cycle.

I would guess the main reason is the fall sports have to be classified from the previous year's enrollments so they use the students enrolled in the spring in 9-10-11 (who will be 10-11-12 in the fall) because they don't necessarily know where the 8th graders are going to attend high school.

 

[Whippet92]

This was an awesome thread. Thanks to everybody who joined this one. Interesting stuff.

 

[Sean Callahan]

Sean,
According to Pospisil, SAFETY is the primary concern on the NSAA here, allowing a team to opt up would directly go against their concerns of safety.

My read on it is they don't want the massive West Omaha schools in Class B anymore that have huge enrollments no different than Millard schools and don't really fit the profile of the other Class B schools. To me, Skutt is a big winner out of this whole thing if it happens. They will dominate B, especially if Elkhorn and Gretna go up with Elkhorn South.

Aurora should do really well in C-1 if that holds, as will Gross. Being a former Gross graduate, I don't think they will want to be C-1 as it will hurt future recruitment with athletes weighing options between the Catholic HS's in Omaha.

 

[hammer the rock]

My read on it is they don't want the massive West Omaha schools in Class B anymore that have huge enrollments no different than Millard schools and don't really fit the profile of the other Class B schools. To me, Skutt is a big winner out of this whole thing if it happens. They will dominate B, especially if Elkhorn and Gretna go up with Elkhorn South.

Aurora should do really well in C-1 if that holds, as will Gross. Being a former Gross graduate, I don't think they will want to be C-1 as it will hurt future recruitment with athletes weighing options between the Catholic HS's in Omaha.

What happens to Skutt if the parochial schools are classified differently? Isn't there a committee looking at this also?

 

[Alum-Ni]

What happens to Skutt if the parochial schools are classified differently? Isn't there a committee looking at this also?

There is a committee looking at this with a number of different options on the table.......proximity to a Class A school district, success factor, number of free/reduced/special ed students. I don't think there will ever be in Nebraska a blanket reclassification of all parochial schools. And in my opinion, I don't think there will be any decisions made in the parochial vs. public debate any time soon.

I do think we will see the move to using boys-only and girls-only enrollment numbers for classifying several sports.

 

[huskersox86]

I'm not a fan of this proposal. The should name it the "we only want to fix class B" proposal. That's all the focus is on. Class D is a mess. 45 teams in D-1, 11 of which will be ineligible, and 60 in D-2? That's with raising the cut line essentially from 83 to 94. Class D should still be split right down the middle with 53 in D-1 and 52 in D-2. That really wouldn't change the beloved ratio that much to make a difference. To me, this proposal would not be good for the 8-man ranks, especially if they wish to hold onto the 32 team playoffs...which I don't want to start debating in this thread.

 

[runningback43]

Class D-1 would be a huge mess. Hard to believe that 32 of the 34 eligible teams would make the playoffs.

 

[nenebskers]

Well said Huskersox, couldn't agree more. I've always thought D1 is the biggest mess and this would only make it worse.

 

[Antone13]

I think another possible idea that would not be difficult would be to start at Class A and take the biggest 24 teams and put them in Class A and have a 12 team playoff. The next 32 in Class B and have a 16 team playoff. In C-1 the next 48 and have a 24 team playoff. In C-2 the next 48 and have a 24 team playoff. The rest of the teams would be split evenly between D-1 and D-2. Those choosing to play 6 man would not be counted. The enrollment would be based on just boys in school.