GHSA releases initial region realignment

Just one week after finding out the new classifications for all of the schools in the GHSA, the state’s high school governing body rolled out their new region alignments last Tuesday afternoon.

The reclassification committee met Tuesday morning in Thomaston to hear appeals of classification placements and to approve region alignment for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years.

The new regions are not yet set in stone however. The reclassification committee was slated to meet against this week to hear appeals for lateral transfers. Schools may appeal to be moved to a different region from the one they were placed in last Tuesday, but they must stay in their newest classification.

The only exception will be Class 1A schools, who will have one final chance to appeal any previously denied request play up to Class 2A. Any school who wished to appeal must have filed with the GHSA office no later than 4 p.m. on Monday of this week.

Barring any approved lateral transfers, many teams in the northwest Georgia area will be looking at some new region opponents over the next couple of years.

Five of the teams currently in Region 6-AAAA — Heritage, Northwest Whitfield, Pickens, Ridgeland and Southeast Whitfield — will be joined by Cedartown and Centralcarroll in what will be now known as Region 7-AAAA.

Two of the teams that are leaving the current configuration of 6-AAAA have been reclassified into Class 3A.

While Gilmer will now be in 7-AAA along with Dawson County, Lumpkin County, White County, Cherokee Bluff, North Hall and West Hall, Lafayette will slide into 6-AAA.

That region will have holdovers in Adairsville, Coahulla Creek,

LFO, Murray County, North Murray, Ringgold and Sonoraville with the Ramblers and Rockmart filling in the spaces vacated by Calhoun and Haralson County.

Haralson County was dropped to Class 2A and will be in a region with more teams around the Carrollton area, including Bremen, Heard County, Temple and Callaway.

Rockmart bumped to Class 3A and Armuchee dropped down to Class 1A leaving Chattooga, Coosa, Dade County, Gordon Central, Model and Pepperell in 7-AA.

Armuchee, back in Class 1A after several years as a Class 2A school, will join some old foes in 6-A. The

Indians will do battle with Bowdon, Gordon Lee, Mount Zion-carroll and Trion, along with B.E.S.T. Academy of Atlanta.

Class 1A is being completely divided between public schools and private schools starting next fall. The GHSA has put together eight public school-only regions and eight private school-only regions in the classification, doing away with the need for the somewhat controversial power rating system for selecting playoff teams.

As for Calhoun, who has slowly moved from Class 1A to Class 2A to Class 3A over the last 20 years,