Last week, TSSAA , the governing body for athletics in the state , came to a ruling on re-classification and re-alignment for the state in football only. There were, from a Williamson County standpoint, many things that made sense and many things that did not. As Williamson Source took time to look into specifically the re-alignment , there seemed to be some glaring issues with how things were done, especially at the present 6A level and the dismantling of this region.
We took time to reach out to Williamson County Athletic Director Jeremy Qualls, Dr. Leigh Webb Principal at Centennial, Coaches and Boosters from around the area. Over the next couple of days we will bring you their comments and then our thoughts.
Before we reveal our talk with AD Jeremy Qualls, we would like to give this statement from TSSAA Assistant Executive Director Matthew Gillespie, per our request:
The main goal in classification is to group schools together based on geography. When we make recommendations to the Board of Control, that is the primary factor.
The distance each school has to travel within each region is a factor. Having a balance in number of schools in each region is a factor as well. The Board looked at and discussed multiple options for Class 5A, and the one in place is the one they chose.
In regards to the previous 6A region, we’re in the middle of a four-year classification plan where we re-evaluate school enrollments and reclassify them based on the new figures. In August, the Board of Control also voted to go to a totally different Division I football classification plan. What you currently have is a result of that decision.
We’ll start today by talking to District Athletic Director and Curriculum Specialist for Williamson County Schools, Jeremy Qualls
WS: Many people may not know you outside of the student body in Williamson County. Can you tell everyone about your position and some background on yourself?
JQ I graduated high school from Hickman County High. After high school I played college basketball at Austin Peay State University under Head Coach Dave Loos. Upon graduating in 2000, I got my first basketball coaching job as an assistant boys basketball coach at Clarksville Northeast High School in Clarksville. I was fortunate enough to be offered my first Head Boys Basketball Coaching job in 2001 at Marshall County High school in Lewisburg. I coached there for 5 years before being offered the same job at Lexington High School in Henderson County. I was in west TN for 3 years before being offered a Principal position at Hickman County Middle School. I was there for 5 years prior to coming to WCS.
I love my job here at WCS as the District Athletic Director. I have a great team of people I work with. I also have great AD’s and Coaches that I work with on a daily basis. This job has the best of both worlds: 1) Administration, 2) Athletics.
I view my job as a commissioner of an athletic conference. I want to draw as much attention for our student athletes, coaches, schools, and programs as possible. With the academics, facilities, teachers, coaches, and Championship caliber programs we have here, I think WCS is the ultimate destination for families looking for a complete, wholesome, educational experience. GameDay, Twitter and other, future projects hopefully will help us garner lots of attention for our championship caliber teams and programs. Some of the duties my job entails are working with principals and AD’s on compliance issues, field/facility maintenance, TSSAA, helping administrators recruit and hire coaches for vacancies, our middle school AD’s and association the WMAA, athletic transportation, and assisting the Health/PE teachers of WCS.
WS: You went into last week’s TSSAA meeting with a different plan than they had for re-classification and re-alignment. Can you explain that plan? Was it even considered? How was it received?
JQ: The 6A group in WCS consists of Ravenwood and Franklin. They will now be playing against Mt. Juliet, Antioch, McGavok, Wilson Central, Lebanon and Overton. The travel for this group is not impacted greatly. However, the gates receipts will decrease some.
We had a proposal that Bryan True, our Representative on the TSSAA Board of Control, presented. It consisted of keeping all the WCS 5A teams (Brentwood, Centennial, Independence, Summit) together and traveling south to play Shelbyville, Columbia, Franklin County, Stewart’s Creek, Spring Hill and Lincoln County. The proposal was seconded but failed to pass at 5-4. The original plan is what the TSSAA went with and it is as follows:
Brentwood and Centennial are going to all Clarksville schools, which include Rossview, Northeast, West Creek, Clarksville High and Henry County. Summit and Independence would be in the southern region mentioned in the aforementioned group.
I felt that the TSSAA was going to protect Metro, Rutherford, and Montgomery Counties. We are perceived in a unusual way around the other districts, as if the travel and loss of gate money will not affect our programs. When in reality it will impact us significantly. We will be traveling through and past the Metro area to get to these schools on a Friday night. Our travel will be increased significantly.
In the 4A Group Page will now join Region 4 with Giles, Lawrence, Marshall, Spring Hill, and Tullahoma
In the 3A Group Fairview will join Region 6 with Camden, Cheatham Co., East Hickman, Harpeth, Stewart Co, and Sycamore.
WS: How hard will it be to keep some long standing rivalries going? i.e. Franklin- Brentwood, Battle of the Woods, Battle of Franklin, and where does Independence fall into playing “local”.
JQ : With the new alignment some of the teams will not get to play all of the other WCS schools. They will have to pick and choose which teams they will play for that year. I still see the Battle of the Woods between Ravenwood and Brentwood, Franklin vs. Centennial, Franklin vs. Brentwood all continue being played. Indy vs. Summit will eventually become a heated rival game. Coach Blade at Independence will want to play as many WCS schools as possible for competitive reasons to help his team get ready for the playoffs. We want to keep all the rivalry games intact.
WS: It seems to us here at WS that the biggest impact will be economically to many schools both at the gates and in concessions at home games, because to be honest many of these teams just don’t travel well, and also in the case of teams like Page and Fairview, there seems to be more travel involved. The same could also be said for Franklin, Centennial and Indy. Or are we just overthinking this?
JQ: The economic impact will be felt mostly with the 5A and 6A guys. The “Big 6” in WCS have averaged anywhere from $15,000-20,000 a gate based on who they were playing. The Clarksville teams do not travel well and our gates could potentially fall below $10,000. This money is crucial for all the athletic programs to stay afloat. The concessions go as the gate goes. On top of the fact is the travel expenses. It is 252 miles, round trip for Centennial to get to Henry County. Our overall average a trip doubled in this new alignment. Another problem is the busses themselves. Getting a bus and a driver pulled off a normal route is a problem at the times we are going to have to leave. We are currently looking for alternative plans for this problem.
The pros to the new alignment are: 1) We feel we can win in all regions, 2) Hypothetically we can win 4 State Championships
Cons: 1) Mileage, 2) Gate Receipts lost, 3) Lost money on concessions, 4) Not getting all WCS teams to play each other, 5) Transportation problems and time of arrival
Williamson Source would like to thank AD Qualls for his time and the TSSAA for their response. Watch tomorrow as we talk to Dr. Leigh Webb, Principal at Centennial High School.
What are your thoughts? Leave them in the comments below, we want to know.
