By Keith McShea
Here's some more information to follow up on a note in my Prep Talk column Thursday and Wednesday night's video and chat:
The following is the breakdown of the proposed division alignment for 2013 Section VI football (emphasis on proposed: this is not final and needs to be approved by two Section VI committees):
Class AA: Niagara Falls, Lancaster, Frontier, Clarence, Orchard Park, Lockport, Jamestown, Kenmore West and West Seneca West.
A North: Niagara-Wheatfield, North Tonawanda, Sweet Home, Grand Island, Kenmore East, Starpoint.
A South: Hutch-Tech (w/Emerson), Hamburg, South Park (w/OTC), West Seneca East, Iroquois, Lake Shore.
A Central: Williamsville North, Riverside (w/I-Prep, Lafayette, daVinci), Williamsville East, McKinley, Williamsville South, East (w/City Honors, Buffalo Arts).
B North: Amherst, Cheektowaga, Lew-Port, Bennett (w/Olmsted), Maryvale, Albion, Burgard (w/MST Seneca), Newfane, Medina.
B South: Pioneer, Springville, East Aurora, Olean, Dunkirk, Depew, Alden, Eden.
C North: Barker/Roy-Hart, Tonawanda, Lackawanna, Wilson, JFK, Akron, Cleveleand Hill
C South: Fredonia, Southwestern, Falconer, Gowanda, Salamanca, Allegany-Limestone, Silver Creek/Forestville.
D: Maple Grove/Chautauqua Lake, Cassadaga Valley, Cattaraugus/Little Valley, Westfield/Brocton, Portville, Randolph, Ellicottville/West Valley
DD: Frewsburg, Franklinville, Panama, Pine Valley, Sherman/Ripley, Clymer.
Nonleague public-private games for 2013 (again, pending approval of the divisional lineup):
* St. Mary's will be playing East and Hutch-Tech.
* Cardinal O'Hara will be playing South Park and Eden.
* Bishop Timon-St. Jude will play Riverside and Williamsville South (at home, returning favor from last year's opener at South)
* And the big one is: St. Joe's vs. Clarence.
A more complete explanation of why combined teams (like three city schools) would be moving down in classification:
A new rule was passed in January regarding teams which were a result of combined programs, and the change has led to some teams' total enrollment number being lower than before. The new rule put in place a graduated system in determining the enrollment of combined teams. The largest school in the partnership has all of its enrollment counted; to that is added a percentage of the other school’s enrollment, based on classification: for AA schools it is 50 percent, A (40), B (30), C (30) and D (20).
The new guideline’s effect has led to teams like Riverside, Hutch-Tech (now in Class A) and Bennett (now in B) — all which have smaller city schools as part of their football programs — dropping down in class. The rule also has the Barker/Roy-Hart team going from Class A to C. East, which will combine with City Honors and Buffalo Arts, would move up from B to A. Maple Grove and Chautauqua Lake -- which were planning to combine programs well before this new rule was put in place -- would be a C in the old system; instead, their combined team (somewhat astonishingly) remains in Class D.
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