Reclassifying 4A football

I thought this was interesting and could see it both being a positive and a negative. Curious to see what all the opinions are.

https://whotv.com/2019/07/18/coache...as-factor-for-classifying-schools-for-sports/


4A definitely needs a split. In the past 25 years the small end is getting smaller and the top end schools are getting larger or exploding.

Is it possible to ever convince the DSM burb schools they'll have to travel to Cedar Falls/Rapids/IC? Probably not.

But the enrollment spread alone now in 4A definitely supports a 5A/superclass. And throwing in some other variables is likely necessary to split them up properly.
 
4A definitely needs a split. In the past 25 years the small end is getting smaller and the top end schools are getting larger or exploding.

Is it possible to ever convince the DSM burb schools they'll have to travel to Cedar Falls/Rapids/IC? Probably not.

But the enrollment spread that exists now in 4A definitely supports a 5A/superclass.

I don't think you can go straight enrollment. There has to be another factor.

The following schools are in the Top 30 (over 1000 students 9-11) and they don't compete now and would get worse if you shrunk it down.
3-Des Moines Lincoln
6-Des Moines East
8-Des Moines Roosevelt
10-Waterloo West
11-Dubuque Hempstead
16-Cedar Rapids Jefferson
17-Davenport West
18-Sioux City North
21-Dubuque Senior
22-Davenport Central
24-Des Moines North
25-Marshalltown
26-Sioux City East
 
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Can anyone compile a list of what schools should probably be 5A?

The Sabers Proposal splits it into 8 classes plus 8 man.

The top Class would only have 16 teams. 8 East. 8 West

East-
Bettendorf
Cedar Falls
CR Kennedy
CR Prairie
CR Xavier
Iowa City High
Iowa City West
Linn Mar or Pleasant Valley

West-
Dowling
Valley
SE Polk
Ankeny
Ankeny Centennial
Waukee
Ames
Johnston
 
The Sabers Proposal splits it into 8 classes plus 8 man.

The top Class would only have 16 teams. 8 East. 8 West

East-
Bettendorf
Cedar Falls
CR Kennedy
CR Prairie
CR Xavier
Iowa City High
Iowa City West
Linn Mar or Pleasant Valley

West-
Dowling
Valley
SE Polk
Ankeny
Ankeny Centennial
Waukee
Ames
Johnston

9 classes for football?
 
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I don't think you can go straight enrollment. There has to be another factor.

The following schools are in the Top 30 (over 1000 students 9-11) and they don't compete now and would get worse if you shrunk it down.
3-Des Moines Lincoln
6-Des Moines East
8-Des Moines Roosevelt
10-Waterloo West
11-Dubuque Hempstead
16-Cedar Rapids Jefferson
17-Davenport West
18-Sioux City North
21-Dubuque Senior
22-Davenport Central
24-Des Moines North
25-Marshalltown
26-Sioux City East

Right, I agree.

But a lot of the backlash to the free/reduced lunch plan seems to be "just suck it up" and "want to play in the top conference."

I just think it's easier to start by showing some folks that 4A has stretched itself into a range that should be multiple classes to begin with and then hash it out from there.

Becuase yeah, if you split it right down the middle on enrollement alone, Dowling wouldn't make the top class.
 
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The Sabers Proposal splits it into 8 classes plus 8 man.

The top Class would only have 16 teams. 8 East. 8 West

East-
Bettendorf
Cedar Falls
CR Kennedy
CR Prairie
CR Xavier
Iowa City High
Iowa City West
Linn Mar or Pleasant Valley

West-
Dowling
Valley
SE Polk,
Ankeny
Ankeny Centennial
Waukee
Ames
Johnston

Why does it say "Linn-Mar or Pleasant Valley"? Linn-Mar should definitely be included, they are huge and have tons of money.

Kick Dowling and Xavier out IMO.... keep it all public.
 
The Sabers Proposal splits it into 8 classes plus 8 man.

The top Class would only have 16 teams. 8 East. 8 West

East-
Bettendorf
Cedar Falls
CR Kennedy
CR Prairie
CR Xavier
Iowa City High
Iowa City West
Linn Mar or Pleasant Valley

West-
Dowling
Valley
SE Polk
Ankeny
Ankeny Centennial
Waukee
Ames
Johnston
Forgot about crwash
 
When DCG and Norwalk get to the largest class then the Suburban League can be formed.

Waukee
Waukee NW
Ankeny
Ankeny Cent
WDM valley
WDM Dowling
Johnston
SE Polk
DCG
Norwalk
Urbandale
Ames

possibly North Polk in the future to expand the media footprint to the north.
 
Last edited:
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When DCG and Norwalk get to the largest class then the Suburban League can be formed.

Waukee
Waukee NW
Ankeny
Ankeny Cent
WDM valley
WDM Dowling
Johnston
SE Polk
DCG
Norwalk

possibly Ames & North Polk in the future to expand the media footprint to the north.

No Urbandale?

Regardless has nothing to do with district football.
 
Completely in favor of dramatically reducing the size of class 4A football. There's very little competition week to week. Some of these schools don't stand a chance and there's no point in playing the games
 
No Urbandale?

Regardless has nothing to do with district football.

Good catch. Forgot Urbandale. So add Urbandale and Ames and you have 12. North Polk would probably be the next man in or Ankeny or Waukee HS #3.

The DSM burbs schools aren’t traveling anywhere in this setup.
 

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