Sixth class added to football, success factor created

The Indiana High School Athletic Association made two significant changes to prep sports Friday.

The IHSAA’s executive committee voted to add a sixth class to football, while approving a two-year tournament success factor for football, basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball. The changes will take effect in the 2013-14 school year.

Since 1985, Indiana has operated its football state tournament with five classes. The current 5A will be split into two classes of 32 schools, with the largest schools (by total enrollment in grades 9-12) making up the new class 6A. Schools ranked 33-64 in enrollment will be 5A.

Under the setup, 5A and 6A schools will have a bye week during the first round of sectional play, while football classes A, 2A, 3A and 4A begin their normal six-week tournament format.

The move is in response to the disparity in size of the biggest and smallest schools in 5A. Ben Davis, the largest school in the state with 4,892 students, has three times as many students as the smallest 5A football school, Fort Wayne Wayne (1,582). School size from the upcoming 2012-13 school year will determine the new classifications, which will be announced this winter.

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