New Class, New Challenges Ahead For Simley Football Program

The football team will compete in a new class and new section next year—facing significantly larger schools in the process.

The Minnesota State High School League has added a seventh class to its high school football system. Under the new rules, the largest 32 schools in the state will play in Class 6A, with the next 48 largest playing in 5A and the next 48 playing in 4A. With an enrollment of 973 students, Simley fits into Class 5A. The Spartans will now compete in Section 5, 5A with East Ridge, Hastings, Henry Sibley, Saint Thomas Academy and Tartan.

This change will make Simley the smallest school in the section, based on enrollment, and the second smallest public school in all of Class 5A, according to  Minnesota State High School League enrollment statistics. Sartell-St. Stephens is the smallest 5A school with an enrollment of 962, followed by Simley (973), Austin (979) and Winona (997). Totino-Grace, a private school in Fridley, has an enrollment of 802 students but already opted up to Class 5A starting with the 2011 season.

Here is a look at the enrollment figures for football teams in Section 5, 5A:

• Tartan—1581
• East Ridge—1543
• Hastings—1452
• Henry Sibley—1201
• St. Thomas Academy—1066
• Simley—973

The Spartans finished 4-6 in 2011, defeating St. Louis Park 49-13 in the Section 3, 4A quarterfinals before losing to St. Thomas Academy in the section semifinals. The move to a larger class will provide another challenge for a Spartans program that showed great improvement under first-year head coach Rex King and staff.

"As far as what this means for the future of Simley football, nothing has changed for us," says King. "We still have the goal to play deep into the playoffs and play for a section title. This move does make it a little more difficult due to the fact every other school in our section is 25 percent larger than us, with the exception of St. Thomas. It is difficult based on the size of our school in comparison to the others, but the future is still bright."

Kevin Merkle, Associate Director with the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL), said that anytime there is reclassification there will be winners and losers.

"Some schools that were in the 1,300-1,600 enrollment range came out much better while those that were between 950-1,250 students now must face bigger schools," said Merkle. "However, those schools have been at the top of their class in recent years. Some schools were affected in each class, but overall in each class the enrollment difference from top to bottom is less than in the past."

Simley didn't have the option to stay in Class 4A, because the classification is based strictly on enrollment, unless over 50 percent of the school enrollment is on the free or reduced lunch program, said Merkle. In School District 199—which includes all schools, not just Simley—34 percent of students are on free or reduced lunch.

The Classic Suburban Conference will feature a unique mix of 4A, 5A and 6A teams next season. North Saint Paul, with an enrollment of 1,671, moved from 5A to the state's largest class, 6A. Tartan and Henry Sibley already competed in Class 5A, while South Saint Paul (768 students), Hill-Murray (705) and Richfield (928) all stayed in Class 4A. Mahtomedi (1,149), along with Simley and Saint Thomas Academy, were moved to 5A.

Merkle said reclassification is done every two years. The next time there will be new classifications of class and section assignments will be in March 2013. At that time, Merkle said, Simley could move back to 4A, but it all depends on enrollment figures.

King believes the Simley football program would benefit from staying in Class 4A, where they would face similar sized schools and football programs. But this won't stop King and his staff from developing the Simley football program to be as competitive as possible, no matter what class they are in or who they face, King said.

"I would prefer to stay in 4A," said King. "I feel that is the best place for our program to be competitive and on a level playing field. We should be in a section with schools like South St. Paul, Hill Murray and Holy Angels. But at the same time, there is not a single thing people or the state can do to stop us from getting better. We cannot worry about where they put us or what class we are in. We need to focus on playing a high caliber of football."

Related:

MSHSL 2012 Section Football Assignments