Williams High School sports teams move to 1A conference next year
New conference will allow Vikings to compete with similar size schools and will involve less travel
WILLIAMS, Ariz. - As the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) prepares to draw up the 2016 varsity football schedules for its member high schools, it's worth noting how the recent conference/region realignment will impact Williams and other northern Arizona programs.
On Dec. 8, the AIA executive board finalized the new regions for its 267 member schools for the 2016-18 scheduling block, shifting from the division/section format established in 2011 to a reconstituted classification/region system.
Williams, Ash Fork, Seligman and Grand agreed to their region placements, although nearby Mayer filed a minor appeal (see graphic). Mayer's request to move all of its sports, except football, from Class 1A West to the 1A Central was ratified.
Classes in the realignment go in descending order based on enrollment, from the highest-end 6A to the lowest-end 1A.
According to Williams High School athletic director Phillip Echeverria, Williams is now in the central region of 1A schools. They will join Ash Fork, Seligman, Grand Canyon, Basis-Flagstaff, Joseph City, Mogollon, Cibecue and Mayer.
"If you were at a thousand (students) or below you were a 1a, 2a, or 3a school," Echeverria said. "All the region chairs and region presidents got together and split the conferences up. We put 40 percent in 1a, 30 percent in the 2a and 30 percent in the 3a."
Echeverria said the AIA used a computer previously to organize the region set up, but many school athletic directors and region chairs were unhappy with the automatic placements.
"I'm excited about our conference," Echeverria said. "We divided the 1a conference into five regions. This year's travel has been horrendous for us and will be bad for baseball and softball this spring. I feel bad for the kids
Echeverria is the region coordinator and currently represents about 16 schools in the north. He is in charge of scheduling and hopes to help schools decrease the travel distance to compete.
"We want to avoid those late nights during the week," Echeverria said. "We'll avoid all that this next two year block. I'm on the scheduling committee. I make the schedule so I'll have a lot more control."
Echeverria said he is excited for the new region selections. He said Williams has been in the 2A conference for several years competing against schools with much higher enrollments.
"It will put as at a competitive balance where we have about the same number of kids as the schools we're playing," he said.
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