The 2019 NHIAA Football Season is over, champions have been crowned and it’s time to discuss the 2020 season and something some people may not want to think about.
In New Hampshire, the state’s 58 high school football teams are divided into four divisions dependent upon school enrollment. However, seven of those teams play in divisions not consistent with the predetermined enrollment levels set by the NHIAA’s guidelines following approval by the NHIAA’s Classification Committee.
In situations like the cases of Bishop Guertin in Division I and Trinity in Division III, the Classification Committee has wisely chosen to provide exceptions to those enrollment guidelines and with certain schools, it might make sense to automatically move schools from one division to another whether they file a petition or not.
Alvirne was moribund in Division I but found a rebirth in Division II in 2018. Earlier this decade it was clear that Campbell had outgrown Division IV and was a better fit in Division III. It’s clear from this week that Trinity has found its niche in Division III after arising like a phoenix from oblivion in 2017 after it was clear that Division II did not make sense for them.
There are several other teams like this that probably should move to another division up or down for their own sake. Manchester Memorial immediately comes to mind, with their win against Timberlane earlier this year being their only win over the past five years. But they’re not the only perennial cellar-dweller that could become the next Alvirne or Trinity and a case could probably be made that there is another Campbell out there that would be better challenged by facing opponents that are stronger tests for their skill level.
In high school sports, winning and losing is subordinate to player safety and teaching life lessons that players can use for their rest of their lives. I’ve heard people say that promotion and relegation teaches the wrong lesson to these kids and I can’t agree with that.
What lesson is taught when a kid does their best and loses every single game they play outside of perhaps the tenacity of not quitting altogether? Wouldn’t they learn more from occasional success against foes comparable to themselves? The same goes for players stuck playing against opponents proven to be inferior to themselves. At best, the lesson there is that no matter how hard you try, there is a ceiling in life one cannot overcome. At worse, the subconscious lesson is that despite what adults say about bullying, in certain situations bullying isn’t such a big deal; ultimately, when someone stronger continually has their way against someone who is weaker, it’s hard to classify that as anything else.
I don’t know what the parameters would be for promotion or relegation and it’s probably appropriate in most circumstances to make sure any such decisions don’t come off the impressions of just one season. A team’s composite record from several seasons, combined with several other factors such as roster size, geography and home field facilities would likely need to be taken into account and paired the same data from other teams ready to take their place in their division.
But whatever the parameters are, the process of transitioning between divisions should become one that is automatic depending on the circumstances teams are facing.
