| LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE IN NSAA RULES AND REGULATIONS | ||||
| Title: | 8 Man Football: Eligibility Number (55) -- Classification Structure & Playoffs | |||
| Author: | David Schmit | |||
| School: | Twin River | |||
| NSAA District: | 2 | |||
| Proposal for: | Activities Manual | |||
| Classes Affected: | Class D | |||
| Activities Affected: | Football | |||
| This proposal: | WILL increase costs to the school WILL increase costs to the NSAA WILL NOT increase travel for participating schools WILL NOT decrease a student's or coach's instruction time | |||
| Implementation date: | 2026-08-01 | |||
| Sections affected in Activities Manual: | Page Football Manual Pg. 26 Football Manual Pg. 27 Football Manual Pg. 27-28 Football Manual Pg. 51-56 | Article | Section Classifications Classifications Boy Enrollment for Football 8-Man Playoffs | |
| Summary: | This proposal has two major components that would affect the classification and playoff structure of 8-man football. First, this proposal would move the eligibility number for 8-man football to 55 boys in the three-grade count. Currently, that number sits at 47. Second, this proposal would change the 8-man classification structure from a two-class division to a three-class division. 8-man teams would be classified in one of three classes (D1, D2, or D3). | |||
| Rationale: | For years, we have dealt with the issue of having 8-man football teams ineligible due to their enrollment. The move to 55 would help us get closer in line with what neighboring states with 8-man football use. Kansas allows schools with 99 boys in 4 grades (similar to 75 boys in our situation) play 8-man football. Iowa allows for schools with 120 students (60 boys with a 50/50 split) to participate in 8-man football. By moving to 55, we'd at least be getting close to what our neighbors use for a number to determine who can play 8-man football. The move to the number 55 would be beneficial for a couple of reasons: #1 -- It would help those schools who have struggled through ineligibility because they were just over the 8-man number, but had 8-man participation rates. In most of these cases, these are schools who don't get a lot of kids out, and who cannot play 11-man football on their own. #2 -- It would help those schools who want to co-op. I am aware of a couple of situations where struggling 8-man programs wanted to explore options with their 8-man neighbors, but immediately shut down talks when they realize that adding their enrollments together would put them into 11-man or as an 8-man ineligible. Currently, our classifications with schools participating in each class looks like this: Class A -- 31 teams Class B -- 26 teams Class C1 -- 38 teams Class C2 -- 36 teams Class D1 -- 61 teams Class D2 -- 54 teams Class D6 -- 34 teams 8-man football classes are significantly larger than those of 11-man and 6-man. This proposal would move 8-man football to three-classes. All teams who are playoff eligible would be divided into equal 1/3s to create the classes. If the number does not divide out equally, the first extra team would go into D3 (and if applicable, the second extra team would go into D2). All ineligible teams would remain in D1, and they would not be added to the class until the splitting of the playoff eligible teams has occurred. ***EXAMPLE: 115 eligible teams playing 8-man, 2 ineligible: D1 -- 40 teams (38 eligible, 2 ineligible), D2 - 38 teams, D3 -- 39 teams (they get the extra one that is not evenly split) In the new three-class 8-man system, all teams would be play 9 regular season games, and the playoffs would move to 16 teams in each of the three classes.. This would align with the current structure of both 11-man and 6-man football. All playoff games could be played on Friday nights. In terms of bonus points and playing across classes, teams would get 1 bonus point for playing up a division and 2 bonus points for playing up two divisions. Every effort should be made to schedule teams within classes against each other, but our geography may require that a D1 play a D3 because of a lack of available teams in an area. | |||
| Pros: | Gets us in line with neighboring states' number for 8-man classification *Could create more co-op opportunities for small 8-man schools who need help *Should help reduce ineligible teams, while also giving the smallest 8-man schools a division to compete against like-sized schools *Gives all 8-man teams a 9th regular season game *All playoff games move to Friday nights *Creates equity in class sizes and playoff structures across all divisions of football (6-man, 8-man, 11-man) | |||
| Cons: | *Could shrink the sizes of Classes C1/C2 if newly eligible teams decide to move down to 8-man *Would add a championship game to the current football finals schedule *Would require an additional set of medals and trophies | |||