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By Jed Blackwell
Sports Editor
Four local schools will change regions and nearly every area team will be affected under a proposed realignment plan released by the South Carolina High School League last week.
Spartanburg will move from its’ traditional home in Region II-4A to Region III-4A, while the old Region II-2A will be no more, with Chesnee moving to Region I-2A while Broome and Woodruff move to Region III-2A.
The league’s Executive Committee has approved the proposal, which would be in effect for the 2010-2012 school years.
Spartanburg’s new region would include Gaffney, Clover, Northwestern, Lancaster and Rock Hill.
Region II-4A would still include local teams Byrnes, Dorman and Boiling Springs, with Hillcrest, Mauldin, J.L. Mann and Riverside rounding out the region.
Spartanburg athletic director Myles Wilson said he was unhappy with the decision.
“We’re disappointed for several reasons,” he said. “We like the in-county competition and rivalry, not just with Dorman but with Byrnes and Boiling Springs as well. Most of the time, in almost every sport, our games were for playoff position, or to knock one another out of the playoffs. There was something at stake. And to me, as an athletic director, that meant more excitement and more money at the gate.”
Wilson also said the financial implications of the move would be huge for the Vikings.
“There will be an impact, both in attendance and travel,” he said. “Our travel will double. We’ll have increased food costs, because we’ll have longer road trips and we’ll have to stop and feed them on the way home instead of just coming back from an in-county school.”
While separating Spartanburg from the other county 4A schools would affect some traditional rivalries, the local team perhaps most affected by the proposal is Chesnee. Woodruff and Broome would move together to Region III-2A, which would also include Emerald, Mid-Carolina, Newberry and Saluda.
Chesnee would be placed in Region I-2A, which includes Carolina, Crescent, Liberty, Palmetto, and Pendleton.
“It’s absolutely the worst-case scenario for us,” Chesnee athletic director Bill Price said. “It couldn’t have come out any worse for us. Our closest region game is 50 miles away.”
Price said that aside from splitting up traditional county and region rivalries with Broome and Woodruff, the move will have a tremendous impact on his program’s gate receipts and travel costs.
“Those teams won’t draw over here, and I’m sure that we won’t draw over there,” he said. “It’s 95 miles to Crescent. It’s 85 to Liberty. What they’ve effectively done is halved our gate and doubled our travel. We paid over $15,000 in travel last year, and I’m sure it will double. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
There is another step, as schools may appeal the league’s decision in writing by August 14. All appeals will be heard on August 27. Still, Price is not hopeful.
“The way the appeals process works, you have to go down there and have it all figured out,” he said. “You have to give them a solution, or you’re stuck with what you’re given.”
Price said one such solution could be a swap with Emerald.
“We’ve contacted Emerald,” Price said. “If they’ll agree to trade places with us, we might could get it changed. If not, there’s no hope, and we’ll just have to deal with it.”
No local 3A schools were assigned to new regions, but Region III-3A will now include Chapin along with Blue Ridge, Chapman, Clinton, Greer and Union County.
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