2023-2024 Football Realignment

**Runcible Owl** · January 18, 2023

13 minutes ago, REALSPORT said:

Is there another district with less travel involved than the 36th District ? - Bellevue, Dayton, Newport, Newport Central Catholic. How nice is it that they can almost walk to each other's fields?

😁 Fixed. Is there another football district that resembles it's basketball one this closely?

**theguru** · January 18, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JAN. 18, 2023

The KHSAA Board of Control conducted its fourth regularly scheduled meeting of the 2022-23 academic year on Wednesday in Lexington, approving football realignment and revisions to the RPI calculations, as well as the placement of Jenkins in Region 14 for basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball.

The Board’s approved football realignment will be effective during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. The current enrollment data used for the 2023 and 2024 classifications are from the 2019-20 and 2022-23 school years. Following significant discussion, the Board elected to adopt a two-year alignment so that the realignment process could begin anew next year (in conjunction with the receipt of fall 2023 enrollment numbers) to allow completion by February 2024, giving schools more than one year to resolve scheduling issues for 2025 and beyond.

The Board approved the recommendation for football RPI calculations to allow for two “down-play” games. This will permit each team’s first two games played against an opponent from a lower class not to include the class factor, allowing even the perception of RPI impact not to impact scheduling. The RPI factor of out-of-state opponents remains unchanged for the 2023 football season. The Board also elected to adjust football RPI calculations regarding the withdrawal of teams from competition. The RPI class factor will stay the same for any school that withdraws during the season at the level of that team when game contracts were signed (rather than defaulting to a no-class factor if a team withdraws).

The Board approved Jenkins’ request to relocate from Region 15 to Region 14, which was unanimously supported by members of both regions. Starting with the 2023-24 school year, Jenkins will be placed in Region 14, District 53, for basketball and all sports that use basketball alignment as a framework (baseball, softball, volleyball).

**Ram** · January 19, 2023

Wow. Paintsville, Pikeville and Hazard in the same district. Three of the, commonly, top 4 teams are in the same district. Just wow.

**theguru** · January 19, 2023

Here is the latest from Nate Bryan:

**Hearsay** · January 19, 2023

Bardstown's David Clark had the crystal ball working.

**Runcible Owl** · January 22, 2023

Dominos falling ...

Nate Bryan posted a letter from Meade County AD Todd Clanton to the KHSAA. It highlights the consequences to one school being dictated by the preferences of other schools.

H/T @NateInSports

**FootballBobcat** · January 25, 2023

Class 5A-D5 has a lot of travel coming up. I do believe it will be a very competitive district. I think it will be a much tougher district schedule for South Oldham. I don’t like the travel but think the Dragons playing a tougher schedule will make the program better in the long run.

**Down4theblue** · January 25, 2023

1 hour ago, FootballBobcat said:

Class 5A-D5 has a lot of travel coming up. I do believe it will be a very competitive district. I think it will be a much tougher district schedule for South Oldham. I don’t like the travel but think the Dragons playing a tougher schedule will make the program better in the long run.

Well it’s not crazy for South Oldham to to Play with Anderson, Collins, & Woodford, who are in the same region you are in with all other sports, and Scott Co who was in the 8th region for years.

Lots more travel for the folks in district 7. East & West Jess, to Madison Southern is close as the crow flys, but no easy way to get there. Even worse trying to get to Montgomery Co. But trust me if I’d rather travel and get some wins. That District is by far the weakest of the 8 in 5A.

Edited January 25, 2023 by theguru

**Colonels_Wear_Blue** · November 3, 2023

On 12/15/2022 at 9:29 AM, Runcible Owl said:

That rivalry goes way back to the start of Beechwood's program under Coach McNabb - when Beechwood's field was nicknamed "The Swamp," and Lloyd HS was located in what is now Tichenor MS.

In the before times, only four NKY schools west of the Licking River were playing football - Holmes, Dixie Heights, Ludlow, and Lloyd Memorial.

On 12/15/2022 at 9:42 AM, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

I was told once that Beechwood's original field was located between Highland Avenue and Silver Avenue...essentially behind the current Ft. Mitchell City Building. I can confirm from growing up a street over on Idaho Avenue that the backyards of the houses in that location do naturally form a sort of a natural bowl.

If it was actually there, it most certainly wouldn't have drained well either....which could explain for the nickname "The Swamp."

On 12/15/2022 at 11:23 AM, Jason Bucklen said:

I was told that Beechwood’s field was once a lake before they drained it so I that why they called it the swamp?

On 1/10/2023 at 9:59 AM, Runcible Owl said:

Sorry I overlooked these. Not sure about the off campus location CWB though that makes sense in a way.

JB, you're pretty close I think. My dad picked up on it talking to fellow reporter Marty Kehoe. I've come across (and can't find it now) an archived article of the McNabb "as told to" Kehoe reference that mentioned the reclaimed area was once marshland. Think that area of undeveloped land that I-75 now runs through too was the dividing line between "South" Fort Mitchell and the country club side headed up towards Fort Wright.

Apologies to all for the side note detour.

So I recently came into some info about this...figured I'd go ahead and share it. @Jason Bucklen @Runcible Owl @Voice of Reason @Beechwoodfan @gbballfan21

So Beechwood had their first football season in 1944, with mostly JV games and only one varsity game. There was no field at Beechwood High School until the 1955 football season. In their first few seasons they played all road games, and then they began hosting home games primarily at Ludlow's and Holmes' stadiums. Beechwood's football teams practiced and a few times did host home games in a bind at a field called "Welling's Field," which was was located on Highland Avenue in South Fort Mitchell on property that was once a shallow lake, primarily on the property of Alvin Welling, who lived at 18 Highland Avenue. Welling, who was father to Major General Alvin Charles Welling, was known to his neighbors as "The Chief". The shallow, oftentimes swampy lake overflowed into a valley and creek, beginning where current-day Silver Lake/Stevens Lake is located at the end of Silver Avenue. The Chief had the lake bed graded to drain all of its water completely into the creek rather than holding any water, and eventually neighbors on Silver Avenue would build a dam to create Silver Lake/Stevens Lake.

Anyway, here's a picture of kids playing on Welling's Field, with a view of the Welling family's house in the background. (The house is still there.)

Here's an aerial view of the vicinity. The red pin is set on 18 Highland Avenue, the Welling house.

Looks like there were also a lot of softball games played on the field, among other games.

An October 6, 1955 snippet about Beechwood finally getting to play their first homecoming game at home because they had their field built just before the start of the '55 football season.