TSSAA Rejects Sullivan Central's Appeal

Sullivan Central High School athletic director Brandon Krantz had the decision – but hours afterward, he was still trying to determine what happened, and why everything went so wrong.

The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association on Wednesday declined Sullivan Central’s appeal to remain in Class 4A during the first day of the association’s two-day board of control meeting in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Krantz told board members Wednesday that Sullivan Central’s student enrollment was low enough to stay in Class 4A.

“They understood [us],” Krantz said Wednesday evening. “But the bottom line is, they said they did not want to set a precedent. So, therefore, they denied us.”

As a result, the Cougars will be moved up to play in Class 5A and compete in Division I, Class 3A – the premier classification category in high school sports in Tennessee – beginning in 2009.

“We presented our case and we had all of our documentation and our numbers … we presented the whole nine yards,” Krantz said. “And to be honest with you … I feel like we caught ‘em off guard, because they didn’t know how to come back to us, as far as an answer.”

Representatives for the TSSAA could not be reached by phone late Wednesday. A brief synopsis from the meeting made available on the organization’s Web site listed item No. 7 as, “Denied appeal of Sullivan Central regarding AAA classification.”

TSSAA executive director Ronnie Carter – who had expressed understanding of Sullivan’s Central situation, as well as the impact and dynamics of classification issues when contacted by phone last week – was not present Wednesday, because of family matters, Krantz said.

The TSSAA will meet again today to begin the final classification process of placing schools in districts and regions. The organization’s ruling will affect Tennessee high school athletic classification from 2009-13.

New opponents

Sullivan Central now will most likely have to compete in regular-season conference play against much-larger and better-funded schools such as Dobyns-Bennett and Science Hill.

“That’s the downside of this whole new classification system. We’ve got to do the same thing,” said Tennessee High football coach Greg Stubbs, whose team also will be moved up to Class 5A next season. “That’s the way it is sometimes, you know? I don’t agree with the new classification. I don’t believe we’re a 6A classification state. … But it’s done. So I’m accepting it, and I’m moving on.”

The Cougars, however, should have a much tougher time moving on.

Central is just 7-43 since 2004, including an 0-10 record in 2006. And the Cougars’ 2-8 record this year featured several blowouts, including a 42-0 loss to Sullivan South on Oct. 3 and a 56-6 loss to Tennessee High on Oct. 24.

Yet the Cougars will now become the second-smallest school in the TSSAA’s premier classification.

By the numbers

At issue in the decision were the enrollment numbers.

The TSSAA listed Central’s student enrollment at 1,069 prior to Wednesday’s meeting. In contrast, D-B’s enrollment was placed at 1,942, while Science Hill’s was recorded at 2,158.

Furthermore, D-B’s football team, which contained 87 student-athletes on its 2008 varsity roster, was ranked as high as No. 2 in a regional Class 5A poll this season.

By comparison, the Cougars’ football team started the season with 48 players, and the roster was decimated by injuries.

Krantz said the TSSAA, which bases high school classification on student enrollment, fully accepted the evidence Sullivan Central presented regarding the enrollment numbers.

“They did acknowledge that they do understand that our numbers were 1,064 students,” Krantz said, even though the TSSAA calculated the higher enrollment. “And [their] quote was – and I’ve got witnesses with me here – ‘We don’t want to set here and listen to every school’s appeal, so we don’t want to set a precedent. So, therefore, we are denying you all your classification.”

Chattanooga Central High School, the largest school in Division 1, Class 2A under the TSSAA’s new classification system, has a student enrollment of 1,065.

Krantz said he believed the basis of the TSSAA’s decision, for which there is no further appeal, appeared to be that the organization did not want to invite further challenges.

No answer

Krantz estimated he and a group of Sullivan Central coaches and administrators were given around 30 minutes to state their case Wednesday, which was backed up with an information packet provided to TSSAA board of control members containing student enrollment numbers, among other items.

“They knew we were exactly right on our numbers,” he said. “We’d even submitted our numbers to the [Tennessee] Department of Education – they knew all of that.”

The TSSAA reportedly then followed Central’s statement with a series of clarification questions. Fred Kessler, TSSAA board of control member and Bolivar Central High School principal, led the TSSAA’s side of the appeal process.

Sullivan Central football coach Scott Nelson shared Krantz’s dejection.

“We’re disappointed in the process; the decision that was made,” Nelson said. “We feel like we had the evidence we needed.

“I feel like we didn’t really get an answer that we wanted or needed to justify their decision.”

Despite Wednesday’s result, Krantz vowed that Sullivan Central’s athletics program will carry on and attempt to compete against a new, higher level of competition.

“We’re going to move on. We have good athletes; we have good support; we have a great community,” Krantz said. “We will get through this. And we will have a good athletics program at Central. We just felt like we needed to [appeal] this for the best interest at the time for our community and our school.

“We will be competitive, and we will move on to have a successful program.”

btsmith@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2569

What’s next?

-- The TSSAA will meet today to begin the final classification process of placing schools in districts and regions.

-- The TSSAA’s ruling will affect high school athletic classification in Tennessee from 2009-13.

-- On the Web: Minutes from Wednesday’s board of control meeting – http://www.tssaa.org/boardminutes.pdf