Five schools from Southern Arizona are appealing down from their initial conference placement for football and two are appealing to move up to a higher conference:
APPEALING DOWN
Benson 3A to 2A
Cholla 5A to 4A
Palo Verde 4A to 3A
Rincon/UHS 5A to 4A
Salpointe 6A to 5A
APPEALING UP
Rio Rico 3A to 4A
Sahuarita 3A to 4A
LINK: FULL LIST OF APPEALS
LINK: INITIAL FOOTBALL PLACEMENTS
LINK: SPORT PLACEMENTS
The placements for all other sports have already been decided and the actual schedules for those sports are being generated now. Football is separated from that process and teams had until Dec. 21, 2021 to appeal their initial placements.
The AIA Executive Board will hear and rule on the football appeals on Jan. 18 and the final conference placements will be posted following the decisions by the board that day.
The conferences will then meet and formulate regions with a deadline of Jan. 25. Programs can then appeal their initial region placements by Feb. 8. The AIA executive board will hear and vote on region appeals on Feb. 22 and the football schedules will go live on March 17.
Historically, teams appealing up have met with favorable responses while teams appealing down have not but each situation is unique. Although reasons are not made public until the appeals are heard, travel expenses, success, loss of coach and seniors plus historic rivalries lost might be some of the reasons given or the reasons might be totally different.
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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014, he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017, a 2019 AZ Education News award winner and he has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. He was the first in Arizona to write about high school beach volleyball and high school girls wrestling. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy is the Southern Arizona voting member of the Ed Doherty Award, recognizing the top football player in Arizona, and he was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Andy was named an Honorary Flowing Wells Caballero in 2019, became a member of the Sunnyside Los Mezquites Cross Country Hall of Fame in 2021 and he was a member of the Amphi COVID-19 Blue Ribbon Committee and he earned a Distinguished Service Award from Amphitheater. Contact Andy Morales at amoralesmytucson@yahoo.com
