- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,135,650
- Reaction score
- 59
Last Thursday, the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) did away with the Rural Class – for now.
The association decided to pause the class for two seasons in the wake of a staggering number of teams jumping to the Sunshine State Athletic Association (SSAA). This left just 14 teams in the Rural class for next season, so the FHSAA decided to move those teams to Class 1A. This creates a classification of about 50 schools.
The coaches at SSAA schools remain committed to the association, despite new FHSAA restrictions announced at the same meeting.
What about the coaches who stayed in Rural? We spoke to the four Gainesville-area programs who will be jumping from Rural to 1A – Williston, Hawthorne, Chiefland and Fort White.
The unanimous consensus from all four: They are happy to still be in the FHSAA and ready for the new step up in competition.
This was expressed most vehemently from Hawthorne AD Greg Bowie. The Hornets still don’t have a coach in the wake of Cornelius Ingram’s resignation, but that doesn’t impact Bowie.
Nor should it. The Hornets advanced to six straight state championship games and won three of four. Last season, when a “weaker” Hawthorne squad won a state title, it defeated University Christian on the road – the top seed in Class 1A-Region 1.
If anything, Bowie said the Hornets relish it to “shake things up” given the long success.
“Not saying a Hawthorne-Madison County game ever gets old, but it will be nice to see some new teams,” Bowie said.
A similar view came from Cliff Harrell at Chiefland. The Indians seriously considered a move to the SSAA given how many tri-county schools jumped to the new league, but he wants his Indians to face the best. That means staying in Rural – the classification it finished in the top four in 2025.
“If I got a good football team, I want to play against the best,” Harrell said. “We felt like last year we got a pretty daggum good football team, and we could play with anyone in our classification.”
Demetric Jackson knows the step-up will be tough for his Fort White squad, which missed the postseason in 2025. But he’s excited for districts to return. Districts and even regions were gone for the last two seasons. This led to a move balanced and entertaining postseason, but it took away two possible championships for a team.
“The only banner you can hang in your gym is for a state championship,” Jackson said. “I think it’s important for our kids to be winners at something. You get the chance to win a district championship. That means something for your psyche.”
Harrell echoed that sentiment. He wants his team to fight for state championships, but other crowns matter as well.
“I like having another thing to fight for during the season besides one game in December,” Harrell said. “Your typical public school isn’t good every year, but it’s nice for them to fight for something.”
The other advantage comes in scheduling. All four teams were forced in recent years to travel far for games or play schools in bigger classifications. No team suffered more from that than Hawthorne, which were forced to schedule a home-and-home with Class 6A force Oakleaf and travel to Melbourne Central Catholic. And the Hornets played just eight games in 2025.
Districts give teams certainty with schedules.
New Williston coach Cedderick Daniels spent years as Hawthorne’s defensive coordinator and got a firsthand look at that.
“Last year at Hawthorne, we played eight playoff teams and no teams in our classification because no teams wanted to play us,” Daniels said. “You put us in a district. We only have to make a six game schedule instead of 10.”
Jackson expressed this sentiment most strongly. As AD, he’s seen traditional rivalries with Branford and Trenton die in football but remain alive and well in sports like softball – where those two programs are strong.
“You want to opt out and go to the SSAA because of competitive advantage? I have a problem with that,” Jackson said. “You’re beating teams in softball 21-0 in the first inning…where is the competitive advantage in that?”
Hawthorne seems to be the brunt of complaints from the SSAA that doesn’t operate in the best faith regarding recruiting. Bowie said every school accepts students who want to go there, and kids want to go to Hawthorne.
“You want to check boxes as a high school player, and we’ve been able to play against tough competition, win state titles and sent kids to college,” Bowie said.
The new Class 1A districts will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: FHSAA Rural coaches excited for move up to Class 1A, return of districts
Continue reading...
The association decided to pause the class for two seasons in the wake of a staggering number of teams jumping to the Sunshine State Athletic Association (SSAA). This left just 14 teams in the Rural class for next season, so the FHSAA decided to move those teams to Class 1A. This creates a classification of about 50 schools.
The coaches at SSAA schools remain committed to the association, despite new FHSAA restrictions announced at the same meeting.
What about the coaches who stayed in Rural? We spoke to the four Gainesville-area programs who will be jumping from Rural to 1A – Williston, Hawthorne, Chiefland and Fort White.
The unanimous consensus from all four: They are happy to still be in the FHSAA and ready for the new step up in competition.
Not phased by the new competition
This was expressed most vehemently from Hawthorne AD Greg Bowie. The Hornets still don’t have a coach in the wake of Cornelius Ingram’s resignation, but that doesn’t impact Bowie.
Nor should it. The Hornets advanced to six straight state championship games and won three of four. Last season, when a “weaker” Hawthorne squad won a state title, it defeated University Christian on the road – the top seed in Class 1A-Region 1.
If anything, Bowie said the Hornets relish it to “shake things up” given the long success.
“Not saying a Hawthorne-Madison County game ever gets old, but it will be nice to see some new teams,” Bowie said.
A similar view came from Cliff Harrell at Chiefland. The Indians seriously considered a move to the SSAA given how many tri-county schools jumped to the new league, but he wants his Indians to face the best. That means staying in Rural – the classification it finished in the top four in 2025.
“If I got a good football team, I want to play against the best,” Harrell said. “We felt like last year we got a pretty daggum good football team, and we could play with anyone in our classification.”
You must be registered for see images
Excited for the return of district play
Demetric Jackson knows the step-up will be tough for his Fort White squad, which missed the postseason in 2025. But he’s excited for districts to return. Districts and even regions were gone for the last two seasons. This led to a move balanced and entertaining postseason, but it took away two possible championships for a team.
“The only banner you can hang in your gym is for a state championship,” Jackson said. “I think it’s important for our kids to be winners at something. You get the chance to win a district championship. That means something for your psyche.”
Harrell echoed that sentiment. He wants his team to fight for state championships, but other crowns matter as well.
“I like having another thing to fight for during the season besides one game in December,” Harrell said. “Your typical public school isn’t good every year, but it’s nice for them to fight for something.”
The other advantage comes in scheduling. All four teams were forced in recent years to travel far for games or play schools in bigger classifications. No team suffered more from that than Hawthorne, which were forced to schedule a home-and-home with Class 6A force Oakleaf and travel to Melbourne Central Catholic. And the Hornets played just eight games in 2025.
Districts give teams certainty with schedules.
New Williston coach Cedderick Daniels spent years as Hawthorne’s defensive coordinator and got a firsthand look at that.
You must be registered for see images
“Last year at Hawthorne, we played eight playoff teams and no teams in our classification because no teams wanted to play us,” Daniels said. “You put us in a district. We only have to make a six game schedule instead of 10.”
SSAA teams taking easy way out
Jackson expressed this sentiment most strongly. As AD, he’s seen traditional rivalries with Branford and Trenton die in football but remain alive and well in sports like softball – where those two programs are strong.
“You want to opt out and go to the SSAA because of competitive advantage? I have a problem with that,” Jackson said. “You’re beating teams in softball 21-0 in the first inning…where is the competitive advantage in that?”
Hawthorne seems to be the brunt of complaints from the SSAA that doesn’t operate in the best faith regarding recruiting. Bowie said every school accepts students who want to go there, and kids want to go to Hawthorne.
“You want to check boxes as a high school player, and we’ve been able to play against tough competition, win state titles and sent kids to college,” Bowie said.
The new Class 1A districts will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: FHSAA Rural coaches excited for move up to Class 1A, return of districts
Continue reading...
