A local school district has announced a major change to the future of one of its athletic programs. Izard County has informed the Arkansas Activities Association of its intention to change from eight-man football to the traditional 11-man form of the game beginning in the fall of 2024.
The decision was made as group between the school board, the administration and the coaching staff. Izard County Superintendent Fred Walker says it came after the recent annual meeting of the AAA’s governing body.
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Proposal 7, passed by a vote of 145-44, will change a rule placing private schools into conferences after the public schools were divided up into classifications and conferences for football only. The new proposal caps conferences at eight teams and pushes public schools down to a smaller classification if necessary.
Proposal 8, passed by a vote of 172-19, changes the current format for competitive equity factor lookback for private school programs in football, volleyball, basketball, baseball, softball and soccer. Currently, the lookback is over a four-year period with 10 points or more being considered dominant. Under the new proposal, the lookback will be two years, and five points are considered dominant. If a private school team accrues enough points and is considered dominant, it would move up one classification.
Both proposals will take effect in the 2024-2025 school year. We’ll have more about the proposals passed by the governing body in a future newscast.
Izard County’s inaugural season of eight-man football came last year, and it ended with the Cougars winning the state championship. Walker says he and others believe this is a natural move, and they feel like they can compete on the 11-man level.
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Izard County will continue with eight-man football this fall. In the recently-released 2023 edition of Hooten’s Arkansas Football Magazine, the coaches selected the Cougars to repeat as state champions.
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