Lakeville's Football Teams Moving Up to New Football Class

When the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) announced it was going to implement a six class football system beginning in 2012, Lakeville North football coaches immediately did their homework.

The new Class 6A would consist of 32 schools that have the largest enrollments in the state. According to the MSHSL website, Lakeville South is No. 24 and North is No. 28.

“We just want to make sure everything is done right,” Panthers football coach Brian Vossen said. “We had some questions and the first one was how are they determining enrollment. Some schools may only be 10-12 for high school. We are 9-12, so are they taking that into consideration.”

Vossen said private schools that do not have high enrollments might be a factor in determining the 32 teams in Class 6A. He said most should opt up, if able to, including Cretin-Derham Hall.

“They should opt up, they’d be foolish not to,” he said. “They want to play with the best and have shown that they can, so I think that has to be taken into consideration. If they want to opt up, does school No. 32 on the list have the option of moving down?”

Another factor that is unclear is if the enrollment figures that are current will be the final decision for the new class in 2012. According to Vossen that has not been stated yet.

With schools near the bottom of the future Class 6A, enrollment numbers are tight and interchangeable. They could shift easily prior to the start of the football season in 2012.

“We want to know if the numbers are set right now,” Vossen said. “What is going to happen down the road? Everything happens so quick that we just want to know that it was done right.”

Overall, Vossen said the new class will be good for the game, except for the lack of teams in Class 6A.

“I look at the list and think that 6A is a good idea,” he said. “But I don’t believe there are enough big schools for it to make a difference. Maybe the top nine schools on the list could be argued to have an advantage having 2,400-plus students, but everyone below that is in a pretty fair playing field.”

The Panthers rival Lakeville South is also in Class 6A according to the enrollment figures posted by the MSHSL. It is 24th on the list with 1,774 students, just more than Lakeville North’s 1,771.

South football Coach Larry Thompson said there isn’t going to be much change, because his team plays against the big schools anyways.

“Not much difference at all,” he said. “On our schedule, we play those teams anyways.”

He said he does hope the MSHSL allows private schools to opt up if they want.

“If given the opportunity, I hope they opt up,” Thompson said. “If they stay down, they are just going to win all the titles and not give other teams a chance.”