Lieutenant Gov. Will Ainsworth urged the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) on Sunday to reconsider their recent decision to separate public and private school playoff competition.
AHSAA announced on Friday that it was restructuring postseason athletics by splitting public and private school postseason competition.
The change was approved by a 13-2 vote by AHSAA central board members at a meeting on Friday morning. Public and private schools would still be able to compete against each other in regular-season play.
According to the Montgomery Advertiser, Ainsworth and AISA executive director Michael McClendon will join AHSAA private schools at a meeting on Friday at Faulkner University to discuss how to respond to the AHSAA board's recent actions.
Ainsworth said on Facebook on Sunday, "Alabama High School Athletic Association President Heath Harmon and his board announced a new classification system last week that was obviously not properly thought out, and immediately upon reading the proposal, words like 'unfair,' 'unsportsmanlike,' 'punitive,' and 'mean-spirited' came to my mind. It opens a never-ending maze of issues and problems, and my phone, texts, and emails have been flooded with messages of concern from coaches, school administrators, and parents in both public schools and private schools alike."
"Alabama will soon be one of only eight states in the nation that does not allow public and private schools to compete against each other," Ainsworth said. "I join countless others across the state in hopes that the AHSAA will reconsider its decision and adopt a plan that serves the interests of every school across the state, and not just the hand-picked few."
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