ALA Queen Creek among 23 schools appealing AIA football conference placements
American Leadership Queen Creek is hoping to win an appeal with the Arizona Interscholastic Association after being moved up a conference in football for a third consecutive year.
The school has moved from 3A to 4A to 5A and now has been placed in the 6A Conference for the 2023 season, after reaching the eight-team Open Division playoffs each of the past two seasons -- out of 4A in 2021 and out of 5A in 2022.
"I just feel like we are moving too fast to have a real base of data over a period of a few years at 5A," head coach and Athletic Director Ty Detmer said. "Just feel like we need a little more time to see if success in 5A is sustainable, especially graduating 18 starters."
The Eagles lost in the Open quarterfinals the past two seasons, to Chandler Hamilton in 2021 and to eventual champion Chandler Basha in 2022.
ALA Queen Creek is among 23 schools appealing to move down from the conference the AIA has placed them in for fall 2023. One other school is appealing to move up a conference. That is Sahuarita, which is appealing to move up to 4A from its 3A placement.
The AIA Executive Board will make its decisions on the appeals on Jan. 17 at its next monthly meeting.
Others appealing include Phoenix Northwest Christian and Benjamin Franklin, both of which lost court cases to the AIA in 2020 when they were moved up from 3A and placed in 4A. Both schools have been playing in 4A since then. Both are appealing to move down to 3A after again being placed in 4A.
The AIA places schools every year in conferences based on success or the lack of success. The AIA looks at how the schools have done over a three-year period to determine their placements.
Read more: Arizona HS basketball player, who fled war in Ukraine, can't play varsity under AIA rule
Northwest Christian, led by coach David Inness, went 8-3 and made the 4A playoffs last season, losing to Bradshaw Mountain 23-13 in the first round.
Benjamin Franklin went 1-9 this past season after going 6-5 in 2021 and losing to Gilbert Mesquite 26-9 in the first round of the 4A playoffs. In its first season in 4A in 2020, Benjamin Franklin went 1-6.
Phoenix Christian is another school appealing its 3A placement to move down to 2A, along with Benson, Page, Winslow, Morenci, Window Rock, Tucson Palo Verde, Page, Monument Valley, Ganado and Wickenburg.
Phoenix Christian went 1-9 in 3A last season after going 7-4 in the same conference in 2021.
Morenci lost to Pima in the 3A championship game last season.
Benson reached the 2A final after losing to Arizona Lutheran two years ago, before finding a dip last season, going 5-6.
Phoenix Union High School District schools Trevor Browne and North are appealing their 6A placements, wanting to move down to 5A.
Maricopa, Agua Fria, Ironwood Ridge and Barry Goldwater are appealing to move down from 5A to 4A.
Rio Rico, Seton Catholic, and Desert Sunrise are appealing to move down from 4A to 3A.
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ALA-QC among 23 schools appealing to move down football placements
