By Zach Alvira
Head of Content
The Arizona Interscholastic Association will hear placement appeals from schools wishing to change conferences for the 2025-26 football seasons on Thursday, Jan. 9.
A list of schools wishing to appeal up or down was released by the AIA Wednesday morning. In total, 28 schools are hoping to have their conference placement changed. Twenty-one of those are asking for board approval to move down.
Saguaro and Salpointe Catholic are among the most notable football programs requesting to move down a conference. Both were placed in 6A by the AIA when initial conference placements were released in December.
The Sabercats went 1-9 this past season after a mass exodus of players following a leaked email that showed a racial slur used by Principal Ann Achtziger. The slur was used in an email to describe music that was heard from the school weight room, which was primarily being used by the football program at the time.
Achtziger, along with the Scottsdale Unified School District, issued an apology for the email. Though the incident, coupled with the departure of former head football coach Zak Hill to ALA Gilbert North before landing a job with the Seattle Seahawks, led to multiple high-caliber players transferring out of the program.
Many players departed for powerhouse programs Liberty, Centennial and Hamilton. Many athletes were granted immediate eligibility by the AIA. However, some were forced to sit the mandatory five games for transferring.
The transfers left the program decimated, and created an uphill battle for head coach Darius Kelly. Saguaro, with one of the toughest schedules in the state, won its only game of the season against rival Chaparral. However, barring any transfers this off-season, most starters will return to the Sabercats next season.
Salpointe Catholic made a run to the 6A quarterfinals this season after winning the Central Region title. The Lancers secured the region crown in the final week of the regular season, knocking off Brophy and eliminating the Broncos from Open Division contention.
The Lancers have been at the 6A level the past three seasons, going 25-11 during that span and making the postseason every year. In 2019, led by Bijan Robinson and Lathan Ransom, Salpointe made the first-ever Open Division playoff as a 4A Conference team. The Lancers advanced to the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Chandler.
Salpointe's only losses last season came against 5A Marana, which was the No. 1 ranked team in the 5A Conference, Open Division champion Liberty and 6A runner-up Mountain View.
Schools will know the initial fate of their appeals by 5 p.m. Thursday, according to the AIA. From there, schools will be able to further plead their case for movement during a Jan. 21 meeting in front of the Executive Board.
Teams appealing up
Anthem Prep (2A to 3A)
San Tan Charter (2A to 3A)
Shadow Mountain (2A to 3A)
ALA West Foothills (3A to 4A)
Empire (3A to 4A)
Tempe (3A to 4A)
Yuma (3A to 4A)
Teams appealing down
Bourgade Catholic (3A to 2A)
Chino Valley (3A to 2A)
Morenci (3A to 2A)
Pima (3A to 2A)
Wickenburg (3A to 2A)
Northwest Christian (4A to 3A)
Seton Catholic (4A to 3A)
Somerton (4A to 3A)
Barry Goldwater (5A to 4A)
Betty Fairfax (5A to 4A)
Cibola (5A to 4A)
Flowing Wells (5A to 4A)
Ironwood Ridge (5A to 4A)
Nogales (5A to 4A)
North Canyon (5A to 4A)
Yuma Catholic (5A to 4A
Saguaro (6A to 5A)
Salpointe Catholic (6A to 5A)
Shadow Ridge (6A to 5A)
Tolleson (6A to 5A)
Valley Vista (6A to 5A)
The full list of initial football conference placements can be found here.
Comments