SCHSL makes right move putting title games back in Columbia
High school football is less than a week away from starting its official "Week 0" contest.
And while the South Carolina High School League, with its sometimes baffling decision, hasn't yet released a playoff format for the newly aligned Class 3A division, they have made ruling on where 3A, along with both classes of division 4A, will have its state championship game.
According to renowned reporter Jason Gilmer, the weekend of champions is relocating back to the Capital City.
Here is his report.
As he said, last year's state championships for 3A and 4A were held at Clemson University's Memorial Stadium on the border of Pickens and Oconee counties.
The SCHSL has, for once, made a smart decision.
This is not a slight against Clemson: There stadium is similar in size to South Carolina's Williams-Brice.
The problem, as I touched on in a column when it was announced Clemson was hosting the games, is logistical.
Having the game in The Golden Corner gave teams in Pickens, Oconee, Anderson and Greenville counties a huge advantage if they made the title game. It clearly benefited those schools and its fans in travel costs.
Teams from the lower part of the state on the other hand, had a drive between four and five hours, according to Google maps.
With the game moving back to Columbia, the schools in the lower part will now have a drive of about two and a half hours, with a top drive time of three hours from either Myrtle Beach or Beaufort.
Upper state schools now share an equal drive time between one and a half and two and a half hours.
Now, that clear favoritism is gone.
Second, and more importantly, the towns of Clemson and Columbia.
While Clemson is in a beautiful area and can serve close to 100,000 people on a fall Saturday, it lacks the resources to serve that many people over a weekend, mostly from a hotel and restaurant.
Most of that population boom will be dispersed in the surrounding towns of Anderson, Seneca, and Greenville.
Columbia instead has the resources for the influx, with much more hotels and restaurants. Not to mention Columbia has access to a much higher police presence to keep order and keep life moving.
Finally, it is called the South Carolina High School championships, and it should be in the state capital and the state's flagship university.
So congrats SCHSL, for making a smart decision, for once.
And while the South Carolina High School League, with its sometimes baffling decision, hasn't yet released a playoff format for the newly aligned Class 3A division, they have made ruling on where 3A, along with both classes of division 4A, will have its state championship game.
According to renowned reporter Jason Gilmer, the weekend of champions is relocating back to the Capital City.
Here is his report.
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| South Carolina's Williams-Brice Stadium |
The SCHSL has, for once, made a smart decision.
This is not a slight against Clemson: There stadium is similar in size to South Carolina's Williams-Brice.
The problem, as I touched on in a column when it was announced Clemson was hosting the games, is logistical.
Having the game in The Golden Corner gave teams in Pickens, Oconee, Anderson and Greenville counties a huge advantage if they made the title game. It clearly benefited those schools and its fans in travel costs.
Teams from the lower part of the state on the other hand, had a drive between four and five hours, according to Google maps.
With the game moving back to Columbia, the schools in the lower part will now have a drive of about two and a half hours, with a top drive time of three hours from either Myrtle Beach or Beaufort.
Upper state schools now share an equal drive time between one and a half and two and a half hours.
Now, that clear favoritism is gone.
Second, and more importantly, the towns of Clemson and Columbia.
While Clemson is in a beautiful area and can serve close to 100,000 people on a fall Saturday, it lacks the resources to serve that many people over a weekend, mostly from a hotel and restaurant.
Most of that population boom will be dispersed in the surrounding towns of Anderson, Seneca, and Greenville.
Columbia instead has the resources for the influx, with much more hotels and restaurants. Not to mention Columbia has access to a much higher police presence to keep order and keep life moving.
Finally, it is called the South Carolina High School championships, and it should be in the state capital and the state's flagship university.
So congrats SCHSL, for making a smart decision, for once.
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