Belgrade as a AA school

[BelgradeBobcat]

http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/belgrade ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In talks I've had with folks at the school, they want to delay the move as long as possible, but within 4 years they will have to make the jump to AA.

So our AA towns will be: Missoula, Kalispell, Helena, Bozeman, Butte, Billings, Great Falls, and...little 'ol Belgrade. Hmmmmm? One of these is not like the others...

As far as I know, Belgrade will have the distinction of being the only school to have participated in all 4 classifications (AA, A, B, C). Which is pretty amazing.

The City of Belgrade only has a population of about 7,500-far smaller than any of the other AA cities, but the Belgrade school district has a population of 19,000. So it's a very suburban/rural school district. Belgrade's tax base is going to be much smaller than any of the other AA cities-which I would guess will put Belgrade at a pretty significant funding disadvantage.

Facility wise Belgrade has a gem of a basketball venue in the Special Events Center. The football stadium seating was recently rebuilt and expanded, and they have an all weather track around the field. The stadium does have lights. The school is working with a donor on some new tennis courts and establishing a tennis team. A new soccer field was recently opened that needs to be finished and improved. The wrestling team, which has been one of the most successful boys teams is currently practicing in the unfinished basement of the high school but that space will need to be converted to classrooms soon so then they'll need a new space or move back to the Special Events Center mezzanine-which was pretty untenable in the past. There's no indoor swimming pool in town so a swimming team seems unlikely in the near future.

Competitive wise-it looks like a daunting move. Most of Belgrade's teams do well in Class A but they don't dominate. The only boys state title in Class A was for a golf a year to two ago. They've had some runner's up finishes in wrestling and basketball. The girls have been a juggernaut in track, have a couple of soccer titles, and one or two in volleyball.

A few years after moving to A, the Belgrade football team had a several years long losing streak. I hope that doesn't happen when they move to AA. But it seems to me the football gap from A to AA is the biggest. Of course Belgrade will have more kids too so that will help, but they'll still probably be the smallest AA school by a ways, and their nearest rival Bozeman will be the biggest. That's gonna kinda suck!

[CatBlitz]

I thought the high school had to be bigger to qualify for being a AA school. If they think the Belgrade area is going to continue to grow that much, great. But I think it's a bit odd for Belgrade to have one too.

[BelgradeBobcat]

According to the news report they have 913 kids in the middle school which is grades 4-8.

[LTown Cat]

I believe the new AA cutoff is 825, sustained for three straight years.

[kmax]

The guidelines are fully spelled out in the link BelgradeBobcay posted.

Any school over 825 CAN go to AA but is not required to do so. There is a 10% leeway given to keep schools near the line from bouncing up and down. Once Belgrade reaches 908 the will have to move up, thus why seeing 913 in the middle school now pretty much assures that it will happen sometime in the next four years.

As BB pointed out, Belgrade as a town is small however the school district is huge and doing nothing but growing. I'll be interested to see if the new interchange once completed will open up the area south of the interstate to more development, both business and subdivisions.

My kids aren't in school sports so the move doesn't have a direct impact on me, but as someone who grew up with Montana sports I am always pulling for the hometown team and wanting them to do their best. I worry that it will take quite a bit for most teams to be competitive. I look at the Bandits attempt to move to AA in legion baseball as and how they struggled despite being very strong a level below both before and after.

This is and was inevitable, but it is going to be very weird seeing AA schools coming to Belgrade for sure.

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[Hawks86]

What are the rules for high schools in MT, as far as sports are concerned, if I lived in Bozeman and wanted my kid to play for Belgrade ? Just wondering.

[LTown Cat]

What are the rules for high schools in MT, as far as sports are concerned, if I lived in Bozeman and wanted my kid to play for Belgrade ? Just wondering.

I think you can take them wherever you want. It's just that transportation would be on you. Also, if you are going to do that you need to start them there in the freshman year. Don't change in the middle of high school. In that case you would fall into the transfer student rule and it gets much more complicated.

[Hawks86]

What are the rules for high schools in MT, as far as sports are concerned, if I lived in Bozeman and wanted my kid to play for Belgrade ? Just wondering.

I think you can take them wherever you want. It's just that transportation would be on you. Also, if you are going to do that you need to start them there in the freshman year. Don't change in the middle of high school. In that case you would fall into the transfer student rule and it gets much more complicated.

I do remember the bus thing now. I think in Kalispell you have to wait a year to participate in athletics if you switch schools. Probably completely different and complex rules for living in one town and wanting to go to school in another. I read that Boz. won't be adding another high school until they reach at least 2,400. It would be strange having 3 AA schools in the Gallatin valley.

[kmax]

It's interesting that the last time I remember this being seriously discussed around the Belgrade community was 5-6 years ago I think. I remember at that time that there was some talk of Columbia Falls being in the same situation and that it would work great to have both Belgrade and Columbia Falls switch to AA at the same time to keep the divisions even and make both divisions be back to even number of teams. Just went and looked and it appears that Columbia Falls enrollment is going backwards. In 2006-2007 they were very close to the cutoff and above Belgrade, but are now nowhere near being AA level enrollment. Not familiar with that area so don't really know the reasoning, but it appears that if Belgrade does have to move up they will be the only school doing so as no other schools are even near the 825 level much less the requied 908 level.

Columbia Falls enrollment trend (fall numbers):
06-07: 878
07-08: 876
08-09: 830
09-10: 782 (falls behind Belgrade as largest A school)
10-11: 727
11-12: 721
12-13: 692

Kind of crazy to see nearly a 200 student drop in enrollment in just 7 years. For Belgrade the trend has been a bit erratic, though over time I think you would see the general trend of increase in enrollment.

Belgrade enrollment trend (fall numbers):
06-07: 813
07-08: 859
08-09: 828
09-10: 830
10-11: 888
11-12: 834
12-13: 849

Belgrade would definitely be the smallest AA school, though if they wait until they hit the 908 mark it wouldn't be by as much as I had expected. As of Fall 2012 the three Missoula schools were the smallest AA schools in MT:

Hellgate: 1,255
Sentinel: 1,166
Big Sky: 1,024

As a side note, Billings West topped the list in Fall 2012 with an enrollment of 1,973...a good 300+ more than when I graduated there in the 90's and the school was pretty much full then!

[LTown Cat]

It's interesting that the last time I remember this being seriously discussed around the Belgrade community was 5-6 years ago I think. I remember at that time that there was some talk of Columbia Falls being in the same situation and that it would work great to have both Belgrade and Columbia Falls switch to AA at the same time to keep the divisions even and make both divisions be back to even number of teams. Just went and looked and it appears that Columbia Falls enrollment is going backwards. In 2006-2007 they were very close to the cutoff and above Belgrade, but are now nowhere near being AA level enrollment. Not familiar with that area so don't really know the reasoning, but it appears that if Belgrade does have to move up they will be the only school doing so as no other schools are even near the 825 level much less the requied 908 level.

Columbia Falls enrollment trend (fall numbers):
06-07: 878
07-08: 876
08-09: 830
09-10: 782 (falls behind Belgrade as largest A school)
10-11: 727
11-12: 721
12-13: 692

Kind of crazy to see nearly a 200 student drop in enrollment in just 7 years. For Belgrade the trend has been a bit erratic, though over time I think you would see the general trend of increase in enrollment.

Belgrade enrollment trend (fall numbers):
06-07: 813
07-08: 859
08-09: 828
09-10: 830
10-11: 888
11-12: 834
12-13: 849

Belgrade would definitely be the smallest AA school, though if they wait until they hit the 908 mark it wouldn't be by as much as I had expected. As of Fall 2012 the three Missoula schools were the smallest AA schools in MT:

Hellgate: 1,255
Sentinel: 1,166
Big Sky: 1,024

As a side note, Billings West topped the list in Fall 2012 with an enrollment of 1,973...a good 300+ more than when I graduated there in the 90's and the school was pretty much full then!

C Falls was hit hard during this recession. The aluminum? plant closed and lumber mills have closed.

[kmax]

It's interesting that the last time I remember this being seriously discussed around the Belgrade community was 5-6 years ago I think. I remember at that time that there was some talk of Columbia Falls being in the same situation and that it would work great to have both Belgrade and Columbia Falls switch to AA at the same time to keep the divisions even and make both divisions be back to even number of teams. Just went and looked and it appears that Columbia Falls enrollment is going backwards. In 2006-2007 they were very close to the cutoff and above Belgrade, but are now nowhere near being AA level enrollment. Not familiar with that area so don't really know the reasoning, but it appears that if Belgrade does have to move up they will be the only school doing so as no other schools are even near the 825 level much less the requied 908 level.

Columbia Falls enrollment trend (fall numbers):
06-07: 878
07-08: 876
08-09: 830
09-10: 782 (falls behind Belgrade as largest A school)
10-11: 727
11-12: 721
12-13: 692

Kind of crazy to see nearly a 200 student drop in enrollment in just 7 years. For Belgrade the trend has been a bit erratic, though over time I think you would see the general trend of increase in enrollment.

Belgrade enrollment trend (fall numbers):
06-07: 813
07-08: 859
08-09: 828
09-10: 830
10-11: 888
11-12: 834
12-13: 849

Belgrade would definitely be the smallest AA school, though if they wait until they hit the 908 mark it wouldn't be by as much as I had expected. As of Fall 2012 the three Missoula schools were the smallest AA schools in MT:

Hellgate: 1,255
Sentinel: 1,166
Big Sky: 1,024

As a side note, Billings West topped the list in Fall 2012 with an enrollment of 1,973...a good 300+ more than when I graduated there in the 90's and the school was pretty much full then!

C Falls was hit hard during this recession. The aluminum? plant closed and lumber mills have closed.

I figured it was something like that. That's too bad.

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[BelgradeBobcat]

I was expecting them have to move up a bit sooner, but Belgrade had a couple of smallish classes go through in recent years. Also I think the recession held down their growth rate a little bit. But from what I understand, the younger grades are larger.

It will be interesting to see what happens down the road. I think in general, birth rates in the United States are declining-people are just not have as many kids. So that will impact school growth.

[[cat_bracket]]

Wait. I thought A schools were better than AA schools. Remember the Big 32 when Wolf Point and Laurel won the hoops title. Dillon fans have been insisting they're the best team in the state for years.

I'm kidding, but there are people that say these things.

[kmax]

Wait. I thought A schools were better than AA schools. Remember the Big 32 when Wolf Point and Laurel won the hoops title. Dillon fans have been insisting they're the best team in the state for years.

I'm kidding, but there are people that say these things.

Yeah I have an Uncle that was at Laurel during the old Big 32 days and he never lets that one die.