Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Proposed Realignment Given

The Arkansas Activities Association has released the realignment of the athletic conferences for next year.

The schools affected that are now playing in the 7AA Conference will be Gurdon, Junction City and Stamps. Prescott will remain in the 7AA. However, four more schools will be added with the departure of three mentioned.

Next year Bismarck, Fouke and Fountain Lake will be added to the conference as will Hampton, a team that Prescott is well acquainted with. These four teams will make it eight in the conference as they join Prescott, De Queen, Fordyce and Nashville.

Gurdon and Stamps will play basketball in one conference and play football in another.

In football they will be in the 7A West Conference with Foreman, Horatio, Lewisville, Mineral Springs and Murfreesboro, making seven teams in that district.

A new conference will be formed that will include Nevada. Stamps, Nevada and Gurdon will be playing basketball in the 7A Central Conference next year. Other teams in the conference are Genoa Central, Lewisville and Stephens. Stephens is a team that used to be in the 7A South Confernece with Nevada until a couple of years ago, when the school lost pupil that moved them to Class B.

A few years ago Nevada was in the 7AA Conference, so Gurdon and Stamps will be no strangers to the Blue Jays.

Teams that are remaining from the 7A South Conference are Smackover and Norphlet. They will join Junction City, Huttig, Strong, Parkers Chapel and Union.

Another school in Southwest Arkansas moving up to Class A is Blevins. The Hornets will be playing basketball in the 7A West Conference, comprised of Caddo Hills, Dierks, Foreman, Glenwood, Horatio, Mineral Springs and Murfreesboro.

Emmet will be playing basketball in the 7B West Conference with Bradley (formerly in the 7A South), Bright Star, Saratoga and Springhill.

Delight will play basketball in the 7B North Conference with Amity, Hatfield, Kirby, Lockesburg, Umpire, Van-Cove and Wickes.

The Class AA conference teams will play football and basketball in each respective district.

The switching of the schools to another conferece, caused by a decline or increase of students, has given the coaches trouble in scheduling. Prescott and Gurdon both are trying to work the schedule out so that the rivalry will continue in football.