MOULTRIE — Colquitt County High Principal Bob Jones, who has been an outspoken opponent of the Georgia High School Association’s decision to move state championship football games to neutral sites this year, has sent a letter to GHSA Executive Director Ralph Swearngin urging repeal of the decision.

Jones has spearheaded an effort to muster support from Region 1-AAAAA principals, athletic directors and football coaches in his effort to get the GHSA to overturn the decision, which will go into effect this fall.

The GHSA executive committee agreed in August to move state championship games to neutral sites this year, apparently clearing the way for the games to be moved to the Georgia Dome in 2007.

According to the GHSA, the decision was made over concerns of a possible lack of seating capacity at some state championship games and the unfair advantage for home teams in those games.

This year, Swearngin himself will determine the sites of the state championship games in all five classifications.

Previously, the state championship game has been hosted by one of the two teams that reached the finals.

The decision has drawn fire from school officials, primarily in the southern part of the state.

And with the GHSA set to address the issue again at its March meeting, Jones began an e-mail crusade combined with a letter to Swearngin, spelling out the views of those officials in Region 1-AAAAA.

Jones said he talked to Swearngin recently, telling him that the letter was on its way. It is dated Jan. 17.

The letter states that the region supports:

• Keeping the semifinals in Georgia Dome.

• The GHSA’s outstanding effort in organizing the semifinal games.

• Stadium seating requirements for all schools.

• That “if we fail in our efforts to maintain the traditions of a North-South rotation of state champions games, let the schools which have the seating capacity host, and those in the north or those who do not have the required seating have the option to go to a larger neutral site (the Dome, another high school or some college venue that meets the GHSA seating requirement).”

The letter also states that the region is opposed to :

• Neutral sites for the 2006 season.

• Moving the championship games to the Georgia Dome in 2007.

• Any attempt by the GHSA to ignore the seating capacity rule as stated in the GHSA constitution and bylaws.

The letter goes to state that “Additionally, we hope that the GHSA would continue to acknowledge the time-honored traditions that have made Georgia football the envy of other states, continuing to rotate annually the championship games between the north and south, (which) would keep a sense of community intact.”

The letter asks several specific questions, including where a state championship game would be played if two south Georgia team qualified.

Using the scenario of Valdosta and Camden County reaching the finals, the letter asks, “Where would the neutral site be? Ware County? If so, who pays the expenses and who is in charge of the venue? Some legal issues could arise from this. Who takes tickets, runs the concession stands, handles the expenses and secures the necessary legal authorities, etc.?”

• “Why should a neutral site/school be burdened with this responsibility and/or benefit financially from something of which they have no ownership?

• Why should two schools have to incur additional expenses to travel to a neutral site?

The letter concludes by asking that the GHSA give a “sincere review” to the concerns and that it would “meet with us to further discuss our views in depth.”

Jones weighed in with his opposition to the proposal last August, stating then, “I’m a strong proponent of keeping a state championship in the community. When you take that away from a community such as Moultrie, you take away a lot of pride, sense of community and something the community can hold on to.”

Colquitt County played host to two state championship games at Mack Tharpe Stadium in the 1990s, losing to LaGrange by a point in 1991 and defeating Valdosta for the school’s only state football title three years later.

Moving the state championship games to a neutral site or to the Georgia Dome also would preclude another state championship game like the one in 1993 when Thomasville and Thomas County Central, school less than two miles apart, faced off.

A neutral site championship game also means that a community with no stake in the game would tend to get a financial windfall from the influx of fans purchasing meals, gasoline and other products.