After four years of grueling bus rides across the state – and several hours of missed class to make those trips – the Natchez-Adams District is asking the Mississippi High School Activities Association to move the Bulldogs into a district closer to home.

Director of Student Activities Dr. Harold Wayne Barnett, NHS principal Brenda Williams and ninth-grade principal Bobby Brown have an appeal hearing today in Clinton with the MHSAA to determine the feasibility of moving Natchez to a district with closer opponents or moving closer teams into Natchez’s district.

&uot;Right now they’ve got us in a district that requires a lot of travelling,&uot; said athletic director Robert Cade. &uot;We’d like to play schools closer to us so we can establish some rivalries and cut down on travel time.&uot;

In District 6-5A, Natchez current plays Brandon, Meridian, Wayne County, Jim Hill, Forest Hill, Provine and Northwest Rankin.

&uot;A lot of the schools we play are down on the coast or across the state,&uot; Cade said.

Cade said he would like to see Natchez play schools near Vicksburg, such as Warren-Central and Murrah.

The MHSAA re-districts every two years based on schools’ populations. Although Natchez will remain a 5A school, Cade said the district hopes to use this year’s re-districting to schedule a few closer district teams.