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NATCHEZ — While most athletic directors and coaches in this area were pleased with the decision Academy Athletic Commission (AAC) and Midsouth Association of Independent School (MAIS) made last November to lower the number of classifications from six down to four for at least the 2025-2026 and the 2026-2027 school years, one such person who perhaps did not exactly feel that way was Josh Loy.

Loy is the both the athletic director and the varsity boys’ head football coach at Cathedral Catholic School. And when the decision was made to not only have fewer classifications but also have Cathedral placed in the new Class 4A — which will now be the highest classifications in the new MAIS – he was not at all thrilled about it, but realized that there was nothing he could do about it.

“We are the smallest school in this new classification by a pretty wide margin,” Loy said. “We weren’t in on the decision-making process, and these are the cards were with dealt. Just like in life, you have to play those cards and do the best you can, with the circumstances you are given.”

And if that wasn’t enough, the Green Wave will be in District 4-4A in 11-man football and its district opponents will be longtime powerhouse Jackson Preparatory School, Silliman Institute, Copiah Academy, and Oak Forest Academy. And those will also be the same district opponents in all other sports — baseball, basketball, fast-pitch softball, girls’ and boys’ soccer, tennis, golf, track & field, archery, volleyball, swimming, cheer-dance, and cross country in South District 4-4A.

“We will continue to coach our kids and push them to compete to the best of our abilities,” Loy said. “I don’t think this new realignment was done for the best interest of most schools. It was done to make certain schools in our association happy and content.”