By CASEY OLSON, The Mirror

The South Puget Sound League will have another new look in the fall and it might not sit well with some fans in Federal Way.

The new SPSL will have Decatur moving back into the South Division, while Federal Way and Jefferson will remain in the North. Decatur will be reuniting with Beamer in the South. Enrollment totals, which the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association uses to classify schools, were finalized last week.

SPSL principals met Monday to determine new North and South divisions in the wake of the additions and came to the conclusion that two nine-team divisions were the way to go. That meant one of the three Federal Way schools currently in the North Division would be relocating back to the South next year, and Decatur was the choice.

“There were a lot of spirited conversations,” Federal Way district athletic liaison Greg Flynn said. “But this is what’s best for the individual schools. We thought having two in each division was better for the district. It doesn’t leave Beamer out on an island. Decatur had a recent relationship with the South Division not too many years ago. It was an easy decision.”

Federal Way, Jefferson and Decatur joined the SPSL’s North Division before the 2006 school year, while Beamer remained in the South.

The SPSL South Division will include Decatur, Beamer, Puyallup, Emerald Ridge, Rogers, Curtis, Bethel, Graham-Kapowsin and Spanaway Lake. Decatur will be the lone addition in the fall.

The 2008-09 North Division will include Federal Way, Thomas Jefferson, Kentridge, Kentwood, Kentlake and Kent-Meridian, along with new members Auburn and Auburn Riverside. The two Auburn schools are moving back into the 4A classification after playing the past two years in the SPSL’s 3A division.

According to Flynn, there was a proposal to the SPSL principals to move Auburn and Auburn Riverside into the South Division and move Beamer into the North Division. That would have left all four Federal Way district schools in the same division.

“It came up and it was discussed, but it was voted down by the principals,” he said.

Both Decatur and Federal Way were well under the number to move down to the Class 3A level in the fall. But both schools chose to “opt up” into the 4A ranks.

“There were some serious discussions among everybody to those two schools being 3A,” Flynn said. “But it was in everybody’s best interest to opt up. Everybody agreed on that.”

The cutoff for a school being automatically classified as Class 4A was 1,281 students. Decatur overtook Federal Way this time around as the smallest school in the district with an enrollment of 1,170 students, according to numbers released Tuesday. Federal Way has 1,175 kids, while Beamer (1,356) and Jefferson (1,535) were well above the 4A cutoff.

The 3A division is set to include Tahoma, Enumclaw, Sumner, Bonney Lake, Auburn Mountainview and Franklin Pierce. The league has also extended invitations to Clover Park, Lakes and Peninsula. SPSL principals will make a decision regarding the applications Jan. 7.

Sports editor Casey Olson: 925-5565, sports@fedwaymirror.com