BOISE — Idaho’s high school sports governing body declined to delay the start of the fall season Wednesday, instead leaving that decision to local schools and leagues.
Board members for the Idaho High School Activities Association debated pushing back the upcoming first day of practices. But they decided to make no statewide changes, allowing practices for football, soccer, volleyball, cross country and swimming to start Monday.
“We set the schedule and we go with it. This state is too big and there are so many different pockets of COVID in different areas, that it’s not fair to slip it (back) for everybody,” said Derek Newland, an IHSAA board member and the director of student transportation for the State Department of Education.
The Treasure Valley’s largest schools, however, won’t start Monday. Superintendents in the 5A and 4A Southern Idaho Conferences agreed Tuesday to delay the first day of practices one week until Aug. 17.
Boise Superintendent Coby Dennis said the league will re-evaluate when it can start practices each week during Tuesday’s Boise School Board meeting.
At a minimum, the delayed start will cost the Boise, Borah, Eagle, Kuna, Mountain View, Nampa, Ridgevue, Rocky Mountain and Skyview football teams games scheduled for Aug. 21. The first full schedule of games Aug. 28 also remains in doubt.
Athletic directors in the SIC will meet Thursday to iron out more details.
“I truly don’t see why we would not want to delay a little bit,” said Ted Reynolds, an IHSAA board member and the Ridgevue athletic director. “I don’t know what delay that is. I don’t know if it’s a week. I don’t know if it’s two weeks. I don’t know if it’s after Labor Day.
“What I would hate to see is we try to get sports going full-bore and something breaks out there, which affects the way we open schools, which has to be the priority.”
Idaho’s statewide stay-the-course strategy differs from many of its neighbors. Washington, Oregon and Nevada all moved fall sports to the spring, affecting the schedules of Idaho schools on those borders.
But Utah, Wyoming and Montana plan to play this fall.
Potlatch Superintendent Jeff Cirka, another IHSAA board member, said he was concerned with starting sports when many schools in his region have not finished their back-to-school plans yet. His district delayed the first day of school from Aug. 24 to after Labor Day.
“I would like to see the (IHSAA) board step up on some of this, which is tough,” he said. “It’s hard for us to do because we know the governor and everybody has said it’s local control.
“But (superintendents) are needing some direction on it as well.”
Maintaining those local decisions was key for several board members from Eastern Idaho, which has fewer confirmed COVID-19 cases. Chad Williams, the Shelley superintendent, noted Butte County has yet to see a confirmed case, and many counties in the eastern part of the state only have a handful since the pandemic reached Idaho in March.
“I believe it’s local control, and I think we can all make our decisions locally,” Williams said. “... I don’t think it’s fair of us to say, ‘You are not going to be able to have a game or two,’ or, ‘You’re going to have to start late.’”
Wendell Superintendent Tim Perrigot said he worried a delay could cost athletes the chance at any kind of a season.
“As a superintendent, I’d like to see things get going,” Perrigot said. “It’s going to give me input on how we’re going to be able to run our schools and how things are going to work, if it is going to work.
“At least we can look back and say, ‘We tried it and couldn’t make it go.’”
Several IHSAA board members expressed concerns about competitive fairness if some schools can only play a handful of games while others get a full season. But Newland said any notions of a normal season went out the window a long time ago.
“Everybody says they want as close to a consistent look as they’ve had in years back. That’s not gonna happen,” Newland said. “We’ve got to do as best we can with what we have available.”
IHSAA Executive Director Ty Jones cautioned Wednesday’s decision is only for now. Like everything else during the coronavirus pandemic, conditions can change quickly and he said the IHSAA will remain flexible.
“If people think anything we do today, next week or three months ago is a line-in-the-sand type of thing as far as a statement or date, they would be wrong,” Jones said. “We fully anticipate this is something we’ll be dealing with all year — hopefully just one year, to be truthful with you.”
MaxPreps for state playoff seeding
MaxPreps.com rankings could seed all Idaho team sports state tournaments starting in the 2021-22 school year.
The IHSAA approved a first reading to use the computer rankings for its state tournaments Wednesday. It would not affect who makes it to state, just where teams are placed on the brackets once they qualify.
It will need to pass a second reading in September to become final.
The vote continues Idaho’s push to use computer rankings for its playoffs. The IHSAA finalized a plan in January to seed its 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A Division I football playoffs with MaxPreps rankings this fall.
Wednesday’s measure would expand those rankings to 5A and 1A Division II, as well as the state basketball, soccer, volleyball, baseball and softball tournaments.
Girls state wrestling passes first hurdle
A girls state wrestling tournament took one step closer to reality Wednesday when the IHSAA unanimously passed a measure to start separate brackets for girls in the 2021-22 school year.
It will also need to pass a second reading in September to become final.
Girls currently must compete against boys in Idaho’s state tournament. A record 13 girls qualified for state last winter, and the number of female wrestlers continues to grow in the state, adding to calls for the state to add a separate girls state championship.
Idaho is one of 23 states without a sanctioned girls state tournament.
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