Aurora – Once again, Colorado schoolboy football will open its season with something called Zero Week.
The early round, approved by the Colorado High School Activities Association for play today and Saturday, has been relevant since the late 1990s. When teams had difficulty securing appropriate opponents in regular-season time slots, they were given the option of beginning a week ahead of the field and later incurring a bye.
It’s not popular among coaches, but there will be 11 games this weekend, including in Class 5A. Six of Colorado’s seven classifications will have nonleague action; only 6-man will be idle.
“I’m not a fan of it,” Bear Creek coach Tom Thenell said, “because I think it hurts kids.”
Topping the negative list for teams participating in Zero Week is less time to prepare and increased fear of injuries – summer drills, which already have two-per-day sessions cut short because of staggered school starts across the state, are not considered long enough by coaches, who also note they cannot have hitting until at least the third day of practice.
However, the season kicks off tonight. Of note in opening 5A action: defending champion Mullen will meet Bear Creek at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood; Columbine (Littleton) will take on Ponderosa (Parker) at Douglas County Stadium in Castle Rock; and Pomona (Arvada) has a date with Fruita Monument at Stocker Stadium.
In 4A, Arvada gets a visit from Grand Junction and Skyline (Longmont) plays Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch) at Shea Stadium, all at 7 p.m.
Historically, Zero Week has included out-of-state play, and Overland (Aurora) will deliver by traveling to Salt Lake City to meet Cottonwood, Utah’s runner-up in 2004. It’s the highlight of Saturday’s play in a noon game.
Also look for a rare metropolitan-area appearance by 3A Steamboat Springs, which will be at Aurora Central at 1 p.m. It will be played at the school’s Ilium Field, a throwback to when the Trojans regularly graced 11th Avenue and Peoria Street.
Akron, an annual 1A power, will be at 2A Weld Central (Keenesburg) in an early (11 a.m.) kickoff.
Football will join boys golf, softball and boys tennis, which had starts earlier in the month to the 2005-06 school year, in regular-season play.
The remaining sports – boys and girls cross country, field hockey, gymnastics, boys soccer and volleyball – are scheduled for a Thursday start.
Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-820-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
