AURORA — Student-athletes, don’t fret. You won’t be seeing a reduction in the number of games you can play. That’s what the Colorado High School Activities Association Board of Control voted Thursday at its April meeting at Red Lion Hotel Denver Southeast.
Sixteen proposals, stretching across the board from baseball to wrestling, were placed on the table by CHSAA in an effort to help school districts save costs. But the board overwhelmingly voted against the proposals that would have reduced the number of contests for most sports by one or two events.
Initially starting as individual votes, beginning with a 59-9 tally against cutting the number of baseball games from 19 to 17, the board finally agreed to group the final 13 proposals under one umbrella. That resulted in a 51-16 vote against the reduction. The debate came down to local control against a statewide mandate, according to CHSAA commissioner Bill Reader.
“The reassuring thing is that it was a pretty decisive vote to stay with that local control,” Reader said. “There are districts across the state that have decided to reduce contests. Apparently, there are a lot that have decided not to. But it’s a local issue.”
Member schools that voted for the proposals were more concerned about saving costs than about the fewer games student-athletes could play. This was especially true for schools that face lengthy travels during the regular season.
“I understand why those initiatives did not pass,” said Diana Sirko, a board member and superintendent of schools for Aspen. “I think it’s just an attempt to evaluate. Rather than eliminate a sport down the road, let’s look at ways we can pare back our costs. For Western Slope schools or other small schools that are geographically isolated, it’s very difficult to always pay for (trips) and all the instructional time that is lost with kids leaving class.”
Nearly as heated was a vote to reduce from 32 teams to 24 for the Class 1A state basketball tournaments. The 24-team format would have given the top eight seeds a first-round bye. But with the classification so spread out, the move failed to get the two-thirds vote it needed to pass.
“Again, it’s a two-sided issue,” Reader said. “It’s one where you believe that the state should have geographic representation. It’s cost-effective and decreases school time as opposed to getting the eight very best teams to state. The 24 teams was about getting the eight best teams on the bracket, but it’s costly to do that.”
The board also passed an amendment that allows lower seeds, including in 5A, to host playoff football games. Previously, it was voted that higher seeds in 5A would be the home team from the quarterfinals until the finals.
Also passed was an amendment to a football proposal that would allow schools to drop their program but not have to play an independent schedule during the next two- year cycle before being placed in a conference in future cycles.
