Ihsaa Wants To Fix What Doesn’t Look Broken

In my 10-1/2 years of covering high school athletics in Idaho, I’ve watched the state high school activities association make some brilliant decisions in the best interest of the student-athletes it serves.

Landing the United Dairymen as a major underwriter/sponsor of state tournaments was a fabulous coup.

Developing the Youth Endowment for Activities Fund, which some day will cover the travel expenses for all schools to state activities, was a well thought-out decision.

But the IHSAA has had its share of hot potatoes.

And the irony is that many of the issues have been of the IHSAA’s making.

Consider:

Attempting to ban foreign-exchange students from varsity activities.

Reducing regular-season games and matches for all sports.

Creating more divisions than a state this size deserves.

And, although 1995 may just be a month old, the IHSAA is facing two more controversial issues.

At its January meeting, the IHSAA voted to ban home-school students from participating in public-school activities and to take a long look at creating a fifth classification for boys and girls basketball and volleyball.

The gist of the IHSAA’s decision to ban home schoolers is that traditional students must meet specific requirements for eligibility while there is no way to monitor home-schoolers by the same standards.

Said IHSAA executive director Bill Young: “Our members want to send a message. They think that if a school is good enough to participate with, then it’s good enough to attend.”

The IHSAA is concerned that a marvelously gifted athlete who encounters eligibility problems could drop out of classes, be home schooled and still maintain his or her eligibility.

We haven’t heard of such problems in Idaho. But you can either credit the IHSAA for pro-active legislation or roll your eyes at a knee-jerk solution to a problem that, frankly, doesn’t exist.

Silly is what I’d call the decision. The IHSAA has opened itself to lawsuits.

Equally ludicrous is the consideration of a fifth classification (A-1 Division II) for girls and boys basketball and volleyball.

It would depreciate state competition for Idaho’s largest high schools. As it is in football, eight of 13 A-1 Division II teams qualify for the state playoffs.

If it ain’t broke … leave it alone.

Enough said.

Lewiston coach staying put

Lewiston High School head football coach Nick Menegas, whose name has come up in connection with every appropriate job opening since last fall, said this week that he plans to stay at Lewiston for at least two more years.

Menegas said he plans to fulfil a promise to his son, Michael, a Lewiston High sophomore. He said his son wants to finish school in Lewiston, and the coach said his son’s desire is more important than his own agenda.

A year ago, Menegas was actively checking out head coaching positions in the Inland Northwest, largely because he had a desire to move closer to his family.

Nothing panned out, so Menegas, a Shadle Park High School graduate from Spokane, continued his fine program at Lewiston. In fact, he may have done the best coaching job in his eight years at Lewiston by taking a largely average-at-best group of players to the state playoffs after graduating nearly everybody off the State A-1 Division II championship team from the year before.

Menegas’ name came up when Greg Drake resigned at Coeur d’Alene. His interest was lukewarm at best and was more a case of name-dropping by the media.

But Menegas seriously considered applying for vacancies at Shadle and Ferris, where he finished runner-up for the job that went to recently retired Saxons coach Pat Pfeifer back in 1984.

“I gave it a lot of thought,” said Menegas, who was the head coach at Post Falls until taking the Bengals job in 1986. “I talked it over with my family. But we’re going to stay here at least two more years.”

This ‘n that

After capturing the first regional title in school history and the accompanying berth in the State A-1 Tournament, the Lake City High girls basketball team received a well-deserved day off Monday. In fact, the Timberwolves will be off 11 days until they play their first game at the state tourney, which begins Feb. 9 at Albertson College in Caldwell.

This inconvenience isn’t new to coach Dave Fealko. The T-Wolves have peaked at the right time and that solid play will carry over to state, no doubt. It will take an error-free effort to beat LC. The T-Wolves will either open against Highland (19-5) or Rigby (12-13). Those two teams meet in Pocatello on Saturday in a playoff. Fealko’s final team at Coeur d’Alene High played Highland in the state final last year.

It’s too bad Sandpoint coach Ron Hunt’s career ended on such a heartbreaking note Tuesday. Hunt announced last week that he was stepping down because of a painful hip that may require a second replacement surgery. Lewiston did the improbable by beating Sandpoint a fourth time against no losses, sending the Bulldogs home, 50-49, when Andrea Gomez hit a 10-foot jumper with 15 seconds left.

Lewiston (18-5) will meet Nampa (15-7) or Boise (16-7) in a playoff for a state berth Saturday at Cascade, a game the Bengals should win if they play like they have the past two weeks. Sandpoint, meanwhile, peaked too early. After upsetting No. 1-ranked Lake City 63-60 on Dec. 15, the Bulldogs struggled, going 8-6 to finish 15-7. Sandpoint, on a whole, was better last year than this season.