Wiaa Delays Announcing New Locale For State 2as Tournaments Could Be In Spokane, But First Proposal From Arena Said Too High
Just before the State 2A high school basketball tournaments were to be moved into the Spokane Arena, the WIAA called a time out.
Mike Colbrese, executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, canceled a Wednesday press conference in which it was expected he would announce the 2A tournaments for the 1999-2000 season would be held in Spokane.
Because the Arena’s proposal to hold the 2A tournaments was significantly more expensive than the State B, the WIAA Executive Board instructed Colbrese to check other options, he said Monday.
The WIAA Executive Board met Sunday and Monday in Yakima.
“The negotiations are not yet complete for the 2A tournaments to be here,” Arena director Kevin Twohig said. “We only started talking about terms and conditions of the use agreement less than two weeks ago and we’ve only had one conversation. … I expect them to conclude with the event being here.”
Colbrese said Yakima and Tri-Cities have expressed an interest in having the 2A tournaments. Neither community has a facility that can house both boys and girls tournaments in the same building.
The board was expected to set the format for the 2A in Spokane and move the 4A tournaments from Seattle to Tacoma for the 1999-2000 school year because the Kingdome will be demolished. However, both classifications could be moved as early as next year because of a conflict in the Kingdome in March 1999. The 2A tournaments would be moved from Tacoma to make way for the 4A, Colbrese said.
The WIAA can only get the Kingdome the second and third weeks of March in 1999. The five state basketball tournaments are usually spread over the first two weeks of March. A tournament the third week would cause a lot of conflicts with spring sports.
If a new site is found for the 2A for next year, the 4As would be moved to the Tacoma Dome. The 3A tournaments, which easily outdrew the 4A tournaments earlier this month, have the Kingdome the second week.
The B tournaments will remain in Spokane and the 1A tournaments in Tacoma the first week of March.
“We want the best opportunity possible” for the 2A tournament, Colbrese said. Ideally, that means two floors under one roof.
Colbrese is hopeful the Spokane Arena will submit a new proposal. The board meets again April 30 and May 1. Proposals and presentations for the 2A tournaments will be made at that time.
There are concerns about the format for the 2A tournaments if they are moved to Spokane.
“It’s not the same format as the B tournament, but they have agreed to be out of the Arena by 4 p.m. Saturday so we can play a hockey game that night,” Twohig said. “Clearly it is a great thing for the whole community to have a state tournament here, we recognize that. On the other hand it is totally unfair to have our prime tenants, the Spokane Chiefs, not to play here for two consecutive weeks right at the end of the season.”
The Chiefs traditionally draw more than 10,000 fans on Saturday night and do not want to give up consecutive Saturdays - one for the State B final, the other for the 2A.
Twohig said the Chiefs have been very cooperative in efforts to land a second state tournament. The Chiefs usually play Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and practice as much as possible at the Arena. They would lose a second potential Wednesday game and a week of practice if the 2A comes to Spokane.
There are several options for the 2A tournaments, including moving all trophy games out of the Arena, having only the championship games in the Arena or moving only the championship games out of the Arena.
Because more 3A schools are in the Seattle area and the northwest part of the state, they will go to KeyArena for the boys and Mercer Arena for the girls. Tacoma has the largest number of 4A schools.
The recent 3A tournament established an attendance record and outdrew the 4A tournament by more than 11,000. The 3A also set a session record with 16,000 fans at the semifinals.
, DataTimes