Prep Athletics Get Ridiculous Changes
The Idaho High School Activities Association fumbled twice last week.
First, the private association, which is controlled by the public schools, paraded its bias against home-schoolers by upholding an unfair rule. It will continue to require home-taught students to meet more stringent academic eligibility standards to participate in extracurricular programs at private schools than at public schools.
Then, the IHSAA dumbed down Class A-1 competition by creating two divisions so more schools can enjoy state-tournament action. The change means that rivals Lake City and Coeur d’Alene, with similar enrollments, will be in different divisions. The association’s goal was to give more student-athletes a chance for postseason glory - unless, of course, those kids happen to be home-schooled.
The association first showed its prejudice against home-schoolers in 1995 when it banned them from all extracurricular activities at public schools. Executive Director Bill Young explained the association’s shallow thinking at the time: “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.”
Fortunately, the 1995 Legislature trumped the ban by passing a bill that allowed home-schoolers to play in public-school sports. Backers of the bill explained the obvious: Home-schoolers have a right to participate in such activities because their parents pay taxes to support the public-school system.
On the other hand, the association is all too willing to give public school kids the chance to play - and play.
Currently, the state’s 33 largest schools form Class A-1 to compete for state titles in all sports but football, which already is split into two divisions, as it should be. Football is a numbers game. The largest schools have more bodies to fill the 22 offensive and defensive positions.
The new split would apply to all sports next school year. In other words, Lewiston and Lake City, the panhandle’s only Class A-1 Division I teams, will compete with each other in everything from tiddlywinks to basketball to go to state. (Under another scenario, Post Falls and Moscow could be the only panhandle schools in Division II.) Meanwhile, Coeur d’Alene will be left to beat up on Division II teams in most sports - unless it petitions to move up to Division I, as it should. In recent years, the Vikings have won state titles against all A-1 comers in basketball, softball and golf. Those trophies mean more than the ones CHS is sure to get if it stays in a weaker Division II.
The association could have accomplished almost as much - and kept Class A-1 intact - by inviting 12 teams to the state tournament instead of the current eight. Then again, in this age of parity, we’re lucky the IHSAA didn’t create 144 divisions so every school could win a state trophy.