CV ruling delayed

The WIAA’s Executive Board heard an appeal from Central Valley High principal Mike Hittle on Sunday, but decided to wait until today to make a final decision on the Bears basketball forfeiture dating back to last season.

“We think the wrong individuals are being punished for this infraction,” Hittle told the board. “It was an administrative error and we feel the administrators should be held accountable, not necessarily the players or the coaches.”

An administrative error last year related to the enrollment of Luke Clift, a freshman who played on the varsity, forced District 8 to force the forfeit of the Bears’ 13 wins. The mistake, which was self-reported, deals with students who play middle school athletics in one district but enroll in another.

“The rules are kind of ambiguous and also discriminatory,” Hittle said.

Hittle also told the board an amendment to the WIAA handbook would be offered from District 8 this spring dealing with the timeliness of eligibility forfeits.

In other action Sunday, the board heard from nine organizations hoping to host state championship events, including the Seattle Mariners, who are bidding to host the 4A and 3A baseball final four this spring.

Unlike the other eight, the Spokane Regional Sports Commission’s presentation was not aimed at any specific events.

“The thought behind that was simply that most people on the board are aware of what we offer in Spokane and what we are capable of hosting and hosting well,” said SRSC’s Director of Marketing and Communication Suzanne Boyce, who spoke for the group.

Spokane was expected to bid for a second B-level tournament, which will be added in 2007, but an anticipated collaboration with site-partner Gonzaga University failed to materialize and the bid wasn’t made.

Boyce expects Spokane to keep its existing state tournaments when the Executive Board finalizes plans for its championships starting in the fall of 2007. Those decisions could be made as early as today.