Idaho’s high school classifications make few happy. This new solution might solve that
Which schools play in what classification remains one of the most debated topics in Idaho high schools sports. But the state’s governing body believes it has a new solution — one that would allow a school to play in multiple classifications.
Instead of petitioning down a classification as an entire athletic program, schools would need to make the case for each sport to play at a lower level under a proposal advanced last week by the Idaho High School Activities Association Board of Directors.
The proposal allows only team sports, like football, basketball, soccer and baseball, to petition down based on wins and losses. So-called individual sports, like track, wrestling and cross country, may not.
The rule change aims to help struggling teams compete while preventing successful or merely mediocre ones from dominating lower-division competition. Several programs have won state titles or qualified for state tournaments in recent years after dropping to a lower level for competitive reasons.
But it could leave a school with its football and softball teams playing in 4A while the rest compete at the 5A level, for example. That represents a fundamental overhaul to Idaho’s one-size-fits-all high school sports classification system that could change league sizes, affect state tournament representation and create scheduling headaches.
The proposal passed on an 11-1 vote. It will need to pass a second vote to become official, and it wouldn’t take effect until the 2024-25 school year. The IHSAA board next meets on April 6.
“We all know of schools that have successful programs that should not compete at a lower level,” IHSAA board member Chad Williams told the Idaho Statesman earlier this month. “By doing this, it’s going to deter those successful individual programs so that they can’t petition down. But it’s still going to be an option for those that are really struggling.”
What would the new rule be?
Idaho still groups its schools by enrollment. The larger the school, the larger the classification it starts in.
That used to be the end of the conversation. But four years ago, Idaho began allowing schools with little athletic success to plead their case before the IHSAA board under what it calls “competitive equity.”
This new proposal would toughen the competitive equity standard and apply it sport by sport instead of to an entire school.
To play in a lower classification, a sports program would need to show it won close to or less than 25% of its combined games between the varsity, junior varsity and freshman levels in the past two years. It also would need to show that it finished at or near the bottom third of district tournaments the past two years.
The current competitive equity standard is winning less than 33% of games for 75% of a school’s sports. It also required data from the past four years. Current rules don’t factor in district tournament results for team sports.
The proposal lists the following as team sports and activities: football, boys and girls soccer, volleyball, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, cheer and dance. All other teams are considered as individual sports and would need to compete at their student enrollment level.
The new rule would establish a committee for each sport to review any teams trying to move down. But final decisions still rest with the IHSAA board.
Why is this complicated system necessary?
Idaho’s competitive equity goals sometimes backfired as allegedly struggling schools racked up state tournament berths, trophies and even championships in a lower classification.
Through the fall of 2021, an Idaho Statesman analysis found teams that petitioned to play in a lower classification have:
Won 11 state championships out of the 244 awarded (4.5%).
Won 33 state tournament trophies out of the 976 awarded (3.4%).
Qualified for 59 of the 1,704 state tournament berths (3.5%).
Idaho Falls and Kuna won eight of those 11 state championships during the first two seasons under the competitive equity system. No school has won a team state title in the current two-year cycle.
In individual sports, athletes from schools that petitioned down have:
Won 31 state titles out of the 802 awarded (3.9%).
Won 201 of the 5,375 medals awarded (3.7%).
A complete list of state berths for individual sports was not available. The Statesman’s analysis also did not include activities such as cheer, dance or drama.
Since voting for the competitive equity system, Williams has spearheaded a push for reform. He points out sports are a zero-sum game. Every accomplishment a 5A-size school earns in 4A comes at the expense of a traditional 4A school.
“We’ve given it two cycles to prove itself,” Williams said. “I believe it has proven itself ineffective for the most part, and it needs to be adjusted.”
How would it affect Boise-area schools?
An exact comparison is impossible as complete junior varsity and freshman district tournaments results are not readily available. Additionally, IHSAA board members could always show more leniency, which they have a history of.
But four Treasure Valley schools asked to remain in 4A with 5A enrollment numbers last fall. Their submitted documents shed light on how the rule might play out.
Were the rule in place today:
Caldwell would qualify for 4A in football, volleyball, baseball and softball. Boys basketball (won 26% of games) sits on the bubble. Girls basketball, boys soccer and girls soccer would be in 5A.
Nampa would qualify for 4A only in girls soccer. No other sport meets the criteria.
Ridgevue submitted only varsity records, leaving an incomplete picture. But based on those numbers, it would qualify for 4A in football and girls basketball. Girls soccer (won 27% of games) and boys basketball (won 28% of games) are on the bubble. Boys soccer, volleyball, baseball and softball would be in 5A.
Middleton submitted no win-loss records, but none of its sports would qualify to remain in 4A, based solely on varsity records the past two seasons.
Assuming the IHSAA approved all bubble teams to move down, that would leave the 5A Southern Idaho Conference with 13 teams in football, girls soccer and boys basketball; 14 teams in volleyball, girls basketball, baseball and softball; and 15 teams in boys soccer.
The 4A SIC would then have eight teams in football, girls soccer and boys basketball; seven teams in volleyball, girls basketball, baseball and softball; and six teams in boys soccer.
Why the long wait?
The IHSAA solidified its classifications for the next two years last fall. This rule would not affect any school in that time.
Proposing it now gives schools time to prepare for a new world outside of Idaho’s one-size-fits-all approach. League identities will remain in flux. Schedules will need extra attention. And which league gets how many state tournament berths will have to be reconfigured.
Williams notes that no team has to move to a lower classification. Participation is voluntary. But every movement up or down would have an impact on every opponent’s schedule and path to a state tournament.
“It affects so many schools,” IHSAA board president Tim Perrigot said during last week’s meeting. “It affects schools coming and going. It affects schools regionally. And it affects schools throughout the rest of the state when you’re talking about representation.
“This is a big deal.”
This story was originally published January 26, 2022 at 3:49 PM.
