Idaho changes its high school sports classification system. Here’s how it will work
One fundamental element governed Idaho high school sports for decades — all of a school’s sports teams played in one classification.
Soon, that may not be the case.
Starting in 2024-25, schools can no longer move their entire athletic program to a lower classification based on their win-loss history. Instead, schools will have to make the case for each sports program individually before the state governing body.
The new system represents an overhaul of Idaho’s one-size-fits all classification system. For example, a 5A-sized school could have its struggling football, volleyball and baseball programs compete at the 4A level while the rest of its sports remain in 5A.
The classification reform passed on a 10-2 final vote Wednesday from the Idaho High School Activities Association’s board.
“It prevents a lot of the problems of teams winning state championships, or even making it to state at the lower level,” IHSAA board member Tonia Burk said during Wednesday’s board meeting.
In the past four years, 11 teams won state championships and 35 individuals won state titles after the IHSAA allowed their entire school to play in a lower classification. Those represent 4.2% of the team state championships and 3.9% of the individual state titles in that time frame.
WHO CAN MOVE DOWN?
Student enrollment still remains the baseline. The more students, the higher the classification a school starts in. Those dividing lines remain unchanged.
Only programs in team sports can move down under the new rule. Team sports include football, volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, cheer and dance.
Individual sports — cross country, golf, swimming, tennis, track and wrestling — can not move down.
Teams wishing to play at a lower level should have:
A combined winning percentage for their varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams near or below 25% in the past two years.
Finished in the bottom 33% of their district tournaments at the varsity, junior varsity and freshman levels the past two years.
The IHSAA board still makes the final decisions for all teams. But school superintendents will also vote, and the IHSAA will establish committees for each sport to review applications and offer advice.
IHSAA CONTINUES CLASSIFICATION REFORM
Wednesday’s vote marks the latest step in a series of reforms for Idaho’s high school sports classifications. The state no longer solely relies on the number of students in a school. Instead, sports programs can move down based on their wins and losses — with IHSAA approval.
Starting this fall, seven schools will play football in a different classification from the rest of their sports. That includes Wood River, a 4A school playing in 3A, as well as 1A Division I schools Hansen, Castleford, Lakeside, Lewis County, Wallace and Shoshone competing at the 1A Division II level.
IHSAA board member Chad Williams spearheaded the reform passed Wednesday. He said watching the football requests play out for the first time last September reassured him the state should abandon its all-sports classification hatchet for a sport-by-sport scalpel.
“That was much better as a board because we could see this football team probably should go down, but their girls basketball is probably going to win state,” Williams said during Wednesday’s meeting.
HOW WILL IT AFFECT BOISE-AREA SCHOOLS?
The region does not have enough publicly available junior varsity and freshman records to make an exact determination. And IHSAA board members can always show leniency.
But if the rule were in place now, information from last fall’s classification rulings gives us a rough sketch.
Caldwell would remain 4A in football, volleyball, baseball and softball. It might in boys basketball (26% winning percentage) with a favorable IHSAA ruling. Girls basketball, boys soccer and girls soccer would move up to 5A.
Nampa would stay in 4A in just one sport, girls soccer.
Ridgevue would qualify for 4A football and girls basketball based on varsity data. (It did not submit other records.) Its girls soccer and boys basketball programs are on the bubble. Boys soccer, volleyball, baseball and softball would jump to 5A.
No Middleton teams would qualify to remain in 4A based on varsity records. It did not submit any nonvarsity records as part of its IHSAA petition.
That would create a 5A Southern Idaho Conference with:
15 teams in boys soccer
14 teams in volleyball, girls basketball, baseball and softball
13 teams in football, girls soccer and boys basketball
Those uneven structures would create a new high school sports world, one with complications for conferences, schedule-makers and state tournament representation.
“If you petition down in one sport, it’s not a big deal. You can find a conference to take you in,” said Ted Reynolds, an IHSAA board member and Ridgevue’s athletic director. “But if you petition down in football and girls basketball, it could be tough to find a conference to take you in.
“But that puts it on the athletic director and the principal to say, ‘Do we really want to do this?’ ”
This story was originally published April 8, 2022 at 11:49 AM.
