11 Boise-area high schools want to change classifications. Here are their reasons
Tuesday stood as one of the most important days on the Idaho high school sports calendar. Yet it featured no scoreboard, playing field or trophy.
Instead, the state’s governing body was set to rule on requests from at least 54 teams from 25 high schools to change classifications next fall, altering leagues, schedules and the competition athletes face around the state.
This marks the second time schools can ask to move specific teams up or down a classification. Previously, an entire school’s athletic program played in a single classification. The updated rules allow struggling programs to drop a level to rebuild and find better competition.
Classification decisions remain one of the most consequential — and hotly debated — decisions made by the Idaho High School Activities Association. The state provides several guidelines for schools to meet in order to change classification. But the ultimate decision lies with the private nonprofit organization’s board, which rarely details its classification rulings publicly.
So through a series of public records requests, the Idaho Statesman acquired the documents schools submitted detailing their reasons to change classifications, and broke down all the applications for Southwest Idaho schools, as well as 6A and 5A schools around the state.
CENTENNIAL
Request: Drop to 5A
Sports: Football, girls basketball
Enrollment: 1,743 (5A max is 1,399)
Their case: The Patriots once fielded one of the state’s premier football and girls basketball programs. But those days are long gone.
Centennial’s varsity football team has not posted a winning record or made the playoffs since 2010, the longest active streak in the state’s top classification. The Patriots entered the fall 15-81 (.156) at the varsity level in the 11 seasons since former coach Lee Neumann resigned, and the school posted a combined record of 4-32 (.111) between its varsity and freshman programs the past two years, meeting the IHSAA’s threshold to petition down.
Centennial did not field a junior varsity football team and averaged 90.5 players the past two seasons.
“Reclassification would restore a sense of hope and motivation to our athletes and coaching staff by placing us in a more appropriate competitive landscape,” Centennial Athletic Director Keelan McCaffrey wrote to the IHSAA. “This move is not about seeking an unfair advantage. It is about giving our student-athletes a realistic opportunity to experience growth, competition, and success.”
The Patriots’ girls basketball program tells a similar story. Centennial won five state championships under Emery Roy — the state’s winningest basketball coach — in the 1990s and 2000s, and then added another title in 2017 under Candace Thornton.
But four coaching changes in five years sent Centennial to the bottom of the 6A SIC standings. The Patriots went 7-15 at the varsity level each of the past two seasons, including a combined 7-4 record vs. 5A competition. But add in their record at the junior varsity and freshman levels (3-44), and Centennial holds a 17-74 (.187) mark across all teams.
The IHSAA classification guidelines list a combined winning percentage of .250 or lower across all levels as justification to move down a classification.
CAPITAL
Request: Drop to 5A
Sports: Boys soccer, girls soccer
Enrollment: 1,566.6 (5A max is 1,399)
Their case: The Eagles’ soccer programs have long brought up the rear in the Southern Idaho Conference.
Capital’s varsity girls soccer team is currently mired in a 28-game winless streak after a Thursday loss. It last made the state tournament in 2008, and it posted an 11-84-6 (.116) varsity record between 2018 and 2024. It could only field one junior varsity squad in the past six years, playing just six games that season in an 8-on-8 configuration.
The school’s boys soccer program hasn’t fared much better, going a combined 7-50-1 (.123) the past two years at the varsity and junior varsity levels. The Eagles’ varsity program is also 17-60-8 (.221) in the past five seasons, and it made the state tournament only once since the IHSAA began sponsoring the playoffs in 2000, qualifying in 2002.
RIDGEVUE
Request: Drop to 5A
Sports: Football, boys soccer, girls soccer, softball
Enrollment: 1,649 (5A max is 1,399)
Their case: The IHSAA granted a lifeline to the Warhawks’ football program two years ago, allowing it to stay in 5A with 6A enrollment members. Now Ridgevue returns trying to extend that lifeline to more programs.
The Warhawks’ football program no longer meets the IHSAA guidelines to stay in 5A, posting an 18-29 (.383) record across all three levels the past two seasons. But Ridgevue Athletic Director John Hartz noted the Warhawks earned that record against 5A opponents, the teams Ridgevue wants to play against.
He also added that a 7-2 freshman team in 2023 boosted those numbers, and seven of Ridgevue’s best players from that squad transferred out of the school.
“To move up to 6A would be devastating for us in football,” Hartz wrote. “... For 6A competition this year, our JV team has faced Rocky Mountain and Mountain View. We lost those two games by a combined score of 117-19. We are not ready for this level yet.”
Ridgevue’s girls soccer (.100) and softball programs (.180) meet the IHSAA standards to petition down a level, while the Warhawks’ boys soccer program (.309) narrowly missed the .250 winning percentage guideline.
NAMPA
Request: Drop to 4A
Sports: Girls soccer
Enrollment: 1,303 (4A max is 699)
Their case: The Bulldogs have tried several routes to revive their long-struggling girls soccer program. They played an independent schedule at the 6A level in 2023, then dropped their 5A varsity league schedule this fall to play junior varsity opponents.
None have worked as Nampa entered the season on a 34-game losing streak, hasn’t fielded a junior varsity team since 2020 and sports a 10-150-8 (.063) varsity record in the past 11 seasons.
Now it wants to drop into the state’s lowest soccer division and compete in the 4A Snake River Valley. The Bulldogs haven’t found much success there either, going 0-7-0 against SRV opponents in 2023 and ‘24 before beating Payette this season.
“The trend is that we have young, inexperienced players come out for the program while upperclassmen stop playing, leaving very few juniors and/or seniors. They simply quit due to constant losing by double digits,” Nampa Athletic Director Greg Carpenter wrote to the IHSAA. “Thus, putting our younger players in a situation to play at the varsity level before they have a chance to develop. This continues the cycle of losing to more skilled and developed teams by double digits.”
BISHOP KELLY
Request: Stay in 6A
Sports: Boys soccer, girls soccer, boys swimming, girls swimming
Enrollment: 945.5 (5A max is 1,399)
Their case: For the second straight classification cycle, the Knights are petitioning up a level in some of their most successful sports.
Bishop Kelly’s boys and girls soccer programs both qualified for state last fall in their first season back in the state’s top division. The Knights also cleaned up at the state swim meet as their girls team ran away with a state title by 40 points and set four all-classification records.
All other sports will remain in 5A until at least the 2028-29 school year. Bishop Kelly Athletic Director Tom Shanahan told the Idaho Statesman the private Catholic school considered moving up in a few other sports, including football, tennis and golf. But he said the Knights opted to wait another two years before making the commitment.
The Knights’ football program remains a perennial state title contender, and their tennis and golf programs are even more dominant. Bishop Kelly has won five of the past six state titles in girls tennis and is the reigning boys tennis champ. Its boys golf program has captured four straight state titles, while its girls golf team is the two-time defending champ.
SKYVIEW
Request: Stay in 6A
Sports: Volleyball
Enrollment: 1,149 (5A max is 1,399)
Their case: The Hawks moved up to the state’s top division last fall and kept on winning, capturing their 14th straight district title and bringing home the second-place trophy from state.
After winning six state titles in the past decade — including two in the top division — Skyview sees no reason to move down.
VISION CHARTER
Request: Stay in 2A
Sports: Baseball
Enrollment: 215 (2A max is 174)
Their case: The Golden Eagles took a different approach, asking the IHSAA to grant it an exemption to play at the 2A level through 2031-32 with the promise it would never ask for another waiver. But the school found few sympathetic ears among the state’s superintendents, who blocked its requests in volleyball, boys and girls basketball, and softball — leaving just baseball for the IHSAA board to rule on.
Oddly enough, Vision Charter’s baseball program (.316) was just one of its two sports that did not meet the state guidelines to play in a lower classification.
North Star Charter Athletic Director Billy Lamitina noted that data on his school’s programs includes years of bouncing back and forth between 3A and 2A. He wrote the Golden Eagles are 14-213 (.062) against 3A opponents in all sports since the school started offering an athletic program in 2018-19, adding the Golden Eagles can not offer sub-varsity competition for most programs.
NORTH STAR CHARTER
Request: Stay in 2A
Sports: Football, volleyball, girls basketball
Enrollment: 182.5 (2A max is 174)
Their case: A move up to 3A would “greatly impact the culture of our school, which in turn will turn students and families away from our institution,” wrote Andy Horning, North Star Charter’s head of school.
The win-loss data the Huskies submitted to the IHSAA appears to include only conference games, making a comparison to other programs impossible. The state’s superintendents already rejected North Star’s requests for its baseball and boys basketball programs. The school’s baseball team won three district titles in the past five years.
North Star Athletic Director Janell Hodsdon wrote that the school is exploring starting a football program next year and would like it to remain at the 8-man level.
TRI-VALLEY
Request: Stay in 1A
Sports: Football, volleyball, boys basketball, girls basketball
Enrollment: 98.5 (1A max is 89)
Their case: None of the Titans’ programs meet the state’s win-loss standards to play in a lower classification. Instead, the co-op of Cambridge and Midvale high schools targeted increased travel for their reason to stay in the state’s smallest division.
Currently, Tri-Valley’s longest road trip for a conference game is 92 miles. If it moved to the 2A Western Idaho Conference, its longest conference road trip would rise to 152 miles, increasing the amount of time students are out of class, Midvale Athletic Director Jennifer Uhlenkott wrote.
Tri-Valley added it wants the IHSAA to consider its fall and winter sports together to avoid even more travel if, for example, the boys and girls basketball teams play in different conferences.
CENTENNIAL BAPTIST, RIMROCK
Both have long played up a level to reduce travel by playing in the 2A WIC and plan to continue doing so. Centennial Baptist Athletic Director Jo Holloway wrote that the Mustangs would need to travel an average of 2 hours for road games in the 1A Long Pin Conference. That would only increase for Rimrock, located south of Mountain Home.
AROUND THE STATE
Below are the petitions from schools in the state’s top two largest classifications.
CANYON RIDGE
Request: Stay in, drop to 5A
Sports: Football, volleyball, girls soccer, boys basketball, girls basketball, baseball, softball
Enrollment: 1,435.5 (5A max is 1,399)
Their case: The Warhawks return asking to play in a lower classification for the fourth straight time, citing their place as the only 6A school in the Twin Falls region. Canyon Ridge’s closest league opponent remains Highland 120 miles away in Pocatello, and it must travel as far at 190 miles to Rexburg for league games.
All six current schools in the 5A Great Basin Conference signed a letter supporting Canyon Ridge’s return to the conference with one caveat: the school’s boys and girls soccer programs. Both qualified for state in their final year in the league in 2023, and the girls team won the district title.
Girls basketball (.162) and softball (.194) are the only two Canyon Ridge sports that meet the IHSAA’s winning percentage guidelines to move down a classification.
Canyon Ridge’s football (.365), volleyball (.336), girls soccer (.517), boys basketball (.594) and baseball (.322) programs all exceed the .250 winning percentage in the state guidelines. But the IHSAA board has regularly waived those guidelines, allowing Canyon Ridge’s football and softball programs to remain in 5A two years ago.
The state’s superintendents already rejected the request for Canyon RIdge’s boys soccer team (.731) to play in a lower division.
MOSCOW
Request: Stay in 4A
Sports: Football
Enrollment: 781 (4A max is 699)
Their case: The IHSAA allowed the Bears to move down into the 4A Intermountain League last season, and Moscow promptly went 7-3, won the league title and earned a playoff berth.
That performance pushed Moscow’s two-year winning percentage to .455, well above the .250 guideline under state rules.
But Moscow’s petition pointed to safety concerns as a reason to stay in the lower division. Moscow Athletic Director Patrick Laney wrote the Bears field only 36 players this fall, adding the school needed IHSAA approval for its athletes to play extra quarters to keep its junior varsity team afloat.
“Competing against schools with nearly 60 more players creates a situation where our athletes are placed at a disadvantage before we even step on the field,” Laney wrote. “Moscow wants to be competitive, but we are now worried about our players’ health and safety. As we face larger, deeper, and more physical teams week after week, this will lead to a safety concern for our student-athletes.”
POST FALLS
Request: Stay in 5A
Sports: Girls soccer
Enrollment: 1,634 (5A max is 1,399)
Their case: The Trojans successfully petitioned down in both boys and girls soccer two years ago. But with their boys program finding its footing, Post Falls returns asking for help only for its girls team.
The Trojans have not beaten a 5A team since 2020, and their last win over a 6A program came in 2017, Post Falls Athletic Director Craigh Christensen wrote. The school is fielding a junior varsity squad this fall for the first time in five years.
SHELLEY
Request: Drop to 4A
Sports: Baseball
Enrollment: 800.5 (4A max is 699)
Their case: The Russets’ varsity baseball program has long struggled, posting an 18-87 (.171) record in the past five years, according to data submitted by athletic director Robert Crompton. But Shelley does not meet the IHSAA guidelines based on the relative strength of its junior varsity program.
The combined record of both teams over the past two years is 23-57 (.288), just above the state’s .250 guideline. But the IHSAA board can, and often does, weigh other factors when making a decision.
WOOD RIVER
Request: Stay, drop to 4A
Sports: Football, boys basketball, girls basketball
Enrollment: 917.5 (4A max is 699)
Their case: Wood River’s football program has twice petitioned down a level and returns for a third time. The Wolverines now sit above the state’s guidelines with a .270 winning percentage across all levels the past two years. But Wood River Athletic Director Kevin Stilling pointed out that two of those varsity wins came against Caldwell, which competes as an independent program.
Remove those two victories, and the Wolverines own a .229 winning percentage.
“It is our sincere belief that without this petition being granted, Wood River will not have a varsity football program,” Stilling wrote to the IHSAA.
The school’s boys basketball (.149) and girls basketball (.099) easily meet the IHSAA’s standards. The Wolverines’ girls basketball team also received a waiver two years ago.
This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
