Board of Control unanimously approves NIAA realignment proposal

Almost two and a half years ago, Basic High School administrative staff, coaches, students and parents were irate over a realignment proposal offered by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association.

They weren’t alone.

Several Southern Nevada schools didn’t want to think about realigning and potentially breaking up several key rivalries.

Twenty-nine months, several committee meetings, a rubric, and a whole new proposal later, the Wolves couldn’t be happier with the idea of realignment.

And again, they’re not alone.

The NIAA’s Board of Control met Monday at South Point and unanimously approved a realignment proposal that will go into effect for 2012-2013.

The proposal essentially combines the current Class 4A and 3A schools, then separates them into two divisions, based on competitive balance.

“We fought the original proposal hard,” Basic principal David Bechtel said. “It seemed so arbitrary, and we had no knowledge of it coming. When it came out, I found out about it in the newspaper.
“But we came full circle with it. The decisions were made in the best interest of everybody.”

Bechtel served on the South’s realignment committee, which came up with a rubric to assign points to a school based on their finish in each sport. Those points were compiled over a two-year period with the top 12 schools in each region being placed in what will now be known as Division I.

Division I will have Sunset and Sunrise Regions with each region comprised of two six-team leagues.
The remaining schools join the current 3A schools in a 13-school Division I-A, which will be broken into two regions.

“It became a competitive realignment,” Bechtel said. “When you look at the benefits of it, it changed the mindset of the whole process. Now it’s a system.”

The realignment approved by the board Monday was the one recommended by the realignment committee last spring. It’s a two-year plan that gives schools the opportunity to move from Division I to I-A or vice-versa after two years based on how their teams fare in all sports.

“People need to understand it will rotate every two years,” said Pam Sloan, the Clark County School District’s athletic director.

The NIAA had based its alignment strictly on enrollment numbers in the past.

In an attempt to balance leagues and save money on transportation costs, especially for the Class 3A schools that  struggled in scheduling non-league games, the NIAA went with the committee’s proposal.

“We’re more than happy with this whole proposal,” Boulder city athletic director Regina Quintero said. “As far as competitive balance goes, people will realize that our teams are there to compete.”

Only one school had a representative voice comments against the realignment Monday.

Green Valley athletic administrator John Scott said his school was against the realignment because it breaks up traditional rivalries the Gators have with schools like Basic and Coronado.

“We’re being pulled away from our Henderson Bowl and from Coronado,” Scott said. “We have to travel more. We would rather keep a community rivalry going.”

Still to be determined, though, is what postseason format will be used.

Even sports like tennis and boys volleyball, which currently hold only one state tournament, will hold separate tourneys for Division I and Division I-A.

The board of control is still seeking input from schools and coaches as to how many teams from each league should qualify for the postseason.