NIAA VOTES AGAIN -- PAY ATTENTION PEEPS!!

[consumedone]

Three Reno schools may get 3A status
JUSTIN LAWSON
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 6/21/2007
Modified: 6/21/2007
STORY CHAT(read or post comments)
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Few high schools that were on the bubble for realignment were happy about the decision handed down by the Nevada Interscholastic Athletics Association on Wednesday.

The recommendation by Eddie Bonine, executive director of the NIAA, passed by a majority vote of 11-2 to align all Nevada high schools by their enrollment number beginning with the 2008-2009 seasons. The realignment affected three Reno-area schools: Bishop Manogue, Hug and Damonte Ranch, all of which were sent down from Class 4A to Class 3A because their respective enrollment numbers are below the 1,201 students needed to be accepted into 4A status. The decision isn't final as schools have until Aug. 13 to send in a petition to either move up or down in class.

"I have sat on three of these (realignment meetings) and this is my fourth," Bonine said. "We have to have a basis to go off of and in my opinion as the executive director that basis would be to go off the numbers."

The NIAA regulations for determining what class schools fit into are: student enrollment of 0-169 in Class 1A, 170-460 in 2A, 461-1,200 in 3A and 1,201 and above in 4A. The regulations also state that the board will take into account geographic location and competitiveness of the schools.

Those numbers did help a few schools which were on the bubble, such as Wooster, South Lake Tahoe and Elko all of which wanted to remain in 4A and were on the bubble due to either competitiveness in major sports, such as, football and basketball or geographic location.

"This isn't a long-running tradition of not being competitive," said Wooster athletic director Mike Anderson. "We just happened to go into a bad cycle. Our so-called country club sports: our golf team, our swim team, ski team and tennis teams all qualified for post-season play and that speaks high for Wooster High School."

Wooster in the past was a perennial contender in football, winning seven large-school titles from 1976-1998 under Coach Joe Sellers. It also won four consecutive state 4A softball championships from 2000-2003. But after the high schools were rezoned in 2001, and again in 2005, enrollment suffered according to Anderson.

"Zoning has absolutely strangled us to death," he said.

One of the issues that came up is that competitiveness throughout the different sports is cyclical and that just because a high school isn't competitive now, or it is dominating its current class, doesn't mean it will remain that way. The way the enrollment numbers are used to determine class is based off just one year's worth of data, rather than the average over several years.

"We have looked at that in the past, but because of the growth in some communities, i.e. Dayton, Fernley, those schools are jumping," Bonine said. "We're talking about huge schools. If we've got to move the numbers, we'll move the numbers."

Dayton's population has increased by about 2,500 people from 2000-2005 according to the University of Nevada, Reno bureau of business and economic research. Fernley has more than doubled in population over that same time from 8,543 to 18,850 according to the State of Nevada Demographer.

Another issue at the meeting was about time taken away from the classroom for students to travel to their games, with travel for some schools taking as much as 10 hours round trip for schools like Carlin, about 25 minutes outside of Elko, which is class 1A. But one school is used to the idea of traveling.

"The one negative as far as Elko is concerned is travel," said Lynette Davis, Elko's athletic director. "I know the schools in the Reno area hate to travel to Elko, times that by 10 and you'll have Elko's travel to Reno. We don't complain about it."

Bonine said no matter what the ruling is, someone isn't going to be happy with it.

"It's the mole theory," he said. "We took care of one problem and another pops up over here."

Other schools affected by this decision are: Bishop Gorman from 4A to 3A, Pahrump from 3A to 4A and Yerington football from 2A to 3A (football was the only sport in 2A).

The meetings continue today at the Atlantis Casino Resort in Reno to discuss tournament formats. The NIAA will meet again in October to review any petitions on realignment.

I, of course do not want to see the Damonte Athletes drop down to 3A especially given the records posted this year: 1. Our students travelled to D.C. and won We the People Convention; 2. Our Baseball team was only one game away from winning a league title; 3. Our cheer squad travelled to Vegas to compete in State and placed 3rd overall; our wrestling team took 3rd at zone and 4th at State (even being a new school and the odds all against us). Then of course, OUR wonderful VOLLEYBALL TEAM!!! Championing Damonte it's 1st State Team Title!! it is OBVIOUS to me that these students are already competing at a level equal to and greater than skills they need to possess. The parents of our athletes always manage to help each other out financially for travelling expenses and the area is growing with more and more homes being sold in Damonte Ranch every day, Curti Ranch is completed and built out already!! This make absolutely no sense!! I implore you all get out your pens, paper, faxes and cellphones. We need to submit our petition to the Board by August 13. The Board will reconvene October. I would like to have this before them and be heard prior to that. Who's gonna come with me? Also we will need the support of parent in the other sports as well. We will need to nominate an articulate speaker on that sport's behalf, and we can all caravan over to the Peppermill together!! Media attention is always welcome, and I will contact the sponsors of the NIAA myself. "No child left behind" What about scholarships!!!!!!! Please help!! You may call me at 775-560-2443. Please leave a message. We are in trial right now and I can't always get to the phone. We cannot sit on this people, they are planning the realignment for 2008!!! Mary Christian



P.S. What is this "Dayton's population has increased by about 2,500 people from 2000-2005 according to the University of Nevada, Reno bureau of business and economic research. Fernley has more than doubled in population over that same time from 8,543 to 18,850 according to the State of Nevada Demographer." Supposed to mean? Just because the population has grown, it doesn't mean each household has children enrolled in school!! Damonte Ranch, Curti Ranch, and the South Meadows area have tripled over the last two years -- many of those households have children at Brown, at Double Diamond and in Jr. High at Damonte - And I could bet 1 in every 3 houses have children!! I would question this statement. How many students are enrolled in Dayton and Fernley? Another thing - CONSIDER THE DROP OUT RATES TOO!!

[consumedone]

consumedone said:

Three Reno schools may get 3A status
JUSTIN LAWSON
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 6/21/2007
Modified: 6/21/2007
STORY CHAT(read or post comments)
advertisement

Ladies' team ropers don't let history repeat itself

North rallies to take prep showdown advertisement

Few high schools that were on the bubble for realignment were happy about the decision handed down by the Nevada Interscholastic Athletics Association on Wednesday.

The recommendation by Eddie Bonine, executive director of the NIAA, passed by a majority vote of 11-2 to align all Nevada high schools by their enrollment number beginning with the 2008-2009 seasons. The realignment affected three Reno-area schools: Bishop Manogue, Hug and Damonte Ranch, all of which were sent down from Class 4A to Class 3A because their respective enrollment numbers are below the 1,201 students needed to be accepted into 4A status. The decision isn't final as schools have until Aug. 13 to send in a petition to either move up or down in class.

"I have sat on three of these (realignment meetings) and this is my fourth," Bonine said. "We have to have a basis to go off of and in my opinion as the executive director that basis would be to go off the numbers."

The NIAA regulations for determining what class schools fit into are: student enrollment of 0-169 in Class 1A, 170-460 in 2A, 461-1,200 in 3A and 1,201 and above in 4A. The regulations also state that the board will take into account geographic location and competitiveness of the schools.

Those numbers did help a few schools which were on the bubble, such as Wooster, South Lake Tahoe and Elko all of which wanted to remain in 4A and were on the bubble due to either competitiveness in major sports, such as, football and basketball or geographic location.

"This isn't a long-running tradition of not being competitive," said Wooster athletic director Mike Anderson. "We just happened to go into a bad cycle. Our so-called country club sports: our golf team, our swim team, ski team and tennis teams all qualified for post-season play and that speaks high for Wooster High School."

Wooster in the past was a perennial contender in football, winning seven large-school titles from 1976-1998 under Coach Joe Sellers. It also won four consecutive state 4A softball championships from 2000-2003. But after the high schools were rezoned in 2001, and again in 2005, enrollment suffered according to Anderson.

"Zoning has absolutely strangled us to death," he said.

One of the issues that came up is that competitiveness throughout the different sports is cyclical and that just because a high school isn't competitive now, or it is dominating its current class, doesn't mean it will remain that way. The way the enrollment numbers are used to determine class is based off just one year's worth of data, rather than the average over several years.

"We have looked at that in the past, but because of the growth in some communities, i.e. Dayton, Fernley, those schools are jumping," Bonine said. "We're talking about huge schools. If we've got to move the numbers, we'll move the numbers."

Dayton's population has increased by about 2,500 people from 2000-2005 according to the University of Nevada, Reno bureau of business and economic research. Fernley has more than doubled in population over that same time from 8,543 to 18,850 according to the State of Nevada Demographer.

Another issue at the meeting was about time taken away from the classroom for students to travel to their games, with travel for some schools taking as much as 10 hours round trip for schools like Carlin, about 25 minutes outside of Elko, which is class 1A. But one school is used to the idea of traveling.

"The one negative as far as Elko is concerned is travel," said Lynette Davis, Elko's athletic director. "I know the schools in the Reno area hate to travel to Elko, times that by 10 and you'll have Elko's travel to Reno. We don't complain about it."

Bonine said no matter what the ruling is, someone isn't going to be happy with it.

"It's the mole theory," he said. "We took care of one problem and another pops up over here."

Other schools affected by this decision are: Bishop Gorman from 4A to 3A, Pahrump from 3A to 4A and Yerington football from 2A to 3A (football was the only sport in 2A).

The meetings continue today at the Atlantis Casino Resort in Reno to discuss tournament formats. The NIAA will meet again in October to review any petitions on realignment.

I, of course do not want to see the Damonte Athletes drop down to 3A especially given the records posted this year: 1. Our students travelled to D.C. and won We the People Convention; 2. Our Baseball team was only one game away from winning a league title; 3. Our cheer squad travelled to Vegas to compete in State and placed 3rd overall; our wrestling team took 3rd at zone and 4th at State (even being a new school and the odds all against us). Then of course, OUR wonderful VOLLEYBALL TEAM!!! Championing Damonte it's 1st State Team Title!! it is OBVIOUS to me that these students are already competing at a level equal to and greater than skills they need to possess. The parents of our athletes always manage to help each other out financially for travelling expenses and the area is growing with more and more homes being sold in Damonte Ranch every day, Curti Ranch is completed and built out already!! This make absolutely no sense!! I implore you all get out your pens, paper, faxes and cellphones. We need to submit our petition to the Board by August 13. The Board will reconvene October. I would like to have this before them and be heard prior to that. Who's gonna come with me? Also we will need the support of parent in the other sports as well. We will need to nominate an articulate speaker on that sport's behalf, and we can all caravan over to the Peppermill together!! Media attention is always welcome, and I will contact the sponsors of the NIAA myself. "No child left behind" What about scholarships!!!!!!! Please help!! You may call me at 775-560-2443. Please leave a message. We are in trial right now and I can't always get to the phone. We cannot sit on this people, they are planning the realignment for 2008!!! Mary Christian



P.S. What is this "Dayton's population has increased by about 2,500 people from 2000-2005 according to the University of Nevada, Reno bureau of business and economic research. Fernley has more than doubled in population over that same time from 8,543 to 18,850 according to the State of Nevada Demographer." Supposed to mean? Just because the population has grown, it doesn't mean each household has children enrolled in school!! Damonte Ranch, Curti Ranch, and the South Meadows area have tripled over the last two years -- many of those households have children at Brown, at Double Diamond and in Jr. High at Damonte - And I could bet 1 in every 3 houses have children!! I would question this statement. How many students are enrolled in Dayton and Fernley? Another thing - CONSIDER THE DROP OUT RATES TOO!!

Justin Lawson (the writer of this article) was GRAVELY mistaken. Ruth Kilgore called the school who in turn stated that 1. our numbers are well above 1200 and 2. they had not heard anything bout being re-aligned. Ruth's words prompted me to call the NIAA. I spoke with Linda who is Bonine's assistant, and she told me that that was a mistake and that they are aware that Damonte's numbers are well above 1200. I thanked her then called Mark Lundahl, the Senior Editor at the Reno Gazette Journal, [phone], [e-mail]. I told him that the piece was mis-written. He said my call was the first call he had that the piece was wrong. I asked him to please look into it and have a retraction printed. He said he would look into it and I told him I would be waiting to read the retraction. WHEW!!!!!!!!!

[Alumni]

Schools chosen to go down to 3A will continue to be in 4A


STEVERANSON
Nevada Appeal News Service
June 21, 2007

RENO - Executive Director Eddie Bonine said the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association had a chance to think "outside the box."

Instead, the Board of Control relied more on its regulations and decided Wednesday at its quarterly meeting in Reno to keep the status quo on Nevada's four high school athletic leagues when the next realignment cycle begins in 2008. Each league is divided by enrollment, a practice that has been in effect for decades.

Churchill County High School will not drop to the Northern 3A as school officials had hoped. Fallon, along with Elko, South Tahoe, Hug and Wooster, will continue to compete in the 17-team Northern 4A.

Bonine said the Board of Control wanted to take a look at other possibilities and received feedback from the affected schools.

"We had schools that were unhappy (with the proposal), so now we've gone in a circle back here today," he said.

Bonine said the decision came back to enrollment figures, so his motion requested schools to compete in athletic classifications based on their official student count in September.

Fallon Athletic Director Brad Daum was noticeably disappointed by the Board of Control's decision.

"We don't want to petition to go down now," Daum said.

Although Daum said Fallon would play in the Northern 3A if Elko and South Tahoe did, officials from those two schools told the NIAA they would prefer to remain in the state's largest athletic division.

"I thought they would make the three of us go down," Daum said.

Prior to Wednesday's vote and March's NIAA meeting in Las Vegas, the Lahontan Valley News had polled coaches and athletes and discovered a majority wanted to play in the Northern 3A. Daum told the Board of Control that Fallon's desire to play in the 3A was not about winning state or regional championships.

"From the competition standpoint, we felt the 3A was the best fit for the majority of our sports," Daum said.

Another blow to the committee's proposal came when a Washoe County School District representative said his district would prefer Hug and Wooster to remain in the Northern 4A.

The NIAA will allow high schools to petition up or down a classification at its September meeting. For example, Bishop Manogue and Bishop Gorman high schools, which have enrollments below the minimum number to play in the Northern 4A, will be allowed to petition up.

Only a remote possibility of the five Northern 4A school dropping to the Northern 3A exists. Superintendent Nat Lommori of the Lyon County School District, a member of the Board of Control, said he would like to see the enrollment numbers for each division change.

"We need to look at adjusting the numbers like Lommori suggested," Daum said. "We're on the fence with over 1,200 enrollment.

The current divisions and their enrollments are as follows: 1A, 0-169; 2A 170-460; 3A, 461-1200; and 4A, 1201 and higher. Fallon's enrollment on count day was 1,313.

When the NIAA first discussed realignment last summer, a process it undertakes every four years, it appointed a committee to look beyond enrollment numbers. The committee spent hours gathering information on travel costs, travel, geographic divisions, finances and natural rivalries.

Bill Darrow, principal of Needles (Calif.) High School and the 2A representative to the NIAA, said the committee wanted the five affected schools to move down to the 3A because of the competition.

"The original intent was for them to be in the 3A because of their numbers," Darrow said. "That's where we thought they could compete better."

Charlie Welch, vice principal at Sparks High School, said the Northern 3A schools were willing to take schools into their league that had strong boys' programs.

"We began looking at the smaller 4A schools that have struggled in their programs - boys and girls," he said. "We were looking to make the Northern 3A more balanced, more competitive."

[consumedone]

consumedone said:

consumedone said:

Three Reno schools may get 3A status
JUSTIN LAWSON
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 6/21/2007
Modified: 6/21/2007
STORY CHAT(read or post comments)
advertisement

Ladies' team ropers don't let history repeat itself

North rallies to take prep showdown advertisement

Few high schools that were on the bubble for realignment were happy about the decision handed down by the Nevada Interscholastic Athletics Association on Wednesday.

The recommendation by Eddie Bonine, executive director of the NIAA, passed by a majority vote of 11-2 to align all Nevada high schools by their enrollment number beginning with the 2008-2009 seasons. The realignment affected three Reno-area schools: Bishop Manogue, Hug and Damonte Ranch, all of which were sent down from Class 4A to Class 3A because their respective enrollment numbers are below the 1,201 students needed to be accepted into 4A status. The decision isn't final as schools have until Aug. 13 to send in a petition to either move up or down in class.

"I have sat on three of these (realignment meetings) and this is my fourth," Bonine said. "We have to have a basis to go off of and in my opinion as the executive director that basis would be to go off the numbers."

The NIAA regulations for determining what class schools fit into are: student enrollment of 0-169 in Class 1A, 170-460 in 2A, 461-1,200 in 3A and 1,201 and above in 4A. The regulations also state that the board will take into account geographic location and competitiveness of the schools.

Those numbers did help a few schools which were on the bubble, such as Wooster, South Lake Tahoe and Elko all of which wanted to remain in 4A and were on the bubble due to either competitiveness in major sports, such as, football and basketball or geographic location.

"This isn't a long-running tradition of not being competitive," said Wooster athletic director Mike Anderson. "We just happened to go into a bad cycle. Our so-called country club sports: our golf team, our swim team, ski team and tennis teams all qualified for post-season play and that speaks high for Wooster High School."

Wooster in the past was a perennial contender in football, winning seven large-school titles from 1976-1998 under Coach Joe Sellers. It also won four consecutive state 4A softball championships from 2000-2003. But after the high schools were rezoned in 2001, and again in 2005, enrollment suffered according to Anderson.

"Zoning has absolutely strangled us to death," he said.

One of the issues that came up is that competitiveness throughout the different sports is cyclical and that just because a high school isn't competitive now, or it is dominating its current class, doesn't mean it will remain that way. The way the enrollment numbers are used to determine class is based off just one year's worth of data, rather than the average over several years.

"We have looked at that in the past, but because of the growth in some communities, i.e. Dayton, Fernley, those schools are jumping," Bonine said. "We're talking about huge schools. If we've got to move the numbers, we'll move the numbers."

Dayton's population has increased by about 2,500 people from 2000-2005 according to the University of Nevada, Reno bureau of business and economic research. Fernley has more than doubled in population over that same time from 8,543 to 18,850 according to the State of Nevada Demographer.

Another issue at the meeting was about time taken away from the classroom for students to travel to their games, with travel for some schools taking as much as 10 hours round trip for schools like Carlin, about 25 minutes outside of Elko, which is class 1A. But one school is used to the idea of traveling.

"The one negative as far as Elko is concerned is travel," said Lynette Davis, Elko's athletic director. "I know the schools in the Reno area hate to travel to Elko, times that by 10 and you'll have Elko's travel to Reno. We don't complain about it."

Bonine said no matter what the ruling is, someone isn't going to be happy with it.

"It's the mole theory," he said. "We took care of one problem and another pops up over here."

Other schools affected by this decision are: Bishop Gorman from 4A to 3A, Pahrump from 3A to 4A and Yerington football from 2A to 3A (football was the only sport in 2A).

The meetings continue today at the Atlantis Casino Resort in Reno to discuss tournament formats. The NIAA will meet again in October to review any petitions on realignment.

I, of course do not want to see the Damonte Athletes drop down to 3A especially given the records posted this year: 1. Our students travelled to D.C. and won We the People Convention; 2. Our Baseball team was only one game away from winning a league title; 3. Our cheer squad travelled to Vegas to compete in State and placed 3rd overall; our wrestling team took 3rd at zone and 4th at State (even being a new school and the odds all against us). Then of course, OUR wonderful VOLLEYBALL TEAM!!! Championing Damonte it's 1st State Team Title!! it is OBVIOUS to me that these students are already competing at a level equal to and greater than skills they need to possess. The parents of our athletes always manage to help each other out financially for travelling expenses and the area is growing with more and more homes being sold in Damonte Ranch every day, Curti Ranch is completed and built out already!! This make absolutely no sense!! I implore you all get out your pens, paper, faxes and cellphones. We need to submit our petition to the Board by August 13. The Board will reconvene October. I would like to have this before them and be heard prior to that. Who's gonna come with me? Also we will need the support of parent in the other sports as well. We will need to nominate an articulate speaker on that sport's behalf, and we can all caravan over to the Peppermill together!! Media attention is always welcome, and I will contact the sponsors of the NIAA myself. "No child left behind" What about scholarships!!!!!!! Please help!! You may call me at 775-560-2443. Please leave a message. We are in trial right now and I can't always get to the phone. We cannot sit on this people, they are planning the realignment for 2008!!! Mary Christian


P.S. What is this "Dayton's population has increased by about 2,500 people from 2000-2005 according to the University of Nevada, Reno bureau of business and economic research. Fernley has more than doubled in population over that same time from 8,543 to 18,850 according to the State of Nevada Demographer." Supposed to mean? Just because the population has grown, it doesn't mean each household has children enrolled in school!! Damonte Ranch, Curti Ranch, and the South Meadows area have tripled over the last two years -- many of those households have children at Brown, at Double Diamond and in Jr. High at Damonte - And I could bet 1 in every 3 houses have children!! I would question this statement. How many students are enrolled in Dayton and Fernley? Another thing - CONSIDER THE DROP OUT RATES TOO!!

Justin Lawson (the writer of this article) was GRAVELY mistaken. Ruth Kilgore called the school who in turn stated that 1. our numbers are well above 1200 and 2. they had not heard anything bout being re-aligned. Ruth's words prompted me to call the NIAA. I spoke with Linda who is Bonine's assistant, and she told me that that was a mistake and that they are aware that Damonte's numbers are well above 1200. I thanked her then called Mark Lundahl, the Senior Editor at the Reno Gazette Journal, [phone], [e-mail]. I told him that the piece was mis-written. He said my call was the first call he had that the piece was wrong. I asked him to please look into it and have a retraction printed. He said he would look into it and I told him I would be waiting to read the retraction. WHEW!!!!!!!!!


[glow=red,2,300]The Reno-Gazette Journal has "clarified" the error stating DRHS is dropping to 3A. WE ARE NOT!!! Click the link, pass it on so everyone will stop calling our our Athletic Director and Coaches. Thanks peeps!! news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007706230325[/glow]