WHSAA Board of Directors Fall Meeting #1 Results

Here's what issues got passed and defeated at the first WHSAA Board of Directors meeting of the school year:

5-Class Reclassification System: Defeated. The main concern was how to handle state championship events if there were 5 classes in every sport, except football...the big concern being basketball.

Current Reclassification Cycle Extended; Will Coincide With State Championship Bids: The current reclassification system was supposed to expire at the end of this school year (June 2013), but the board voted to extend it through the end of the 2013-2014 school year. What this will do is allow reclass cycles to coincide with bids for various state championship event bids. State championship host location bids for most sports, will either be 2 year or 4 year deals.

1A 11-Man and 6-Man Football In 2013: According to the board, Saratoga and Wyoming Indian are considering dropping down to 6-man football for 2013. This would put 12 teams in 1A 11-man and 12 in 6-man. Rock River will not join 6-man varsity next year due to lack of numbers, and a decision on St. Stephens is still up in the air. Upton/Sundance will remain a combined program for 2013. The other question is Normative Services which is also considering dropping down to 6-man. This has the potential of having an odd number of teams in 1A 11-man and/or 6-Man.

Football Tie-Breaker For 3-Way Play In Game: 3-way coin flip to start. Odd coin team sits first. Teams will then play 2 8-minute periods vs. each other (it was 12 in the past). What's new is that if this does not break the tie, then the teams will comeback and play an overtime period vs. each other, with each team getting the ball once. If that doesn't work, the whoever has the better point differential wins. If that doesn't work, then another 3-way coin flip. The odd coin is the winner, and that team is in the playoffs as the #3 seed. The #4 seed will be the head-to-head winner of the remaining 2 teams.

4A Football Practice Start Date: Instead of starting 1 full week before all other classes, 4A teams will start practice the Thursday before all other classes. The board felt that the start day of practice is getting earlier and earlier in the calendar year. 4A teams can get their first 3 non-padded practices in on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and then on Monday, start practice with pads.

Basketball Mercy Rule: Running clock in the 2nd half, when the point differential reaches 40 points. This is a first reading, and needs to go through the board again to be official.

Bid For State Cross Country Reopened: Starting this year, Douglas was to host the state cross country meet for 3 years, but it seems they will be shifting to a new course. So the board decided to reopen the bid for the state cross country meet for 2 years, starting in 2013. The board is thinking about some sort of east-west rotation.

State Golf: No 4-some will have 2 players from the same school in the group.

State Golf Location Rotation: The 4A rotation starting in 2013 is, Laramie, Rock Springs, Sheridan Green River, Evanston, Cheyenne, Gillette, Riverton, and Casper. GR is new to the list now that they have an 18-hole course. The 3A rotation is Buffalo, Cody, Torrington, Powell, Jackson, Douglas, Star Valley, Lander, Lyman, Rawlins Worland. 2A will now have a rotation instead of a bidding process which was used in past years. The rotation starting in 2013 is, Sundance/Hulett, Thermopolis, Wright, Moorcroft, Big Horn/Tongue River, Upton, Saratoga, Lusk, Kemmerer and Lovell.

State Spirit/Dance Competition: Passed a motion to add Jazz/Lyrical Dance and Hip/Hop Dance as new categories in the competition.

Arapaho Charter Athletics: The school is trying to put together a JV basketball program for the upcoming season and/or next season. They are also trying to put together a track team for spring 2013, but it would not be eligible to compete in regional and state events until spring 2014.