Reclassification, a new event for track and field, regional wrestling and 4A soccer clock keeping were some of the topics discussed at the 2nd Fall 2016 meeting, of the Wyoming High School Activities Association Board of Directors.

Reclassification format for volleyball, basketball and outdoor track and field: Currently the top 12 schools with the most enrollment are placed in Class 4A, the next 16 in 3A, the next 20 in 2A and the rest in 1A. A number of proposals were up for discussion for the next 2-year reclassification cycle, that starts in August 2018. The Board has decided to propose a 16-16-16-rest format, to all 4 districts. Since it has not yet been presented to the districts, the board could not take action to make this proposal official. The main reason for this format is to try to have more regionalized scheduling, so that travel costs can be reduced, and less missed school time compared to the current format. Under current 2-year enrollment numbers for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years, Thunder Basin, Riverton, Cody and Star Valley would move up to 4A, Lyman, Lovell, Moorcroft and Big Piney would move up to 3A, and Upton would drop back down to 1A. Enrollment numbers for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years, which would be the next reclassification cycle, probably won’t be available until around September 2017. The numbers are generated by school principals, who then submit them to the Wyoming Department of Education. The WHSAA puts together the reclassification format, off of those numbers.

8 or 9-man Football: The WHSAA wants to get feedback from coaches about the possibility of bringing in 8 or 9-man football in the future. Some of the concerns are that 6-man could be getting too big, and 1A 11-man could be getting too small.

Wrestling: An idea has been proposed to shrink wrestling from 3 classes to 2. It would be the top 20 teams based on enrollment, in the higher class, and every other team in the lower class. The board couldn't take any action to make it official, because it hasn't been presented to any of the districts yet. The WHSAA wants to get feedback from coaches and teams, before going any further. Under current enrollment numbers, if the proposal passes, based on school enrollment numbers, Rawlins would the least enrolled of the higher class, while Worland and Torrington would be the most enrolled of the lower class. Remember, Thunder Basin enters the picture starting with the 2017-18 school year.

Soccer Reclassification: The WHSAA wants to discuss with districts about soccer having 14 teams in 4A, with the remaining 11 in 3A. Thunder Basin would join 4A in 2018, and Riverton would come back to 4A under the proposal. No official board action was taken.

Regional Wrestling: The WHSAA BOD on second reading, defeated a proposal that would make the regional wrestling tournaments a 1-day event instead of 2. One of the reasons is that if the 2 class proposal takes effect, then there will be more participants at the regional meets, meaning wrestlers will have to compete in more matches.

Reclassification for other sports not mentioned: Since no proposals were made, it appears that there will no changes made to future reclassification in other sports, such as golf, swimming, tennis, cross country and skiing.

Skiing, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field, Golf, Tennis, Cross County and Swimming Seasons: In each of these sports, there is a limit on the number of contest days an athlete can participate in, including regional and/or state meets. On second reading making it official, the BOD passed a proposal that would make it so that regional and state meets, would not count towards the maximum number of contest days, that an athlete can participate in. This proposal does not lengthen when the season starts and ends.

Track and Field Sprint Medley Relays: The BOD passed on second reading making it official, a proposal that would add a sprint medley relay event (200, 200, 400, and 800) to both indoor and outdoor track and field. This will start in 2018.

4A Soccer Clocks: The BOD passed on second reading making it official, a proposal that in 4A varsity soccer games, when a scoreboard is on-site and available, the official time for the game will be kept on the clock, rather than by the referee. The ref would notify the clock operator when to start/stop the clock. It has not been determined if this rule would be issued in games between 4A teams vs. 3A teams. The rationale behind the idea is that 4A Coaches feel like the change would provide consistency and objectivity at the end of matches. The change would take away uncertainty regarding how much time is left at the end of matches. This is a process used by college soccer. This will start in spring 2017.

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