Reclassification, football conferences and several sport season adjustments were made by the Wyoming High School Activities Association, at the first fall meeting of the 2013-2014 school year.

Reclassification: For the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years, the only classification change is in 3A and 2A, for all sports, except football. Lovell will move up to 3A and Lyman will move down to 2A, because of the latest ADM numbers. Lyman's enrollment has dropped them below the 3A/2A line, behind Lovell and Thermopolis.

As for how the 3A and 2A conferences will be arranged...that's up to the AD's and coaches of the various schools, but a decision has to be made before the state wide scheduling meeting, which will be held on November 12-13. The most likely scenario for 2A is for Lyman to be placed in the southwest, and Shoshoni would shift to the northwest.

As for 3A, there are several ideas floating around, but nothing concrete. Does Worland stay in the east? Do the Warriors go back into the west, and Lander goes to the east? There's been some talk of an unbalanced 3A, with 9 teams in the west and 7 teams in the east. There's also been an idea going around of 3A switching to a North-South format. There are no planned changes for 4A or 1A.

Football Alignment: Now that we know which teams will be playing 11-man and 6-man for 2014 and 2015, the board of directors has decided what the conferences will look like. 4A and 3A will be unchanged from previous seasons. In 2A, there will be 14 teams, down from the current 16. Tongue River and Moorcroft will drop down to 1A, while Thermopolis will shift from the 2A West to the 2A East.

1A 11-man and 1A 6-man will be unbalanced. Saratoga, and Wyoming Indian will move back up from 6-man to the 11-man game. Cokeville and Lingle-Ft. Laramie have declared up and will play 11-man. The 1A 11-man East will have 7 teams, while the west will have 8 teams. Lingle-Ft. Laramie, Moorcroft, Lusk, Pine Bluffs, Southeast, Tongue River and Upton/Sundance will play in the east. Burlington, Cokeville, Riverside, Rocky Mountain, Saratoga, Shoshoni, Wind River and Wyoming Indian, will play in the west.

In 6-man, it's 7 in the east and 6 in the west. Rock River will promote it's JV football squad to varsity status, starting fall 2014. The east has Guernsey, H.E.M., Hulett, Kaycee, Midwest, Normative Services and Rock River. The west has Dubois, Farson-Eden, Little Snake River, Meeteetse, St. Stephens, and Ten Sleep.

Volleyball Season: Beginning with the 2014-15 school year, the length of the volleyball season, will be extended by 1 week. This means that the state championships will be held on the weekend of the football semi-finals, and not on the weekend of the first round of the football playoffs, which is also the same weekend of state girls swimming. The purpose of this, is to reduce missed class time, because of having to play Tuesday and Thursday games. Some teams under the present format, have to scramble quickly to finish up the conference schedule, late in the regular season. The motion was passed by the board, on 2nd reading unanimously.

Basketball and Wrestling Seasons: Both have had their seasons shortened by 1 week, starting in the 2014-2015 school year. Practice will start one week later, than in the current format. There were several reasons behind this. Reduce missed class time due to contests...school districts can save money on game officials and game workers...reduce overall travel costs for district families and fans, and so that pre-season practice will cause less interference, if any, with the Thanksgiving Holiday. Also, any athlete who plays in the football state championship games, would get a week to rest up, without immediately having to turn around and prepare for basketball or wrestling, on the following Monday. The upcoming 2013-2014 season is not affected by this change. The basketball motion was passed by the board, on 2nd reading via 9-6 margin, while wrestling passed on 2nd motion, 12-3.

Maximum number of basketball games: The maximum number of games played has been reduced from 20 to 18. Same reason as mentioned above, plus players won't have to be active during both Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, unless they want to. This motion passed the board, on 2nd reading, via 9-6 margin.

Soccer Season: The start and end of the season, will occur 1 week later than the current format, beginning in spring 2015. The length of the season is unchanged. The plan is to eliminate the 1 week overlap that soccer has with the 4A/3A state basketball tournament. While teams are finishing their season on the hardwood, others having already started spring practice, which is a conflict for some who want to do both. Plus, hope for some better cooperation from the weather. The spring 2014 season, will not be affected by this change. This motion passed the board, on 2nd reading, via 14-1 margin.

Outdoor Track and Field Season: The board defeated a motion to do to outdoor track and field, what is being done for soccer. Hence the season is unchanged. The motion was defeated by the board, 12-3.

With the soccer motion passing and the outdoor track and field motion being defeated...this means that starting in spring 2015, the state meets for outdoor track and field, and soccer, will NOT be held on the same weekend, as in past years.

State Spirit Competition Classification: The board defeated a motion to expand the state spirit competition from 2 classes to 3. The vote was 9-6.

State Nordic Ski 2014: The date for the 2014 state Nordic ski meet has been moved up to Feb. 21-22, instead of Feb. 28 - Mar. 1.

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