NIAA forms realignment committee for 2012-13 cycle
The 2010-11 school year is barely under way, but the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association is already starting to prepare for potential realignment beginning with the 2012-13 school year.
The NIAA released the list of realignment committee members Thursday. The 22-member committee will make decisions that could reshape the current four-classification system in the state.
“We’re just adhering to our regulations right now,” NIAA executive director Eddie Bonine said. “Putting the committee together is really just the crawling phase. This is a marathon, not a sprint.”
The NIAA had extensive discussions last year during an emergency realignment process that left Southern Nevada’s four classes mostly unchanged.
Lake Mead and Laughlin both moved into Class 2A, and White Pine and West Wendover were shifted to Northern Leagues. White Pine remains a member of the Class 2A Southern League in football, however.
Northern Nevada made significant changes with Class 2A and Class 3A basically being combined and then split apart for postseason. A small handful of schools were reclassified.
The NIAA’s current system of four classes began in 1996. Schools are classified based on enrollment.
“What we did last year was an emergency realignment,” Bonine said. “It flew in the face of our regulations.”
The main reason for realignment is money. With school budgets dwindling, the costs associated with non-league games and even traveling for league games are eating larger chunks of the pie.
“Money is going to be a deciding factor of what can and can’t happen,” Bonine said.
NIAA regulations permit realignment in four-year cycles. The next cycle begins with the 2012-13 school year.
And what happens for that cycle is anyone’s guess. It’s possible the NIAA could go from four classes to three, or even to five and possibly eliminate the potential North vs. South showdowns for state titles in the larger classes.
Bonine said the committee likely would need to have a recommendation to the NIAA’s Board of Control in advance of the board’s fall meeting in 2011.
“Everything is on the table,” Bonine said. “It could be anything. I want to get through the fall and winter seasons (this year) to see how the competitive balances are in the leagues and scheduling pods.”
There’s a catch, though.
Bonine said it’s possible another emergency realignment may need to be done for the 2011-12 school year. If the state superintendents mandate more money be trimmed from athletic budgets, the new committee may have to come up with ideas for next year while still looking ahead to the full realignment in 2012-13.
“We could be told in February that we need to do more,” Bonine said. “We’ll see how it progresses.”
CCSD trustee Larry Mason will chair the realignment committee.
Bonine and fellow NIAA staff members Donnie Nelson and Bob Northridge join two consultants — CCSD executive athletic director Ray Mathis and Reno High School principal Robert Sullivan — on the committee. Mathis and Sullivan are both on the Board of Control.
Ten Southern Nevada representatives and six from Northern Nevada are on the committee.
Southern Nevada members of the realignment committee are:
• Indian Springs athletic director Jamie Molloy
• Needles athletic director Bill Darrow
• Virgin Valley principal David Wilson
• CCSD athletic director Pam Sloan
• Faith Lutheran athletic director Bret Walter
• Basic principal David Bechtel
• Durango athletic administrator Tim Jackson
• Arbor View athletic administrator Greg Wolfram
• Desert Oasis athletic administrator Ron Isaacs
• Las Vegas athletic administrator Joe Petrie
• Tech athletic administrator Nick Brockovich
