| Another Confusing Cody Column |
Let's Give This Whole
Thing a Try
Thing a Try
Ugly it may look, kinda like the inside-not-the-outside love
concept ...
concept ...
Well, that didn't take too long.
What 36% of Illinois high school principals called the greatest Rembrandt
surrounding the high school athletic scene since sliced bread – needs to be
renovated after four years.
That's right, class expansion didn't quite work out according to plan. So the Illinois
High School Association Board of Directors tried to fix it up on Monday, June 13.
The result?
Equality.
Picasso.
Someone found out that the workings of the initial class expansion wasn't quite
equal enough. What we will have in 2011-12 is a classification cutoff system that is
different for each sport. The equality here is based on the number of teams that
are fielded.
For four-class sports, the smallest five-eighteenths of the total teams is Class 1A.
The next five-eighteenths of the total teams is Class 2A. Then the next four-
eighteenths of the total teams is in Class 3A, and the remaining four-eighteenths
makes up Class 4A.
Okay, so it's not all that equal. Take volleyball, for example, and its 685 teams.
Divide 685 by four and the answer is 171.25. Since there is no such thing as a
quarter of a volleyball team, that makes for 172 teams in Class 1A, and 171 teams
in each of the next three classes. The same 5⁄18, 5⁄18, 4⁄18, 4⁄18 setup is in place
for all of the four-class sports.
“Our Board looked at and discussed a number of different options for classification
cutoffs,” stated IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman in a press release. “Some
felt the most logical option might be simply cutting things squarely, for example
having 25 percent of the schools in each class for four-class sports. In the end, the
new percentages keep the cutoffs closer to the current system while distributing
the entries more evenly than in the past.”
But no, there are now 191 Class 1A volleyball teams, 190 Class 2A teams, and
152 teams in the two largest classes. So much for 25%. Perhaps an even 25% cut
just didn't feel right, after looking at exactly what schools would be grouped up in
the same class. Like, where do the suburbs start on the numerical list of enrollment
numbers?
Countless anomalies have been created. Since there are 52 more boys basketball
teams in Illinois than there are girls basketball teams, different cutoffs are created
for the two sports.
Alleman, Amboy, IVC, Fulton, Harvard, Lena-Winslow, Prophetstown, Rock Falls,
Rock Island, Somonauk and South Beloit will have boys basketball teams
competing at a higher class than their girls basketball teams. Some of those
schools will see their volleyball teams play at a higher class as well.
Another strange anomaly is that Genoa-Kingston's volleyball team moves up to
Class 3A, while their baseball, basketball and softball teams remain at Class 2A.
Yikes.
But there's more.
For three-class team sports, the division is even at one-third, one-third, one-third.
Soccer and wrestling are considered team sports in this regard.
Then there are three-class individual sports: cross country, boys golf and track
and field. Again, we go into a different fraction for each class, at 4⁄10, 3⁄10, 3⁄10.
This is why we now see Stillman Valley in the same track and field sectional as
Rockford East. Better yet, the Galena/River Ridge/East Dubuque co-op in the
same track and field sectional as Freeport.
Several schools will have their cross country teams compete in Class 1A, but have
its track and field teams compete in Class 2A. There are about 120 more track
teams than there are cross country teams.
But, that's equality.
“Different sports offered different challenges during this process,” added Hickman.
“For example, the Board felt good about the breakdown when three-class team
sports were evenly split with a third of the competing schools in each class. Yet,
when you look at the three-class individual sports, it was necessary to increase the
percentage of schools allocated to Class 1A because many of the 1A schools have
only a few individuals competing and don’t field full teams, which would alter the
competitive balance for team advancement in the State Series for those sports.”
And by Marty, our state series events need to be competitively balanced. In other
words, the playing field needs to be level.
This is how you do it. The Board listened to its critics – people like myself (my face
is probably on a dartboard somewhere in the meeting room) – and delivered.
The cutoff-by-sport concept kind of satisfies, but not entirely, the biggest fear I had
with class expansion: that it would create a barrier between schools of different
sizes. In other words, no interaction with a larger school in anything simply
because the enrollments are different.
It's no different than girls transitioning from one-class tennis in the fall to four-class
basketball in the winter.
All of the best runners a certain school has to offer may experience different
postseason, or regular-season depending on the schedule, fields in cross country
and track and field. Also, the gradual progression of challenging oneself is evident
in this case. The basketball-baseball two-sport athletes of certain schools will enter
the baseball season having been battle-tested in the larger-class ranks in
basketball before heading into the baseball season.
Does it look ugly? You bet. Does it look like someone was trying to use duct tape
all over the original four-class system setup? You bet. Will it take five extra minutes
to look up on the computer what class a team is? Certainly. Is it an inconvenience
to the fans and media? Absolutely. However, high school sports is not about the
fans that watch the athletes or the media covering the athletes. High school sports
is about the kids that compete in them, as well as the coaches that educate them.
And it's best that we keep this whole debate at a hush-hush level. The more we
gripe about such confusion, the more it will sink into the athletes' mindsets. We
have to keep in mind that we can't give athletes or coaches any doubt in these
extra-curricular programs – which serve as an extension of classroom academics.
If anything, the schools and teams touched by the cutoff-by-sport concept should
be feeling a little bit of educational stimulation as a result of trying to be flexible.
Sure, the IHSA has given these athletes and coaches a curveball, but the reason
why these kids are in school in the first place is to hit these curveballs.
No group of athletes knows what it's like to go through them than those who attend
private schools. But we know now that if certain kids are unable to get by such
challenges, they may be waived. That's why we have the loosened multiplier
waiver. The waiver gives private school teams that have struggled an opportunity
to play at a classification level relevant to the number of actual students they have
in the school. Another good move by the IHSA.
However, what does exist is the weaving around past obstacles such as a
multiplier. Newman Football would have been in Class 1A without a multiplier. They
used the multiplier as means of motivation on their way toward winning the Class
2A title.
If the multiplier can be beaten, certainly the move to a higher class can also be
beaten.
Tackle it head on, don't legislate your way through it. We have multipliers and
more classes because someone complained, rather than trying to make extra
efforts to achieve success.
The IHSA Board's decision regarding classification cutoffs should be the first in a
progressive string of creation of tougher challenges for high school athletes. The
playing field is now level, any attempt to level it further would be watering it down.
While the Board has an obligation to level playing fields and create success, it also
has an obligation to create challenges for the state's student-athletes. This can
include, but not limited to, reducing classes and eliminating multipliers (private-,
gender- and curricular-related).
Two years from now the Board will look at this new setup and determine if there
are to be any changes to it. Here's hoping the changes create more challenges to
make a unique, flexible system.
And if you're complaining, you've already lost.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns
about Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at Northernillinoissportsbeat
(at) yahoo (dot) com. --- Talk about what's written on our Message Boards!
What 36% of Illinois high school principals called the greatest Rembrandt
surrounding the high school athletic scene since sliced bread – needs to be
renovated after four years.
That's right, class expansion didn't quite work out according to plan. So the Illinois
High School Association Board of Directors tried to fix it up on Monday, June 13.
The result?
Equality.
Picasso.
Someone found out that the workings of the initial class expansion wasn't quite
equal enough. What we will have in 2011-12 is a classification cutoff system that is
different for each sport. The equality here is based on the number of teams that
are fielded.
For four-class sports, the smallest five-eighteenths of the total teams is Class 1A.
The next five-eighteenths of the total teams is Class 2A. Then the next four-
eighteenths of the total teams is in Class 3A, and the remaining four-eighteenths
makes up Class 4A.
Okay, so it's not all that equal. Take volleyball, for example, and its 685 teams.
Divide 685 by four and the answer is 171.25. Since there is no such thing as a
quarter of a volleyball team, that makes for 172 teams in Class 1A, and 171 teams
in each of the next three classes. The same 5⁄18, 5⁄18, 4⁄18, 4⁄18 setup is in place
for all of the four-class sports.
“Our Board looked at and discussed a number of different options for classification
cutoffs,” stated IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman in a press release. “Some
felt the most logical option might be simply cutting things squarely, for example
having 25 percent of the schools in each class for four-class sports. In the end, the
new percentages keep the cutoffs closer to the current system while distributing
the entries more evenly than in the past.”
But no, there are now 191 Class 1A volleyball teams, 190 Class 2A teams, and
152 teams in the two largest classes. So much for 25%. Perhaps an even 25% cut
just didn't feel right, after looking at exactly what schools would be grouped up in
the same class. Like, where do the suburbs start on the numerical list of enrollment
numbers?
Countless anomalies have been created. Since there are 52 more boys basketball
teams in Illinois than there are girls basketball teams, different cutoffs are created
for the two sports.
Alleman, Amboy, IVC, Fulton, Harvard, Lena-Winslow, Prophetstown, Rock Falls,
Rock Island, Somonauk and South Beloit will have boys basketball teams
competing at a higher class than their girls basketball teams. Some of those
schools will see their volleyball teams play at a higher class as well.
Another strange anomaly is that Genoa-Kingston's volleyball team moves up to
Class 3A, while their baseball, basketball and softball teams remain at Class 2A.
Yikes.
But there's more.
For three-class team sports, the division is even at one-third, one-third, one-third.
Soccer and wrestling are considered team sports in this regard.
Then there are three-class individual sports: cross country, boys golf and track
and field. Again, we go into a different fraction for each class, at 4⁄10, 3⁄10, 3⁄10.
This is why we now see Stillman Valley in the same track and field sectional as
Rockford East. Better yet, the Galena/River Ridge/East Dubuque co-op in the
same track and field sectional as Freeport.
Several schools will have their cross country teams compete in Class 1A, but have
its track and field teams compete in Class 2A. There are about 120 more track
teams than there are cross country teams.
But, that's equality.
“Different sports offered different challenges during this process,” added Hickman.
“For example, the Board felt good about the breakdown when three-class team
sports were evenly split with a third of the competing schools in each class. Yet,
when you look at the three-class individual sports, it was necessary to increase the
percentage of schools allocated to Class 1A because many of the 1A schools have
only a few individuals competing and don’t field full teams, which would alter the
competitive balance for team advancement in the State Series for those sports.”
And by Marty, our state series events need to be competitively balanced. In other
words, the playing field needs to be level.
This is how you do it. The Board listened to its critics – people like myself (my face
is probably on a dartboard somewhere in the meeting room) – and delivered.
The cutoff-by-sport concept kind of satisfies, but not entirely, the biggest fear I had
with class expansion: that it would create a barrier between schools of different
sizes. In other words, no interaction with a larger school in anything simply
because the enrollments are different.
It's no different than girls transitioning from one-class tennis in the fall to four-class
basketball in the winter.
All of the best runners a certain school has to offer may experience different
postseason, or regular-season depending on the schedule, fields in cross country
and track and field. Also, the gradual progression of challenging oneself is evident
in this case. The basketball-baseball two-sport athletes of certain schools will enter
the baseball season having been battle-tested in the larger-class ranks in
basketball before heading into the baseball season.
Does it look ugly? You bet. Does it look like someone was trying to use duct tape
all over the original four-class system setup? You bet. Will it take five extra minutes
to look up on the computer what class a team is? Certainly. Is it an inconvenience
to the fans and media? Absolutely. However, high school sports is not about the
fans that watch the athletes or the media covering the athletes. High school sports
is about the kids that compete in them, as well as the coaches that educate them.
And it's best that we keep this whole debate at a hush-hush level. The more we
gripe about such confusion, the more it will sink into the athletes' mindsets. We
have to keep in mind that we can't give athletes or coaches any doubt in these
extra-curricular programs – which serve as an extension of classroom academics.
If anything, the schools and teams touched by the cutoff-by-sport concept should
be feeling a little bit of educational stimulation as a result of trying to be flexible.
Sure, the IHSA has given these athletes and coaches a curveball, but the reason
why these kids are in school in the first place is to hit these curveballs.
No group of athletes knows what it's like to go through them than those who attend
private schools. But we know now that if certain kids are unable to get by such
challenges, they may be waived. That's why we have the loosened multiplier
waiver. The waiver gives private school teams that have struggled an opportunity
to play at a classification level relevant to the number of actual students they have
in the school. Another good move by the IHSA.
However, what does exist is the weaving around past obstacles such as a
multiplier. Newman Football would have been in Class 1A without a multiplier. They
used the multiplier as means of motivation on their way toward winning the Class
2A title.
If the multiplier can be beaten, certainly the move to a higher class can also be
beaten.
Tackle it head on, don't legislate your way through it. We have multipliers and
more classes because someone complained, rather than trying to make extra
efforts to achieve success.
The IHSA Board's decision regarding classification cutoffs should be the first in a
progressive string of creation of tougher challenges for high school athletes. The
playing field is now level, any attempt to level it further would be watering it down.
While the Board has an obligation to level playing fields and create success, it also
has an obligation to create challenges for the state's student-athletes. This can
include, but not limited to, reducing classes and eliminating multipliers (private-,
gender- and curricular-related).
Two years from now the Board will look at this new setup and determine if there
are to be any changes to it. Here's hoping the changes create more challenges to
make a unique, flexible system.
And if you're complaining, you've already lost.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns
about Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at Northernillinoissportsbeat
(at) yahoo (dot) com. --- Talk about what's written on our Message Boards!
| Northern Illinois Sports Beat http://www.northernillinoissportsbeat.com |
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| Those Who Know Northern Illinois High School Sports Know about NISB! |
The following area sports
teams have seen its
playoff classification
changed for next school
year:
Amboy:
B. Basketball from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 1A to 2A
Belvidere North:
Boys Golf from 2A to 3A
Boys Track from 2A to 3A
Girls Track from 2A to 3A
Byron:
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
IVC:
B. Basketball from 2A to 3A
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 2A to 3A
DeKalb:
Baseball from 4A to 3A
Boys XC from 3A to 2A
Girls XC from 3A to 2A
Softball from 4A to 3A
Boys Soccer from 3A to 2A
Girls Soccer from 3A to 2A
Wrestling from 3A to 2A
East Moline UT:
Baseball from 4A to 3A
Boys XC from 3A to 2A
Girls XC from 3A to 2A
Softball from 4A to 3A
Boys Soccer from 3A to 2A
Girls Soccer from 3A to 2A
Wrestling from 3A to 2A
Fulton:
B. Basketball from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 1A to 2A
Galena:
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
--both co-op with East
Dubuque & River Ridge
Genoa-Kingston:
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 2A to 3A
Harvard:
B. Basketball from 2A to 3A
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 2A to 3A
Lena-Winslow:
B. Basketball from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 1A to 2A
Marengo:
Girls Soccer from 2A to 1A
Mendota:
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Morris:
Girls Golf from AA to A
Ottawa Marquette:
Volleyball from 1A to 2A
Plano:
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Princeton:
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Prophetstown:
B. Basketball from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 1A to 2A
Richmond-Burton:
Baseball from 3A to 2A
Girls XC from 2A to 1A
Girls Soccer from 2A to 1A
Rock Falls:
B. Basketball from 2A to 3A
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 2A to 3A
RI Alleman:
B. Basketball from 2A to 3A
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Boys Soccer from 1A to 2A
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Rock Island:
B. Basketball from 3A to 4A
Boys Golf from 2A to 3A
Boys Track from 2A to 3A
Girls Track from 2A to 3A
Rockford Boylan*:
Boys XC from 3A to 2A
Girls XC from 3A to 2A
Boys Golf from 3A to 2A
Boys Track from 3A to 2A
Girls Track from 3A to 2A
Volleyball from 4A to 3A
Wrestling from 3A to 2A
Rockford Christian Life*:
Baseball from 2A to 1A
B. Basketball from 2A to 1A
G. Basketball from 2A to 1A
Softball from 2A to 1A
Volleyball from 2A to 1A
Rockford Christian:
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Sandwich:
Baseball from 3A to 2A
Boys XC from 2A to 1A
Girls XC from 2A to 1A
Girls Golf from AA to A
Wrestling from 2A to 1A
Somonauk:
B. Basketball from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 1A to 2A
South Beloit:
B. Basketball from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 1A to 2A
Sterling:
Girls Golf from AA to A
Sterling Newman*:
Baseball from 2A to 1A
B. Basketball from 2A to 1A
Softball from 2A to 1A
Volleyball from 2A to 1A
Stillman Valley:
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Streator:
Girls Golf from AA to A
Winnebago:
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Yorkville:
Boys Golf from 2A to 3A
Boys Track from 2A to 3A
Girls Track from 2A to 3A
*denotes given Multiplier
waiver
**Football classification is
not determined until playoff
time.
teams have seen its
playoff classification
changed for next school
year:
Amboy:
B. Basketball from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 1A to 2A
Belvidere North:
Boys Golf from 2A to 3A
Boys Track from 2A to 3A
Girls Track from 2A to 3A
Byron:
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
IVC:
B. Basketball from 2A to 3A
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 2A to 3A
DeKalb:
Baseball from 4A to 3A
Boys XC from 3A to 2A
Girls XC from 3A to 2A
Softball from 4A to 3A
Boys Soccer from 3A to 2A
Girls Soccer from 3A to 2A
Wrestling from 3A to 2A
East Moline UT:
Baseball from 4A to 3A
Boys XC from 3A to 2A
Girls XC from 3A to 2A
Softball from 4A to 3A
Boys Soccer from 3A to 2A
Girls Soccer from 3A to 2A
Wrestling from 3A to 2A
Fulton:
B. Basketball from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 1A to 2A
Galena:
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
--both co-op with East
Dubuque & River Ridge
Genoa-Kingston:
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 2A to 3A
Harvard:
B. Basketball from 2A to 3A
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 2A to 3A
Lena-Winslow:
B. Basketball from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 1A to 2A
Marengo:
Girls Soccer from 2A to 1A
Mendota:
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Morris:
Girls Golf from AA to A
Ottawa Marquette:
Volleyball from 1A to 2A
Plano:
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Princeton:
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Prophetstown:
B. Basketball from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 1A to 2A
Richmond-Burton:
Baseball from 3A to 2A
Girls XC from 2A to 1A
Girls Soccer from 2A to 1A
Rock Falls:
B. Basketball from 2A to 3A
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 2A to 3A
RI Alleman:
B. Basketball from 2A to 3A
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Boys Soccer from 1A to 2A
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Rock Island:
B. Basketball from 3A to 4A
Boys Golf from 2A to 3A
Boys Track from 2A to 3A
Girls Track from 2A to 3A
Rockford Boylan*:
Boys XC from 3A to 2A
Girls XC from 3A to 2A
Boys Golf from 3A to 2A
Boys Track from 3A to 2A
Girls Track from 3A to 2A
Volleyball from 4A to 3A
Wrestling from 3A to 2A
Rockford Christian Life*:
Baseball from 2A to 1A
B. Basketball from 2A to 1A
G. Basketball from 2A to 1A
Softball from 2A to 1A
Volleyball from 2A to 1A
Rockford Christian:
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Sandwich:
Baseball from 3A to 2A
Boys XC from 2A to 1A
Girls XC from 2A to 1A
Girls Golf from AA to A
Wrestling from 2A to 1A
Somonauk:
B. Basketball from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 1A to 2A
South Beloit:
B. Basketball from 1A to 2A
Volleyball from 1A to 2A
Sterling:
Girls Golf from AA to A
Sterling Newman*:
Baseball from 2A to 1A
B. Basketball from 2A to 1A
Softball from 2A to 1A
Volleyball from 2A to 1A
Stillman Valley:
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Boys Track from 1A to 2A
Girls Track from 1A to 2A
Streator:
Girls Golf from AA to A
Winnebago:
Boys Golf from 1A to 2A
Yorkville:
Boys Golf from 2A to 3A
Boys Track from 2A to 3A
Girls Track from 2A to 3A
*denotes given Multiplier
waiver
**Football classification is
not determined until playoff
time.