Monday brings the start of practice for Season B sports across the state.
Those kicking off their seasons include traditional winter sports boys and girls basketball, ice hockey, skiing, girls swimming and diving, boys and girls wrestling, as well as traditional fall sport competitive spirit.
This marks the first-ever sanctioned season for girls wrestling. And ice hockey will feature two classifications for the first time.
Each sport can begin competition a week from Monday, on Jan. 25.
Fort Collins (5A) and Battle Mountain (4A) head the preseason hockey rankings.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches, are the official polls of the Association. They are a factor in the postseason. During the regular season, the poll will release each Monday.
Among the many changes for high school hockey this year comes a very important one, one that would’ve been made even if COVID-19 hadn’t reared its ugly head on planet Earth.
Hockey is growing in the high school ranks and because of that, an additional classification has added to play for the 2021 season. The sport is now split into Class 5A and 4A which signifies significant interest in the sport as well as increased opportunities for student-athletes, which is in line with the values of high school athletics.
“It’s heading in the right direction,” Battle Mountain coach Derek Bryon said. “I think if we can continue to grow both levels of 4A and 5A, we’re going to put out some really competitive hockey and it only gives kids more opportunities to be successful as teams and programs.”
Since 2017, eight total teams have advanced to the state hockey semifinals. Of those eight, three teams (Regis Jesuit, Chaparral and Valor Christian) have gone three times. Regis Jesuit had made the semis every year in that span.
With the growth of the number of kids playing and the programs that are starting throughout the state, the addition of a 4A class just made too much sense and gives coaches and players alike renewed enthusiasm for those additional opportunities.
“We’re here in Crested Butte with a population of maybe 10,000 people,” Crested Butte coach Billy Watson said. “We don’t have a big pool of kids to pull from and even when it was just (one classification), we played those teams very competitively, but I think it gives our kids a new opportunity. It’s a good way to do this, to classify those (bigger) teams.”
This isn’t a situation that’s unique to hockey. In recent years, additional classifications have been added to sports such as girls lacrosse, girls golf, girls swimming, girls tennis, and boys lacrosse. There is consistently talk of adding additional classes in football, basketball, and girls volleyball.
It’s an indication that high school athletics, as whole, continue to grow and see more participation.
As that happens, there will be a natural classification system put in place in order to maintain a level of competitive balance for programs throughout the state.
“These small mountain towns like ours, we’re not going to have 200 kids at tryouts,” Byron said. “We’re going to take everyone that comes and to have the opportunity to compete against smaller schools that are doing the same thing is big for us.”
Perhaps the most exciting prospect about an additional class is the addition of a second state championship game. In recent years, Ball Arena (formerly Pepsi Center) has hosted the state hockey championship and the opportunity to provide more kids with the experience of playing on the same sheet of ice as the Colorado Avalanche is something that everyone can get behind.
“Playing at any kind of NHL arena, the atmosphere is great,” Watson said. “The kids feel like they’re professionals and it’s kind of cool. This gives them a taste of what it’s like to play at that level and if they have that motivation to continue their growth, this will be great for the kids.”
The CHSAA staff will hold a series of webinars this week for school administrators and coaches to provide specifics on Season B sports, which are set to begin practice on Jan. 18.
Sports set to play this winter include: boys and girls basketball, ice hockey, skiing, competitive spirit, girls swimming, and boys and girls wrestling. This will mark the initial sanctioned season for girls wrestling.
Dates for each sport can be found on the 2020-21 calendar. Note that some postseason dates still remain to be announced.
Over the course of the next three days, the various sports will have an informational session for athletic directors and coaches.
Information for how to log in or watch these sessions will be shared to schools via email.
With the start of practice in Season B just two weeks away, CHSAANow is seeking voters for its weekly polls in basketball and ice hockey.
These polls are only open to head coaches in those sports.
The voting panel votes once per week during the regular seasons, on Sunday through Monday. We have an online voting system, or voters may also turn in a ballot over email.
We have sent out an email to coaches with a form to sign up. If head coaches did not receive that info, those interested in signing up should email rcasey@chsaa.org the following information:
Sport
Your name
Your school
The classification you play in
This season, these polls are a factor in the postseason seeding in basketball and ice hockey.
The CHSAA Legislative Council met virtually for the first time in its 99-year history on Friday.
They voted on more than 50 items, and made a number of changes to the Association’s bylaws, which impacted things from alignment to the transfer rule. We have rounded up most of those changes here.
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Two classes of hockey
(PaulDiSalvoPhotography.com)
Hockey will split into two classifications, beginning with the 2020-21 season.
The two-class split, which was recommended by the hockey committee during its meeting in February, places 20 teams into Class 5A, and 17 in 4A. The committee used a variety of factors to place teams from bylaw 1500.21, including enrollment, geography, competitive history, competitive balance, participation rate, and the entry or selection process that places an athlete at a program.
The committee recognized the need for two classes because there isn’t much, if any, parity in the sport. Over the past four years, only 14 different schools have advanced to the quarterfinals of the state tournament. Hockey currently has 37 teams.
Hockey will use the CHSAA Seeding Index to seed its two state tournaments: RPI, MaxPreps, and the CHSAANow coaches poll.
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New seeding criteria for 5A basketball
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
An amendment during the meeting changed the seeding criteria that 4A and 5A basketball will use for their state tournaments: The two classes will now use a combination of the RPI standings, MaxPreps rankings and the CHSAANow coaches pool — bringing them in line with what a number of other sports are now using.
1A will also use the same criteria, but will also use the Packard Ratings.
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2A baseball changes postseason
(Lisa Hayes/StillOfTheMomentPhotography.com)
The 2A baseball postseason will now mirror what is done in 3A, 4A and 5A, with a 32-team regional bracket. All teams will qualify for the bracket via the RPI standings, and seeded by RPI. The top eight seeds will host regionals, and seeds Nos. 20-32 can be moved for geographic reasons.
The state tournament also got an overhaul, and will move to an eight-team single-elimination bracket. Previously, 2A had a 16-team bracket.
With this change, 2A schools can now schedule 23 games.
Baseball also created a game minimum to be able to qualify for the postseason: 12 games in 1A, 17 in 2A and 3A, 19 in 4A and 5A.
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New field hockey tournament
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
In an effort to help the growth of the sport, the state field hockey tournament will expand from eight teams to 12.
The top six seeds will receive a bye while the next six will compete in a play-in bracket.
In one of those brackets, No. 9 and No. 12 will play, with the winner playing No. 8. The winner of that game will face No. 1.
In the other bracket, No. 10 and No. 11 will play, with the winner facing No. 7. The winner of that game will face the No. 2 overall seed.
During that same round, the No. 4 and No. 5 seed will play, with No. 3 and No. 6 also playing.
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The transfer rule
A number of proposals involved the transfer rule. Among the changes which passed:
An adjustment to clarify that a student doesn’t have to transfer from a member school, in or out of state, in order for the rule to apply.
A proposal better explained the transfer consequence for transferring to another school, and a return to the original school — also known as an A-B-A transfer. Specifically, a student who transfers from School A, transfers to School B and plays at School B, and the returns to School A, will only be eligible for sub-varsity competition at School A in the sports they participated in at School B for 365 days.
A new bylaw passed allowing for students to participate with “restricted varsity eligibility during the regular season” if their high school does not offer a JV team, or if their school doesn’t allow seniors to play on sub-varsity teams.
The definition of a hardship was rewritten to read: “‘Hardship’ means a situation, condition or event which must impost a severe non-athletic burden upon the student or his/her family and require a transfer of schools. This does not include the personal or initial choice of enrollment and/or participation.”
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Notables:
The alignments for sports were finalized with the approval of each sports report. Those new alignments will be posted in the near future.
The season of sport was changed in boys swimming, allowing for those championships to be moved up a week and have their own spotlight.
6-man and 8-man football will use the same four data points of seeding that was used in 1A-5A this season.
In 5A football, all playoff games will be hosted by the higher seed.
1A girls volleyball will move from districts to regionals. The sport will also require that all teams play a minimum of 18 matches against member schools and varsity opponents in order to qualify for the postseason.
Boys volleyball will have one classification during its inaugural season in spring 2021.
Girls wrestling will use the same weight classes that were used in the pilot season.
The 4A and 5A boys lacrosse state tournaments will each grow from 16 to 24 teams starting in spring 2021.
2A soccer will increase its state tournament field from 12 teams to 16.
The regional field in 3A softball will grow to 32 teams, bringing it in line with 4A and 5A.
The requirements for qualifying for the state skiing championships were made more strict, to make the state field slightly smaller.
The state spirit championships will move to a three-day format beginning this year. Schools will only be able to participate in one cheer category and one dance category at the state championships. Cheer and dance are now considered separate sports.
Schools will be eligible to join CHSAA as activity-only schools, and not offer sports.
The process for classifying programs was clarified with an amendment to bylaw 1510, which deals with the Classification, Appeals and League Organizing Committee (CLOC). Now, the CHSAA staff can offer adjustments “in extraordinary circumstances” that are based upon bylaw 1500.21 (the bylaw allowing for classification based upon factors other than enrollment) in even years. These adjustments will need to be voted on by CLOC. Typically in even years, the classifications are already set and ready to go for the following cycle, so there would be very few adjustments, if any.
The amateur status bylaw was reworked, and now reads that student-athletes “must maintain his/her amateur status” and notes that they “may not sign a professional athletic contract.” A new note defines a professional as “being paid in any form for playing in an athletic contest, or if you sign a contract or verbally commit with an agent or professional sports organization.” Notably, student-athletes will be allowed to play with or against professionals in certain situations, such as in the Olympics or a World Cup.
The coach ejection bylaw was updated to give it a more consistent level of suspension across all sports. Now, the first ejection is penalized by a suspension equal to 10% of that sports season, and a second ejection is 20%.
All-Star games were added to bylaw 2300, allowing for “up to two All-Star Games after the completion of the state championship in that sport.” No all-star games are permitted in football.
Middle schoolers from “feeder” schools will be permitted to practice with high school teams in volleyball, basketball, soccer and football “when they cannot field enough high school athletes to hold an intra-squad practice in game-type conditions.” There are a number of limitations guiding this new bylaw.
The number of practices required for students to participate in prior to competition in contact sports was reduced from five to three in all sports but football, which will still require nine.
Schools can now form a team with only one participant, if they choose to.
Adding a new sport or activity will now require approval from the Budget Committee in addition to CLOC, Sports Medicine, Equity and the Board of Directors.
The full membership of the following schools is now official: DSST – Byers, KIPP Northeast, Loveland Classical, Strive Prep – Rise, Strive Prep – Smart, and Thomas MacLaren. KIPP Northeast and Strive Prep – Rise play together are a co-op: Regis Groff.
Officials’ fees increased with a 2% cost of living adjustment across the board, for all levels.
The alignment of State Festival and State Tournament will now be permanent in speech.
Student Leadership’s fall conference will move to a regional model beginning this year.
INDIANAPOLIS — Measures to reduce the risk of injury for participants and to provide an additional scenario for instant replay usage comprise the prominent components of the 2020-21 high school ice hockey rules changes.
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Ice Hockey Rules Committee proposed a total of five rules modifications as a result of its meeting April 27-28, which were all subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors. The committee’s meeting was held in an online format to comply with current health safety guidelines.
“I commend the committee for adapting its meeting to an online format, its continued focus on minimizing risk for players and its overall efforts to support high school hockey,” said Dan Schuster, NFHS director of educational services and liaison to the Ice Hockey Rules Committee.
One of the risk-minimization changes was made to Rule 3-2, through which a more severe penalty may now be assessed to a player wearing skates that are deemed “dangerous.” Previously, a player with dangerous skates was given a warning and an opportunity to return to the game once the issue was corrected. In 2020-21, a first offense will warrant a game misconduct penalty.
Under Rule 7-6-1, a player who strikes an opponent with his or her hand may now receive a major penalty at the discretion of the official. Traditionally, improper hand contact that was not considered to be fighting constituted a minor penalty.
State associations that have authorized an instant replay system during games may now utilize it to review infractions that involve student-athlete ejections. This clause was added to Rule 9-13 as an accompaniment to the pre-existing instant replay situations, which include reviewing goals and undetected goals and determining the correct amount of time on the game clock.
“If a state so chooses to adopt this as part of its replay policy, it will allow review to ensure the correct player is removed in an ejection situation,” Schuster said. “An ejection, in some cases, can be as critical to a game as a goal. This will give state associations the flexibility to review this important moment in a game.”
Risk minimization was also the focus in Rule 7-13-3, where language was added to prohibit a player from moving an opponent’s glove, tooth or mouth protector that has fallen on the ice for the purpose of keeping it from the opponent’s possession. The stick was the only piece of equipment specified within the original version of the rule.
Finally, a subtle change was made to Rule 3-4-2 to clarify the purpose of the throat/neck protector as a “laceration” protector.
According to the 2018-19 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, more than 35,000 boys participate in ice hockey in 1,638 high schools across the country, and more than 9,600 girls participate in the sport in 642 schools.
The 2019-20 all-state and all-conference hockey teams are a joint project between the Colorado High School Ice Hockey Coaches Association and CHSAANow.com.
These teams were created following a meeting of coaches.
DENVER — The best things in life never come easy. That was a lesson the Valor Christian hockey learned Tuesday night at Pepsi Center.
The Eagles put 84 shots on goal against Fort Collins goalie Sam Simon. None of them went in.
But the 85th did — in the fifth overtime. Valor Christian’s Evan Pahos scored the winner with two minutes to play.
The result was elation. Elation from the Valor Christian players and elation from their fans that never wavered and never once thought of abandoning what may have been the greatest Colorado high school state championship game of all time.
With a 1-0 win, the Eagles are state hockey champions for the first time.
“I’ve been wanting this moment ever since I came here my sophomore year and started playing hockey here,” Valor goalie Trey Hirschfield said. “We got close one time. Before the season started, I knew we had to win or I would be crushed.”
But there were times where it seemed like no matter what happened, that puck was never going to get by Simon. After putting 14 shots on the net in the first period alone, the Eagles started the second period with another salvo at the Lambkins’ net.
Simon blocked one shot before an attempt off the rebound sailed over his left shoulder, but wide of the net. With nothing falling, the last thing coach George Gwozdecky wanted to see from his team was frustration and doubt start creeping into their heads.
“You just keep talking to them,” Gwozdecky said. “You educate on how tournament games are going to go and you have to prepare yourself for overtime.”
But maybe not five. The game was the longest state championship hockey game in state history.
More photos. (Paul Shepardson/PaulShedardsonPhotography.com)
Gwozdecky noted that the all the snacks and items that the Eagles brought to keep their energy up ran out after the first overtime. But they kept skating hard and firing shots on the net. Simon just kept turning them away.
“Sam Simon did a great job,” Gwozdecky said. “There are so many superlatives that you can use to describe his performance, but he was outstanding.”
As was Hirschfield. Regulation ended with neither goalie giving anything away. Then the first overtime. Then the second.
And so on.
But in the fifth overtime, as jokes were made from the stands about students having to get to school, Simon finally got beat.
Pahos scored the game-winning goal with 2:12 to play in the fifth OT for the Eagles:
“I saw the shots going into that fifth overtime and he had 76 saves,” Pahos said. “I’ve never seen that in my life and he had the game of a lifetime. It was getting annoying. We had to keep going and try to wear him out. Finally one by him.”
The championship-winning goal caps a remarkable week for Pahos, who also scored the game-winner against Regis Jesuit to put the Eagles in the state title game.
More photos. (Paul Shepardson/PaulShedardsonPhotography.com)
It was a complete team effort for all 88-plus minutes of hockey that was played on the sheet of ice normally home to the Colorado Avalanche. Example No. 1 is the way that Hirschfield kept his composure especially watching what Simon was doing from the other side.
“It was mostly my team and the guys in front of me, my defense,” Hirschfield said. “They were phenomenal tonight and put everything on the line. We had two guys block shots with their faces.”
Go big or go home. And that’s exactly what both teams did on Tuesday.
It may not feel like for the Lambkins, but there were no losers at Pepsi Center. Valor Christian may have won the game, but the chatter for years to come will certainly surround a monumental effort from Fort Collins and its netminder.
It is believed that the 84 saves from Simon tied a national record for saves in a game.
