(Colorado Boys Volleyball/Facebook)

The second pilot season for boys volleyball kicked off last week, just about a month before the sport hopes to gain official sanctioning from CHSAA’s Legislative Council.

This season, there are more than 80 teams participating, representing nearly 50 individual schools. (During the pilot season, schools are allowed to have multiple teams.) They are split into two classifications, 5A and 3A.

In 5A, teams off to hot starts include Cheyenne Mountain Maroon (7-0), Thornton Blue (4-0) and Grandview Black (2-0).

In 3A, unbeaten teams include The Academy Blue (6-0), James Irwin Blue (4-0), Thornton Gray (4-0) and The Vanguard Gold (3-0).

The sport has a big single-day event, the Paul Hastings Tournament, on April 6. Regionals are May 3-4, and the state championship is May 11.

Already, five boys volleyball seniors have signed to play college volleyball: The Vanguard’s Hayden Frear (McKendree College), Grandview’s Brady Mullens (Endicott College), Monarch’s Zig Licis (Queen’s University), Chaparral’s Ryan Smith (Cambellsville University) and Horizon’s Rowdy Martin (Cardinal Stritch University).

Like the other pilot sports — girls wrestling and unified bowling — boys volleyball has cleared a number of steps along the sanctioning process, including the Equity Committee and Classification and League Organizing Committee.

The final steps are a vote from the Board of Directors on April 23, and, if approved there, a vote by the Legislative Council on April 24.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

AURORA — The three pilot sports were each given a positive review by the CLOC committee, checking off another step as they seek official CHSAA sanctioning.

Unified bowling, girls wrestling and boys volleyball each presented to the Classification and League Organizing and Appeals Committee on Tuesday, and each were given a thumbs up to continue their quest for sanctioning.

Per CHSAA bylaws, pilot sports must be approved by various committees along the road to sanctioning. Already, the three pilot sports have received positive reviews from the Equity Committee and the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee.

The next steps are approval by the CHSAA Board of Directors, and, if approved there, a vote by the member schools at the Legislative Council. Both of those meetings are in April.

In order to be voted on by the Legislative Council, a league must sponsor a bylaw proposal — something that is expected to happen for all three sports.

If any (or all) of the sports are sanctioned, the first official season would be in the 2020-21 school year.

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New schools approved for membership

The committee approve three schools for new membership into CHSAA:

• Addenbrooke Classical Academy in Lakewood
• Banning Lewis Prep Academy in Colorado Springs
• Denver School of Science & Technology: Conservatory Green in Denver

All three schools would participate at the 2A or 3A level.

If approved by the Legislative Council in April, this would bring CHSAA’s membership to 362 schools.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

The three sports currently in pilot seasons each got a thumbs up from the Equity Committee on Thursday, meaning their quest for sanctioning will continue.

Unified bowling, girls wrestling and boys volleyball each presented to the committee, and were approved by the committee following a review of each sport thus far in their pilot seasons.

The Equity Committee was tasked with reviewing a formal survey of schools about each sport, with a specific eye on the number of schools currently offering a program, the availability of facilities, the availability of officials and coaches, and student participation numbers. In addition, they reviewed the positive and/or negative impact to proportionality and Title IX considerations for the member schools, and for the Association.

After hearing the presentations, the Equity Committee voted to move each sport’s sanctioning request to the next step.

“The Equity Committee is really excited about the potential of the three pilot programs,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bethany Brookens, the staff liaison to the committee. “We were impressed with how each group identified equity and proportionality concerns, and look forward to the increased opportunities that these pilot programs will give our student participants.”

Thursday’s presentations to the Equity Committee were the first step in a series of reviews which must be successful in order for the pilot sports to be sanctioned. The next steps include reviews by:

• The Sports Medicine Committee on Feb. 20. This committee will be considering the sports for any safety, liability or health concerns.
• The Classification, Appeals and League Organizing Committee (CLOC) on Feb. 26-27. This committee will consider the impact of adding new sports with regard to classifications and leagues. They will also review the survey of schools, examining if there is an adequate number of schools in a geographic area to complete a regular season and postseason schedule.
• The CHSAA Board of Directors in April. The group will review at the results of the school survey, with an eye on the number of schools currently offering the program, student participation numbers, and the potential for growth. They will also consider the cost of adding the new sport(s), and maintaining them; any safety and liability concerns; the availability of officials; and any additional information regarding the impact of the sport(s) on the membership as a whole.
• From there, a league must agree to sponsor the sport, and submit a proposal for sanctioning at the Legislative Council. Each sport currently has a sponsor.
• The final step is a vote by the Legislative Council — CHSAA’s governing body comprised of representatives from leagues and associations — in April.

The pilot sports must be approved at each step in order to gain sanctioning. If any of the steps along the review process don’t approve, that sport’s quest for sanctioning ends there.

Here’s a closer look at each sport’s presentation on Thursday:

Unified Bowling

Full presentation

• Teams are composed of five players (three competing, and two substitutes). The three competing athletes will be two students with a disability, and one student without.
• 32 offered teams schools in 2018. They anticipate 50 in 2019.
• There were 350 participants in 2018. They anticipate 500 in 2019.
• Bowling is the most popular sport within Special Olympics nationwide.
• It takes place in the fall season.
• 76 percent of the schools who responded to a survey were in favor of sanctioning.
• 11 states sanction Unified bowling.
• The state competition was held Nov. 8 at AMF Monaco Lanes in Denver.
• Because the sport is co-ed, Title IX would not be impacted.

Girls Wrestling

Full presentation

• They use the same rulebook as the boys, but the weight classes are different.
• There are 114 schools who have girls participating.
• More than 300 girls are participating this season.
• It takes place in the winter season, concurrent with the boys.
• 80 percent of the schools who responded to a survey were in favor of sanctioning.
• The state tournament will be held Feb. 9 at Thornton HS. There will be two regionals this season, one northern and one southern.
• If sanctioned, girls must wrestle with their school team if they offer one. If their school doesn’t offer a girls program, female athletes would have a choice of wrestling with their school’s boys team, or joining another girls program within the same district they attend, or reside in.
• Adding a girls sport would have a positive impact in terms of Title IX proportionality.

Boys Volleyball

Full presentation

• The rules are the same as the girls game, but the net is raised.
• In 2018, there were 60 teams. They anticipate 75 in 2019.
• In 2018, there were 750 players. They anticipate 1,000 in 2019.
• It takes place in the spring season.
• 71 percent of the schools who responded to a survey were in favor of sanctioning.
• The state tournament was held at Grandview High School last season.
• Their analysis of Title IX implications and proportionality showed that 54 percent of schools would likely be able to add a boys volleyball program and maintain compliance without counting spirit as a sport. If a school counts spirit as a sport, 74 percent of schools can add a team, according to the group’s analysis. (Note: These figures only account for adding a boys volleyball program by itself; it doesn’t account for a scenario where girls wrestling were added at the same time, which would only help.)

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

DENVER — Boys volleyball, girls wrestling and unified bowling were all approved to begin pilot seasons by the Board of Directors on Wednesday.

It means each have taken an initial step towards official sanctioning by CHSAA.

“We’re really excited about the possibility of these sports offering new opportunities for students across the state,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bethany Brookens, who oversees the equity committee and the sanctioning of new sports. “We are really trying to reach new populations of students who aren’t already participating, with a focus on inclusion.”

The three sports were the first to present pilot programs for consideration under a new bylaw which was passed in January. It is the first big hurdle for any new sports or activities to clear along the way to sanctioning. The Classification and League Organizing Committee, the Sports Medicine Committee, the Equity Committee, and the Legislative Council must also support a new sport or activity.

The first boys volleyball pilot season will be this upcoming spring. Girls wrestling will begin its pilot in the winter season of 2018-19. Unified bowling, which will be co-ed, will present its timeline at the April meeting of the Board of Directors.

Though that bylaw only requires one pilot season, both boys volleyball and girls wrestling would have two pilot seasons. If the Legislative Council approves the sports in 2019, boys volleyball would begin play in spring 2020, and girls wrestling would begin in winter 2020-21.

23 states already sanction boys volleyball. Another seven, including Colorado, are considering it.

In Colorado, there have typically been between 35-40 teams participating in boys volleyball over the past 20 years. In 2017, there were 50 teams and more than 650 athletes in the Colorado Boys High School Volleyball Association.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Participation in girls wrestling has also grown in recent years. In 2016-17, the first-ever girls-only tournament was held, and that continued in 2017-18. Last season, there were 235 female wrestlers who participated with boys, and even more who participated in girls-only tournaments.

Currently, only six states nationwide sanction girls wrestling. In the past month, both Georgia and Oregon indicated their intention to do so, as well.

(Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com)

AURORA — CHSAA’s Legislative Council opted to not even consider sanctioning boys volleyball on Thursday.

As a result, the vote on a proposal that would have added a 28th sport never happened. Fifty-four percent of the Legislative Council voted against opening the Classification and League Organizing Committee report from January.

In order to have boys volleyball be considered, the CLOC report needed to be reopened.

It was a stunning red light given to boys volleyball, a sport that was seeking sanctioning for the third time.

“It’s not something we expected to happen,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bethany Brookens, who administers volleyball. “It’s very rare that an amendment doesn’t even get considered. We were expecting a lot of discussion on it. With that being said, the Legislative Council has the right vote how they feel they’re best representing their leagues and constituents.”

The Legislative Council — a 72-member body made up of representatives of leagues and associations, including athletic directors and other administrators — first voted by raising their panels on Thursday. But in order to be clear on the vote to open the CLOC report, commissioner Paul Angelico called for an electronic vote. That vote resulted in 54 percent of the body voting against opening the report.

After that, Angelico asked if everyone understood that merely opening the report would only lead to discussion, and asked if anyone on the Council wanted to change their vote, saying again that not reopening the CLOC report would mean no vote on the proposal.

But no one did. And so boys volleyball’s sanctioning never came to the floor.

The refusal to even open the CLOC report sent a loud message.

“Not getting enough votes to get it on the floor, I don’t know if it’s ever happened,” Angelico said. “If they couldn’t even get it on the floor, I have a feeling that that speaks volumes about what the vote would have been.

“We felt as though the Legislative Council should have at least discussed it,” he added, “but if they don’t want to talk about it, they don’t want to talk about it, and that’s the way it is.”

Thursday’s proposal was forwarded by the Tri-Peaks League, and spearheaded by Mike Prusinowski, the athletic director at James Irwin who also serves as the president of the Colorado Boys High School Volleyball Association. It sought to add boys volleyball as a two-classification sport in the spring.

Initially, boys volleyball seemed to have some stream behind its sanctioning quest in Colorado.

A survey of member schools seemed to indicate support for sanctioning, or at least, not much opposition. But then in January, the Equity Committee did not endorse sanctioning. Then, in recent weeks, as Thursday’s vote drew nearer, the overzealous approach of some of the sport’s supporters — including an email to schools predicting, by name, how each Legislative Council member how would vote based upon that survey — took some wind out of their sails.

This was the third time the sport has sought sanctioning from CHSAA. It is unknown if representatives of boys volleyball will try again in the future. They could try again next January — a time in which they would not have to reopen the CLOC report, as it would already be open.

The Legislative Council is going to be busy this April.

Already a big meeting because of the scheduled introduction of new commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green, the representatives will be voting on a wide variety of important proposals. Perhaps the most visible is the proposed addition of boys volleyball as a sanctioned sport.

There’s also basketball’s proposed mercy rule, a proposal about co-op programs, one dealing with violating game contracts, and plenty more.

Full information about the April Legislative Council meeting, including an agenda and all proposals, is posted here. We’ll break it all down below.

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Boys volleyball seeks sanctioning

(Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com)

Boys volleyball has long sought sanctioning from CHSAA, and this is actually the third official campaign from representatives of the sport. The Tri-Peaks League is sponsoring the proposal.

The administrative proposal seeking to amend the CLOC report will be among the first voted on at the April meeting. It is seeking to add boys volleyball as a spring sport, and have it immediately enter with two classifications that are based upon skill rather than enrollment. (This would kind of build on hockey’s tiered alignment, though that is within a single classification.)

According to the proposal, there are 50 teams currently competing as club high school teams. A recent survey of member schools indicated that 93 schools would consider adding a team, and 107 supported the sport’s sanctioning.

However, a group of boys volleyball representatives made a presentation to the CHSAA equity committee in January, and while the committee was impressed, it ultimately did not endorse sanctioning.

In a letter after that meeting, the equity committee cited data that showed that 81 percent of schools “responded that by adding this sport, their proportionality numbers would either be negatively affected or their school’s proportionality would become out of compliance.” Proportionality deals with the balance of boys and girls sports as mandated by Title IX.

Because of that, boys volleyball may face an uphill battle for sanctioning from the Legislative Council.

If boys volleyball is added — the vote will take a simple majority to pass — Colorado would become the 25th state to sanction it. CHSAA hasn’t added a sport since boys and girls lacrosse and field hockey were added from 1997-99.

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Proposal would clarify co-op programs

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Last fall, the Hi-Plains football team won the 6-man championship.

Along the way, it underwent its fair share of scrutiny from its fellow schools and fans of opposing teams because it appeared to be reaping the benefits of a co-op program without actually forming a co-op — which would have forced it to combine enrollment numbers, and, as a result, move up to 8-man.

Well, the Board of Directors has forwarded a proposal to the Legislative Council dealing with co-op programs. Coincidence? Probably not.

To be fair, the Hi-Plains situation, which involved Flagler and bussing kids from one school to the other, drew a microscope because the team won a championship. As commissioner Paul Angelico said in December, “It’s more widespread than just these two schools.”

But, here we are.

This proposal clarifies what a school may not do if it doesn’t offer a program. It makes it so schools cannot:

• Dictate to which school a student must go if his/her school does not offer a program
• Provide transportation to that school for the student(s)
• Make an informal agreement between schools in regard to which school will offer a program and which will not
• Provide the receiving school with any funds, equipment, facilities, etc., for the student(s) going to play at that school
• Provide any physical support except to provide transcripts for eligibility checks

The rationale behind this proposal states that the state law which allows students to participate at other schools if their school doesn’t offer a program “is clear that where a student may play shall be the decision of the student and student’s parents, not the school that is sending the student.”

Furthermore, it adds that “small school athletics face enough challenges without schools using the law to gain a competitive advantage by dictation where students play sports and providing financial and transportation support for that student.”

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Committee reports to be voted on, including basketball’s mercy rule

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

As usual, individual sport committees have been meeting over the past few months and making their recommendations to the Legislative Council.

Included is basketball’s sportsmanship rule, which would institute a running clock when the score margin is 35 points or more after three quarters.

The basketball committee forwarded that proposal to the Legislative Council during its February meeting, along with a change to the regional format in Class 2A.

Earlier, we’d reported that a separate proposal would penalize violation of the sportsmanship rule. That proposal was not actually forwarded to the Legislative Council, and thus will not be voted on.

Along with this committee recommendation is a separate proposal from the Board of Directors that would penalize violation of the sportsmanship rule. If a team exceeds the 35-point margin more than three times in a season, it would be placed on restriction, along with their head coach.

Elsewhere:

• Hockey is seeking to add new programs at Chaparral and Woodland Park. It also wants to slightly amend its postseason waiver process.
• Spirit is seeking to separate the 4A/5A co-ed division into separate 4A and 5A divisions.

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Violating game contracts to be considered

Another proposal revolves around game contracts and creates penalties for not honoring the agreement.

Currently, bylaw 2860.1 reads that “member schools are expected to honor game contracts.” This would amend that bylaw to read that they “shall honor game contracts,” so long as they are written and signed by the principal or athletic director of each school. 

For a first violation of breaking as contract, a school would be placed on probation and required to pay a $500 reimbursement “to the offended school within 45 days.” A second violation would place the school on restriction, meaning none of their athletic programs could compete in the postseason, and require a reimbursement of $1,000 to the other school, as well as a “mandatory meeting with the CHSAA office with a penalty to be determined.”

Additionally, if a school doesn’t pay a fine to the other school within 45 days, it will be “placed on restriction.” The “penalty is non-appealable.”

It’s worth noting that the penalty “will only be applicable for varsity-level teams.”

The proposal was forwarded by the Board of Directors in response to a number of member schools who have identified what they feel is an increasing trend.

It requires a majority approval to pass.

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Notables

• A proposal dealing with football equipment dates was sent by the Board of Directors. It deals with using equipment and commercial and college camps, and it’s probably easier to just link the proposal itself.
• The Frontier League has forwarded an amendment to change basketball’s RPI percentages. The basketball committee is not in support of the amendment, which hasn’t been analyzed or discussed using official data.

(Pam Wagner/CHSAANow.com)

AURORA — Boys volleyball hit a bump in the road last week as it seeks to become CHSAA’s next sanctioned sport.

CHSAA’s Equity Committee, which gives recommendations on sanctioning, could not to endorse the sport after hearing a proposal from a group representing boys volleyball last Thursday.

In a letter sent last week, the committee cited data that showed that 81 percent of schools “responded that by adding this sport, their proportionality numbers would either be negatively affected or their school’s proportionality would become out of compliance.” Proportionality deals with the balance of boys and girls sports as mandated by Title IX.

As such, boys volleyball will no longer be making a presentation to the Legislative Council at its meeting on Thursday. Still, a league may still choose to sponsor a bylaw seeking sanctioning at the April Legislative Council meeting.

“It’s very possible that they still seek sanctioning,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bethany Brookens, who oversees the Equity Committee.

There is a group of schools who feel very positively about sanctioning. A total of 74 percent of schools responded to a survey about adding boys volleyball, and of those, 77 percent favored sanctioning.

But the lack of a positive recommendation from the Equity Committee may make it a tall task if the bylaw were to come up for a vote in April. According to existing bylaw 5000.1, in addition to surveys of member schools, the Legislative Council needs to consider any “recommendations from the Equity Committee regarding positive and/or negative impact to proportionality in our member schools.”

Larry Bull, the district athletic director of Cherry Creek Schools, gave the presentation on behalf of boys volleyball last week.

He noted that the sport has been around at the club level since 1996, and has since grown to more than 500 athletes participating around the state.

“It is public, private and charter schools doing this,” Bull said. “You have very, very large schools participating, and very small schools participating.

“It has a 20-year history, and it has the potential to become an important sport for our young men in Colorado.”

Their proposal would place boys volleyball in the spring season.

If Colorado were to sanction boys volleyball, it would become the 25th state to do so nationally. And the sport is definitely growing on the national level. Over the past five years, it has seen a 12 percent increase in participation, according to the most recent NFHS survey.

This is the third time boys volleyball has attempted to gain sanctioning from CHSAA. But, “I will tell you,” Bull said, “the momentum is stronger” this time around.

Equity Committee member Dave Walck, the athletic director at Grand Valley, called the proposal “the most organized effort” he’d seen from boys volleyball. “This is something that more people are talking about, and I think it has the potential to be very successful.”

The letter even acknowledged that “the entire committee was extremely impressed” by the presentation.

Still, the Equity Committee was unable to get past that 81 percent of schools that said adding boys volleyball would either put them out of proportion, or would have a negative effect on their number. 

So, as of now, boys volleyball appears to be in a holding pattern.

The Equity Committee also heard presentations from girls wrestling and ultimate frisbee last week. It also heard about the forthcoming proposal to add a fourth classification of boys soccer that will be put in front of the Legislative Council this week.

It gave approval on the 2A boys soccer proposal, as well as a split of 4A/5A co-ed cheer into separate classifications.

Girls wrestling inspired curiosity in the committee, and the group wants updates in the upcoming year or two to see how it develops.

CHSAA hasn’t added a sport since a three-year span from 1997-99, when boys and girls lacrosse, and field hockey were all added.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Opinions in this Mailbag do not reflect an official viewpoint of CHSAA.

In this installment of the CHSAANow.com Mailbag, we tackle the questions about football’s alignment, football’s RPI, softball regionals, adding new sports like boys volleyball, and postseason basketball formats.

To ask a question for the next Mailbag, use this form, or ask on Twitter: Tweet to @jryancasey

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(Matt Daniels/mattdanphoto.com)

It looks like this new football alignment is hurting rivalries, and making it so there are a bunch of blowouts. Why was this done? I think it needs to change back to what it was.

What are your thoughts?

— Chris B., Brighton

Oh, a hot topic! I’m guessing you’re referring to 5A football’s new waterfall alignment.

Yeah, Week 6 did bring us a ton of blowouts. Probably more than there would’ve been if the alignment hadn’t changed. I haven’t taken the time to actually measure that out and compare to previous seasons, but from a pure anecdotal perspective, it sure seemed that way.

That said, I will add this: A lot of those complaining about the waterfall alignment also complained about the alignment for 2014-16, and for 2012-14, and for 2010-12 … and, well, you get the picture.

Listen, these topics you raise are not new. They were talked about by the football committee at their meeting where this was implemented, so everyone knew the possibilities. But, an overwhelming majority of the 5A schools wanted to balance the leagues along with the move to the RPI formula. (It wouldn’t have passed if they didn’t.) The relatively close proximity of 5A allowed for schools to be placed into an alignment based off of past performance.

The thought there was that if you kept stronger leagues (such as the Centennial) together, they would have an advantage in terms of strength of schedule over weaker leagues (such as the Flatirons League) — and therefore have a better shot at making the postseason field.

I’m almost certain this will be talked about at the football committee meeting this winter, but I really don’t know if they will consider adjusting the alignment in the middle of a two-year cycle. That would mean blowing up schedules and starting over for just one year.

In the future, 5A could consider doing something similar to what 4A did: waterfall within geographic regions. That way, the schedules are balanced, but you get to keep some traditional rivalries.

Or, it could move toward the hockey alignment, where you tier the leagues and put teams of similar strength together. That would solve the issue of blowouts, but could possibly skew RPI data.

Ultimately, though, I don’t believe the problem is alignment. It’s the classification system. We really need to look at moving toward a system that classifies teams not only by enrollment, but by historical and recent success. Enrollment numbers do not tell the whole picture.

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(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

Just saw the football RPI that came out. Are you serious? This is way off!

— Robert K., Colorado Springs

I’ll reiterate what I’ve told some people in other avenues: This data is from Week 6 of a 10-week season. Be patient.

If people broke down softball’s data after six games, or volleyball’s, or soccer’s, then it wouldn’t look quite right.

There have been some absolute overreactions to the football RPI standings released on Saturday. The playoffs don’t start today, nor do they start next week.

Let’s wait until after Week 10 to pull out our Jump to Conclusions mats.

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(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

Why is Denver East in the softball regionals? Denver East was way below Pomona, and they still made it over them. This doesn’t seem to make any sense??

— Leslie S., Arvada

Denver East was the automatic qualifier out of the Class 5A Denver Prep League. So, even though the Angels were rated 51st in the final RPI standings in 5A, they qualified for the 32-team postseason.

This also happened when Pine Creek, No. 33 in the RPI, made the field as an AQ out of the 5A Colorado Springs Metro League. (It happened in 4A, too.)

The automatic qualifying spots were listed in the softball bulletin prior to the season.

Because of this, the Nos. 31 and 32 teams in the final 5A RPI standings (Northglenn and Pomona) didn’t make the regional field as at-large qualifiers.

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(Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com)

I’m fine with CHSAA starting a girls wrestling division. My question is, why isn’t there a boys volleyball division?

Quite a few states sponsor boys volleyball, men’s volleyball has long been an Olympic sport, and I would think there would be significantly more boys interested in high school volleyball than girls interested in high school wrestling.

Moreover, given all the concerns about football, brain trauma and concussions, boys volleyball would provide another option for male athletes and parents who don’t want to risk their son’s brain health via football participation.

Just wondering …

— Ken R., Littleton

Boys volleyball has long sought sanctioning from CHSAA, and there has been some recent movement on that front recently.

Last week, a survey went out to all schools which will gauge their interest in hosting a team starting in the spring of 2019. The Centennial League is leading the charge. That is good news for the sport, because many potential sports never get a league to sponsor a bylaw at Legislative Council for an official vote on sanctioning.

The survey results are due by Nov. 1, so we’ll know more then.

There is a big hurdle that remains: Even if a school says it wants to add a boys volleyball program, that doesn’t mean it actually will.

As things stand in terms of equity under Title IX, CHSAA can likely add another boys sport without adding a girls sport. BUT: Just because CHSAA’s equity is in good standing, that doesn’t mean the same is true for individual schools.

One major difference is that CHSAA counts spirit as a sport, but many schools do not. That’s because there are a number of criteria they need to hit in order to officially list it as a sport, including competing at the CHSAA state championships. Spirit has a huge amount of female participants.

So, even if the survey returns positive results, Title IX equity within schools is a major hurdle for boys volleyball to clear. Plus, there’s also the question of whether or not a school could add another sport to its athletic budget.

(Oh, and to be clear: girls wrestling is still in “let’s talk about it” stage. Nothing new has happened in terms of its addition.)

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I noticed the mention of possibly adding girls wrestling. What ever happened to rugby? I feel like that would be an easy addition with a lot of girls who want to play that sport.

— Luke S., Aurora

There was a lot of movement on this in early 2015, with it even looking likely that a vote on sanctioning would be put in front of the Legislative Council.

Alas, that never came to fruition as the league that was going to sponsor the bylaw pulled out, so the proposal to add girls rugby stalled, even though a survey showed moderate interest from schools in adding the sport.

But, paired with the above question, girls rugby may be a good mate with boys volleyball for schools that may be worried about throwing off their Title IX equity?

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(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Has the basketball committee settled on regional sites for 2A basketball? Can you update us on how postseason works now for 2A hoops?

— Jan, Alamosa

Regional sites have not been set yet, but there is a survey going out to schools on Wednesday that deals with that very topic.

Regionals will work this way:

• There are eight regions, each with three teams, for a total of 24 regional qualifiers.
• Each region will qualify one team for an eight-team state tournament.
• Districts 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8 will come from Eastern part of the state, while Districts 1, 3 and 5 will come from the West.
• The regionals are set to be played on Thursday (girls), Friday (boys) and Saturday (both), though this could change. (That is part of the survey.)
• As you may have heard, the state tournaments will now be played at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland.

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For Class 2A basketball, how does the three-region format work? Wouldn’t it be easier to have four regions?

— Steve S., South Fork

I believe you may actually be referring to 1A basketball? We explained the 2A process just above, and that features eight regions.

1A, however, does have three regions. Here’s how it will work:

• The districts feeding into each region will change on a year-to-year basis. (It will be laid out in the basketball bulletin.)
• For 2016-17, Districts 1 and 6 will be in Region 1. Region 2 will consist of Districts 4, 5 and 8. And Region 3 will be Districts 2, 3 and 7.
• Region 1 will send two qualifiers to the state tournament, while Regions 2 and 3 will each send three. This gives us a total of eight teams to state.
• District 1 will always be in Region 1, with Districts 6, 7 and 8 rotating in each year. For example, in 2017-18, Region will be consist of District 1 and 8, while District 6 moves to Region 3.

The basketball committee opted to not use four regions because on 22 teams qualify for regionals due to “the immense travel in 1A,” according to Bert Borgmann, the CHSAA assistant commissioner in charge of basketball.