AURORA — For the first time, each of CHSAA’s 11 fall sports have a uniform start date. And that date is today.
Monday marks the official start of practice for boys and girls cross country, field hockey, football, boys golf, gymnastics, boys soccer, softball, spirit, boys tennis and volleyball. It also kicks off the 2018-19 athletic season.
The change is the result of a vote at the April Legislative Council meeting which moved all sports to the NFHS calendar. It aligned all sports to more uniform dates. In the past, sports have started practice at staggered times.
From here, the fall calendar moves along quickly:
The first scrimmage and contest for boys golf, boys tennis and softball is Thursday.
The first scrimmage for cross country, field hockey, gymnastics, boys soccer, spirit and volleyball is Saturday. The first contest for those sports is Aug. 16.
Football can use its full uniform in practice on Thursday, and player-to-player contact is permitted Friday. Full contact is allowed on Saturday. Football scrimmages are permitted on Aug. 16 — giving many teams the opportunity to have two scrimmage dates for the first time. The first football games are allowed on Aug. 23.
The first championship event of the 2018-19 season is boys golf, which has its state meets from Oct. 1-2.
Bayfield football coach Gary Heide and Castle View volleyball coach Scott Dowis share a few things in common.
Both of their teams are coming off state championships in their respective sports. Both programs suffered the loss of vital senior leadership.
And as of today, both are officially back to work.
Monday marked the official start of the 2018 high school fall sports season.
Heide and Dowis both spent the day on Monday planning out how the first day was going to be attacked from their end.
“We have to get everything organized,” Heide said. “We have to see who’s there and who didn’t show up and start to digest that and know who we have to contact and what we have to get done.”
For football, no full contact is allowed until Saturday, so there is room to ease into the groove. Right in front of him, Heide sees a group of kids that are primed to duplicate the success that the 2017 Wolverines had.
“I want to tell the kids how excited I am to be able to coach them,” Heide said. “This is their year and we’re going to have a very good football team.”
A similar feel plays out at Castle View, but Dowis starts his season a little differently than most volleyball programs. Rather than running a high school camp during the summer, he starts it on the first day of official practice.
“It’s almost like an extended tryout,” Dowis said. “We go over what’s really important to us, how we execute certain skills, we go over our offensive and defensive systems. We use it as an opportunity so our kids know what’s expected of them.”
That’s not necessarily a state championship right off the bat. Coaches are aware of the changes their teams have gone through in the offseason.
The SaberCats lost eight seniors from the team that beat Cherry Creek in five sets last November.
The goal on day one might be to repeat the same outcome from a year ago, but it’s important for Dowis to stress to his players that the process is going to look different.
“This is a new team, this is a new personality,” Dowis said. “I think what they want to do is continue the kind of success that we’ve had, but they want to make their own plan.”
(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
Not every program will have a smooth start on day one. As some schools looked to make upgrades to their facilities in the summer, the start of practices will take an unorthodox look.
Rampart’s remodel of its gym is not complete, so the volleyball team has been forced to find other accommodations. The Rams will practice at Liberty, a District 20 rival, for two weeks. Rampart is expected to be back in its own facility the day before its first match of the season on Aug. 21.
But the help that the school has gotten from Liberty has been greatly appreciated.
“They’ve helped us out a lot,” athletic director Andy Parks said in a text message.
No matter the time of day, no matter the location, coaches across the state of Colorado are thrilled to get their kids back to competition.
The marathon of the 2018-19 athletic season has begun.
(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Cherry Creek two-way standout Alec Pell had previously announced that he was going to play football at Boise State.
Five days ago, Pell received a scholarship offer from the University of Colorado. Monday, he decided to accept it.
Pell took to Twitter on the first day of the 2018 fall season to announce that he’ll stay in Colorado rather than head to Idaho.
Pell accounted for over 750 all-purpose yards for the Bruins last year and scored nine touchdowns.
His announcement comes just a day after his teammate Michael Lynn announced that he would play football at the University of Nebraska.
Like everyone in Colorado, Cherry Creek officially begins practice on Monday. The Bruins will be in action on Aug. 23 when they travel to Colorado Springs to take on Doherty.
With last night’s commitment to Nebraska, Cherry Creek now has five Division I football commits for the class of 2019.
AURORA — The Colorado High School Activities Association and its 359-member schools open the 98th school year with fall practice starting August 6.
The Association has just concluded four days of meetings, with the CHSAA staff participating in the Colorado High School Coaches Association Summer Clinic last weekend, and then hosting its member schools’ administrators for the New Administrator and All-School Summit. There also was a session for League Presidents as the schools ready for the opening of the 2018-2019 school year.
Boys’ tennis and golf teams may begin scrimmages and competition August 9, with cross country, field hockey, girls’ gymnastics, boys’ soccer and girls’ volleyball allowed their first scrimmages August 11 and competition August 16. Football continues its graduated practices, with the first scrimmage allowed on August 16 and competition begins August 23.
In May, 1921, a group of superintendents and principals met in Boulder and organized the Colorado High School Athletic Conference. The purpose of this organization was to better regulate and develop the interscholastic school athletic program.
There were nine leagues by the time the first constitution was published, including the Northern, North Central, Western Slope, Suburban, Southeastern, Arkansas Valley, South Central and San Juan Basin leagues.
The first champions crowned that school year were Colorado Springs in football, Greeley in basketball, and Fort Collins in track and field.
In 1924, the Colorado High School Athletic Conference joined the National Federation of State High School Associations and has remained an active member of that organization ever since.
Loveland’s R.W. Truscott was the Association’s first president and Eaton’s J.C. Casey its first secretary (commissioner). Truscott replaced Casey as secretary in December, 1926 and held that post until July, 1948 when Glenn T. Wilson became commissioner. Ray C. Ball took over the commissioner’s post in 1966 and remained in the office until August, 1986 when Ray Plutko assumed the duties. Bob Ottewill became the Association’s sixth commissioner in July, 1990, followed by Bill Reader who served as Commissioner from 2002 until 2010, and Paul Angelico served in the position from 2010-2017, when current Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green took over the reins to the Association.
The CHSAA has had 60 presidents dating back to 1921. Its current president, Pine Creek High School Assistant Principal Jim Lucas is in the second year of a two-year term as president.
The Association enters the year with no administrative changes. Rhonda Blanford-Green is in her 2nd year as Commissioner, but 22nd overall with the Association after leading the Nebraska Association for four years and serving on the Louisiana staff prior to taking her position with CHSAA. Associate Commissioner Tom Robinson is in his 18th year on the CHSAA staff, while Assistant Commissioners Bert Borgmann, is in his 31st year, while Bethany Brookens is in her 10th. Assistant Commissioners Bud Ozzello and Jenn Roberts-Uhlig are in their ninth and fifth years, respectively, with CHSAA. Ernie Derrera is entering his second year with CHSAA. Ryan Casey is in his sixth year with CHSAA as Director of Digital Media.
Cathy Lenz is executive administrative assistant to Commissioner Blanford-Green, while Whitney Webermeier (Borgmann), Sandra Williamson (Brookens), Theresa Muniz (Derrera), Audra Cathy (Ozzello), Lane Ververs (Roberts-Uhlig) and Monica Tillman (Robinson) are the executive administrative assistants to other administrators. Director of Business Operations Kenzie Hewson and mail room coordinator Sharon Aguilar round out the Association staff.
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CHSAA Board of Directors
CHSAA President/Colorado Association of School Executives: (Serving second year of two-year term): Jim Lucas, Assistant Principal (Pine Creek High School [2019]
District 1: (San Juan Basin, Western Slope, Southwestern): Luke DeWolfe, Athletic Director (Steamboat Springs High School) [2022]
District 2: (Centennial, Northern, Frontier, Tri-Valley): Chase McBride, Athletic Director (Niwot High School) [2020]
District 3: (High Plains, Lower Platte, Mile High, North Central, Patriot, Union Pacific, YWKC): Rick Mondt, Superintendent (Briggsdale Schools [2019]
District 4: (Jefferson County, East Metro, Colorado 7): Angie Sanders, Athletic Director (Conifer High School) [2021]
District 5: (Denver, Metropolitan, Confluence): Caleb Coats, Athletic Director (STRIVE PREP High School) [2022]
District 6: (Continental, Front Range, 5280): Michael Hawkes, Athletic Director (Shining Mountain Waldorf) [2021]
District 7: (CS Metro 4A, CS Metro 5A, Pikes Peak, Tri-Peaks, West Central): Troy Baker, Athletic Director (Buena Vista HS) [2019]
District 8: (Black Forest, Fisher’s Peak, Intermountain, Southern Peaks): Don Steiner, Athletic Director (Evangelical Christian High School) [2022]
District 9: (Arkansas Valley, Santa Fe, South Central, Southeastern): Richard Hargrove, Superintendent (Springfield Schools) [2021]
At-Large Representative: TBD
At-Large Representative: Terita Walker, Athletic Director (Denver East High School) (2021)
Colorado Association of School Boards: Tracey Johnson, CASB (Academy School District 20) [2020]
Colorado Association of School Executives: Jeff Durbin, Superintendent (Stratton Schools) [2021]
Colorado Department of Education: Wendy Dunaway, Colorado Department of Education [2019]
Colorado State Assembly: Jim Wilson, Salida (State Representative, Salida) [2020]
Gunnison will not field a varsity football team in 2018, athletic director Dave Uhrig announced on Thursday.
The hope is to have the team back in 2019, Uhrig said.
“We want it back as soon as possible,” Uhrig said.
The decision comes ahead of the start of fall practice on Monday, and was made because of low numbers on the roster.
Gunnison will play a junior varsity schedule in 2018.
The Cowboys play in Class 2A’s Intermountain League.
Gunnison was set to open the season against Grand Valley on Aug. 31. The Cowboys also had non-league games against Olathe, Hotchkiss and Cedaredge, as well league games against Salida, Bayfield, Pagosa Springs, Alamosa and Montezuma-Cortez.
The fall season is quickly approaching, and we are searching for voters for our fall sports rankings.
All head coaches and media members wishing to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org to sign up. Please include the following:
Your name.
Your school (or media organization).
The sport(s) you will be voting in.
The classification(s) you will be voting in.
Typically, coaches only vote in their sport’s classification. Media members are welcome to vote in multiple classifications, so long as they cover those classes.
We are looking for voters in the following sports:
Field hockey
Football
Boys soccer
Softball
Volleyball
The rankings, which are the official polls of CHSAA and are used by the Association in a variety of fashions, will publish each Monday during the fall season. They are posted on our Rankings homepage.
