Want things changed at KSHSAA?
May 21, 2009 @ 1:43 p.m. by Joannaby joanna
I am hearing a lot of renewed grumbling about the KSHSAA and regional sites, etc. I heard it back when the spring sports regionals were released. I heard it during basketball.
Certainly there are some issues, some valid issues. East and Southeast and Heights and Washburn Rural and Derby all in the same basketball sub-state. That’s a problem.
With softball, there was the Clearwater regional with Clearwater, Rose Hill, Mulvane, Independent, Augusta….
In baseball, it was the Independent regional — Independent, Clearwater, Mulvane, Andover, Rose Hill, Wichita Trinity (6 of 8 had winning records)….
The KSHSAA does all this based on geography. That’s what it comes down to.
If you want it changed, it’s the ADs and principals from your school that need to change it. They’re the ones that need to go to the KSHSAA and ask for it to be changed. Coming here and complaining is great — it’s venting, etc. But if you truly want change, those are the people to go to. Those are the only people who can make the change. For the KSHSAA will say, and has said, that it is doing the business of what it’s member schools have agreed to.
Thoughts?
Jim Cross says:
May 21st, 2009 at 2:29 pm
They did change the format of the State Track Meet. Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
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bbfan says:
May 21st, 2009 at 4:18 pm
How are KSHSAA directors/members appointed and is there a term length?
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daTron09 says:
May 21st, 2009 at 4:48 pm
i think the only way to satisfy the high school basketball fans is to transform it into the NCAA format…anyone agree?
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LaneTech81 says:
May 21st, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Explain NCAA format – it is just about like that right now with four “regions”
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agree says:
May 21st, 2009 at 8:21 pm
it is just sad to see or be forced to be a part of. can we go anywhere else? KSHSAA knows no one can do anything but accept what they do. everyone just has to deal with it because they are the law. instead of complaining lets try to make a change. how do we do it? oh I have to go now, my daughter needs my attention because she is still so hurt from working so hard and not reach her goal of making it to state. wonder how hard el dorado worked or even cared.
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joanna says:
May 21st, 2009 at 9:09 pm
agree — your points are fine. They are. I think we all feel bad for the kids who don’t make it.
But this should not be about El Dorado. To question how hard that team worked, how much that team cared is so unfair.
If you don’t like the system, complain, work to change it. But don’t dog a team or dog other players. That is unjust.
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fan says:
May 21st, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Even the Geographical thing does not make sense. A lot of times a school will travel further to a regional than one that is closer to them. I realize that KSHSAA just tries to mix it up a little each year. There may never be a perfect way but it is still frustrating.
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daTron09 says:
May 21st, 2009 at 9:29 pm
agree- i gotta say that i agree with Joanna…..i could name a list of teams that work hard and get rejected from making it to state due to a tough regional….thats just how the pieces crumble sometimes, there kids im sure they will face even tougher adversity throughout their liftime than not making it to state in high school
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bbfan says:
May 21st, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Certainly don’t take anything away from eldorado or any other team that is advancing, they did what was ask of them.
But the system is critically flawed. I amnot sure what the reference to the NCAA tournament was supposed to mean. The state playoffs are at least as important to those athletes as the NCAA championship is to college players.
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Paul says:
May 21st, 2009 at 11:04 pm
I was informed about all the hate directed toward the system in place for regional pairings. Let me inform everyone why KSHSAA takes the stance that they do. Athletics is an extra curricular activity that should not be placed first in a school’s mission. Athletics is intended to provide an equal opportunity for all reguardless of the size or location of the school. If the governing body of athletics takes the stance of promoting strong athletic programs we will take away from the learning of the majority and turn high school into a farm system for D1 universities. This would be great for a small percentage of the students but so many would be left without the education they deserve. Lets focus on why high school is important and not who participates in an athletic contest at state.
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WC says:
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:07 am
“Athletics is intended to provide an equal opportunity for all regardless of the size or location of the school”….our point exactly.
having a functioning athletic situation does nothing to hinder school work and strong athletic programs bring in more students who are then required to meet certain grade requirements it does nothing but enhance education and provides certain lessons that you can’t learn in a classroom
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fan says:
May 22nd, 2009 at 7:30 am
Paul, I don’t think anyone would disagree with you that academics comes before athletics. How does what you have to say have anything to do with regional pairings.
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ks07 says:
May 22nd, 2009 at 7:38 am
Maybe somebody can answer this for me..why do they have playoffs in football but everybody gets to go to the playoffs in baseball? Why not have districts (like football), top two teams make the playoffs in each district and have a tournament from there. Best record hosts until state tourney. State tourney could consist of the last 4 teams remaining. Anybody know why they do regionals and substate tourneys instead of a regular playoff system?
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Jim Cross says:
May 22nd, 2009 at 8:24 am
Some states seed their state touraments much like the NCAA. The last time I checked, high schools is where D1 schools get their athletes.
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NW Track Coach says:
May 22nd, 2009 at 8:58 am
Another issue that should be addressed is the number of female participants in the spring compared to the rest of the seasons.
Fall – Volleyball, Crosscountry, Golf and Tennis; estimated # of participants 70
Winter – Basketball 25-30
Spring – Track 40, Soccer 40, Softball 30 swimming 30: 140
Is this equitable? Does this system reduce female athletes ability to participate in multiple activities.
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CueballKS says:
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:53 am
ks07, the district system in football essentially works on the same principle as the other sports. Everyone plays to get to the playoffs. It is just done during the regular season.
I really hate the current system in baseball and softball. You have 10 double-headers no tournaments during the regular season, most that are delayed at one point because of the weather and teams end up playing 6 to 8 games a week. Then you have geographically grouped single elimination tournaments played during a two-day span.
The Wichita Independent regional contained six teams with winning records. El Dorado’s Regional had none. It seems like the KSHSAA could do a better job with the post season in these two sports.
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ks07 says:
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I agree Cueball…I wish they would find a way to pit 64 teams in each classification..make 8 – 8 team districts. Top 2 or 3 go to the playoffs and keep the districts the same throughout all sports, not change every sport. Maybe that’s not logical…just seems like you could combine 5A and 6A and have 64 teams have 16 of those teams make the playoffs and then have a one game elimination tournament..and you could do that with all the sports not just football.
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ks07 says:
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:09 pm
If they stick with the current system I do have to defend KSHSAA a little..I think it’s impossible to make each regional tournament equally fair…with budgets and travel it’s really not KSHSAA’s fault who ends up being good and who doesn’t. They set the regions before all these winning records and losing records were made.
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Paul says:
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Keeping athletics in its proper place in school is what KSHSAA is trying to do in all their rules concerning athletics. Yes, some states do it differently and athletics can sometimes grow to the point where it will be more important than anything else in the school in those states. A state wide ranking system for every sport would take considerable time and resources from a school that should use that money elsewhere. Lets not force schools into unethical behaviors and practices to be the best. KSHSAA will not become that state where a football coach make three times as much as the head of the math department. Or the state where the basketball coach has more say so in school policy than the principle. Lets keep high school sports where it belongs, as a fun rewarding activity that can give an athlete a lifetime of memories. Giving everyone in the state a random equal chance is the way they try to keep high school sports where it belongs.
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ssmom says:
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
To the woman “Agree”- You do not know how hard El Dorado works. They have practiced 2 and a half hours 6-7 days a week. They deserve to go to State. They could not help that they got placed in an easy regional. Stop bashing El Dorado just because your cry baby teams didn’t make it. Its pretty simple to win…u just score more runs than the other team GO EL DORADO :)
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agree says:
May 22nd, 2009 at 10:27 pm
after reading what paul wrote I understand why some teams are placed in loaded regionals and some are put in easy reagionals. but that still does not make it right. why should teams be placed by a flip of a coin? this does not do anything for the athlete that dedicates themselves to something and gets the wrong flip.
practiced 2 hours for 7 days, how about dedicating their life for 9 months out of the year. sounds extreme but all the good players do it. you can’t pick up a bat in march and expect to be state level by may. i wonder if abilene plays fallball, i know their pitcher does. good luck.
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trackfan05 says:
May 24th, 2009 at 11:52 am
It is frustrating to see the state qualifiers for track listed who didn’t even meet regional qualifying standards. There are kids in certain regionals that would have qualified had they been anywhere else, but because of the stacked nature of the regional they were placed in it made it extremely difficult to qualify. The times in some of the regionals came down to hundredths of a second between first through sixth place. For all the athletes that worked so hard through the year, you should be proud of yourselves…however the state meets should be represented by the best of the best and it clearly isn’t. KSHSAA needs to change the way things are done.
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Hovpen says:
May 24th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
The real downer is that Andale, with five of the top six vaulters in the 4A class could only enter three of them in the Regional meet. They could very easily have the top five positions in the state meet if all were allowed to vault. But I guess this wouldn’t be fair to the other 63 schools now would it.
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