High school sports is supposed to be about participation.

The goal of the Utah High School Activities Association is to offer as many athletic experiences and activities to as many students as possible.

So when the UHSAA's Board of Trustees voted to create a 1A/2A soccer league, I applauded the decision. Schools that haven't participated in soccer have committed to do so now that they know they will be playing against schools of about the same size. Nothing is more demoralizing to a growing program and budding players than being blown out game after game, which is what some 1A/2A schools lived with so they could offer soccer to their students before this new league.

Unfortunately, one school is now caught in a difficult situation, for which there is no easy answer.

Waterford spent many years being that school that couldn't play with programs three and four times bigger than the Ravens. But they built an enviable program — for both boys and girls — despite the difficulty and in the last eight years have been extremely competitive.

Now that the school's soccer programs are consistently among the top in 3A, they're faced with taking a step backward.

It may seem that Waterford's coaches and administrators are focused on the wrong aspect of high school athletics. At the BOT's last meeting, Waterford asked if the UHSAA would consider moving them to 3A in all sports if they couldn't stay 3A in soccer.

The BOT said no.

Several reasons were given, including the fact that it was too late to rearrange regions and schedules. But Waterford was asked to create a new schedule from the UHSAA's new soccer regions for the 1A/2A schools competing in May and June, so why is it too late?

The Ravens' administration was stunned. It knew it would be unlikely for the school to be allowed to stay 3A in soccer alone, but it never expected to be rejected on its proposal to move to 3A in all sports.

I can understand why Waterford isn't allowed to stay in 3A leagues for soccer alone, although an argument could be made that it should be allowed because the regions created for soccer aren't even complete regions for the girls. There are five teams in the two regions created, one north and one south.

But officials should allow Waterford to play at the 3A level for all sports, if that's what school officials want to do. I think it will make it much harder to win in some of its other programs, like volleyball and tennis. But I also believe that playing in 3A for the last two decades is what has made its soccer program so tough.

I think special consideration should be given to the Ravens because the 1A/2A soccer league was created just this spring and schedules for the girls were already finished when they were told they were moving to the new regions and new league. No situation is going to be perfect because if the BOT allows Waterford to move to 3A, the new league loses a cornerstone program.

But the reality is the league will be fine without Waterford's teams. The Ravens' programs and athletes, however, will suffer if they are forced to play in a situation that will demoralize both them and their opponents.

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E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com