Consider competitiveness in realignment

The realignment hearings are over, and there isn't anything left to do but wait and wonder what the Utah High School Activities Association's board of trustees will do next. It'll finalize the new alignment plan on June 10, and schools will be set in their regions and classifications for 2009-13.

The board still needs to consider making some major changes.

Before I get to the issue that's bothered me so far during this process, let me first say that I'm not downplaying the issues that some of the schools have presented in the realignment hearings with the board of trustees. I understand how costly travel has become. Shoot, I get annoyed when I fill up my gas tank. If I had to pay the fuel bills for entire districts that are filling up yellow school buses right now, I'd probably have a heart attack.

That being said, the thing that's curious to me — and it was one of my fears when the realignment process started — is why isn't the competitiveness of individual schools being factored into the realignment process this time around?

I think that the board of trustees sent a loud and clear message in its first realignment draft that it just doesn't seem to care how competitive sports programs are right now while deciding where to place schools for 2009-13. How else can you explain moving Granger, Cyprus and West up from 4A to 5A, and Ogden and Uintah up from 3A to 4A, when they aren't exactly tearing up the competition in their respective classifications?

From my experiences in attending the realignment meetings and hearings, it seems like some board members are concerned only with enrollment numbers and how they're projected, and that's about it.

That's a mistake, in my opinion.

Fortunately, I did get some hope in the final moments of Tuesday's hearings, and shortly after it, that competitiveness will be brought up before realignment is finalized. For schools like Hillcrest, Uintah, Ogden, Granger and Cyprus, their ability to compete in sports from 2009-13 are hinging on the final decisions of the board.

"I hope some things change," said Teresa Theurer, the Utah State Board of Education's representative on the UHSAA's board of trustees. "It seems to me like a lot of people (board members) are pretty satisfied with how things currently stand. I hope that we can look at some individual schools that have concerns that are specific to their school, and would love for us to be able to help them build their sports programs and become more competitive."