Cutting costs may cut athletes’ dreams
Athletes like junior, Young Tanner, GHS's top triple and long jumper may be affected by the new AIA ruling greatly slimming the field of State qualifiers. Photo by Kelsey Haasch
Written by Johnny Parker - Staff Writer
The Arizona Interscholastic Association made a ground-breaking decision for next year’s state tournaments by deciding to cut down a seven conference playoff field to only five for every team sport and three for individual sports in order to save money and increase pay for fellow board members. Executive Director Harold Slemmer is behind this plan, claiming it would make for stronger playoff games and save the association a lot of money in the process.
“Tournament costs have been creeping up for the past two to three years. I’ll give you one example. A cross-country facility we use went from costing us nothing to $10,000. Our revenue can’t keep up with those increases,” said Slemmer.
While the A.I.A admits it has added additional strains on its budget when it approved the addition of Class 5A Division II and Class 4A-II beginning in the 2005-06 school year, some athletic directors suggest that the playoff field is “too watered down.”
Mesa Public Schools athletic director Steve Hogan is one of those people. Hogan believes that the A.I.A should hold seven championships for football, five for every other team sports, and three for all individual sports.
“I think cutting back makes sense, both financially and in terms of keeping some integrity in the tournaments,” says Hogan.
Slemmer agrees that the needs for more competitive tournaments are needed throughout the state.
“We’re trying to narrow it down to who are the best athletes. If you’re a shot-putter and the best you can do is 43 feet and everyone else is doing 51 feet, that’s embarrassing . If you’re a 120 golfer and you can’t finish your round before the sun goes down, should you really be out there?” said Slemmer.
Arizona allows as many as 75 percent of athletes in some individual sports to make state playoffs. Compared to other states in the nation, when just about 15-20 percent of athletes qualify for state, Arizona is one of the most generous in the nation.
Slemmer and the A.I.A hope to save expenses next school year in order to better improve facilities and the playoff competition. They are projecting saving between as much as $40,000-$60,000 dollars in the next year.
“There’s no question we will have a better handle on our expenses,” said Slemmer “[The playoff field] has become burdensome and inefficient.”
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