The Division I-A South got a little bigger last week as the NIAA board of control approved the move of Del Sol, Spring Valley and Sierra Vista from Division I to Division I-A.
Del Sol will be placed in the Sunrise League and Spring Valley and Sierra Vista move to the Sunset League. The Division I-A South will have 16 teams and divided in to two eight-league teams.
The results of the schools moving leagues was part of the Southern Nevada Rubric system. If schools score 15 or less points in a two-year span, they are dropped down.
Faith Lutheran and Boulder City scored more than 150 points, which would have moved them up to Division I. However, with enrollment under 1,200 students, they have the option of staying in Division I-A.
In addition, the board voted on rubric thresholds for the next realignment cycle.
Division I-A schools scoring more than 150 points for the next cycle could move to Division I. Division I schools scoring less than 30 points will move to Division I-A.
The protections will stay in place for Boulder City, Virgin Valley, Moapa Valley and Faith Lutheran, meaning those schools will not have to move to Division I even if they exceed the 150 points.
The board also voted not to double football points for the upcoming realignment cycle, instead treating it the same as the other Tier I sports: girls volleyball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, baseball and softball.
The Division I-A North will remain the same with Spring Creek, Elko, Lowry, Churchill County, Dayton, Fernley, Sparks, Truckee and South Tahoe. Wooster is a football-only member in Division I-A and plays in Division I in its remaining sports.
• In other news, the board approved White Pine's move to the Division III South beginning with the 2014-15 school year. The Bobcats will stay in the Division III North for boys and girls soccer.
That leaves the Division III North with seven girls schools and eight boys in West Wendover, Battle Mountain, Pershing County, Silver Stage, Rite of Passage (boys only), Yerington, Incline and North Tahoe.
• Hug High School in Reno was asking the board to allow its volleyball and softball teams to play as an independent for the next two seasons. The Hawks have had trouble keeping the sports going at the varsity level. Hug dropped its varsity softball program this past spring after a number of players left the program. Hug did play a JV softball schedule this past spring.
The NIAA board had concerns over allowing schools to determine their own status on a sport-by-sport basis. The one exception in the past has been football, where safety concerns had arisen.
• While Hug's petition was denied, Rancho High School, in Las Vegas, will be allowed to become an independent in football for the next two years.
That will allow the Rams to avoid the Division I powers that have defeated them the last two seasons. Opponents have outscored Rancho 1,004-82 in the last two seasons. Rancho hasn't scored more than 15 points in a game since 2011, and the Rams gave up 70 or more points four times last fall. Rancho had 43 main injuries in the last three years, including 27 concussions.
• The spring sports season for 2015 was shortened by a week to avoid Memorial Day weekend. The previous master calendar had the season ending during Memorial Day weekend and with most state tournaments in 2015 in Las Vegas, concerns finding rooms at a reasonable rate was the main focus of the shift. The season will start on Feb. 28. That is the week of the state basketball tournament.
NIAA assistant director Donnie Nelson said some teams ran into trouble finding lodging for state tournaments this past spring because of the holiday, and that costs of the lodging were extremely high.
• Game officials in all NIAA sanctioned sports will get a four percent raise in pay, starting this fall.
• The board will bring back a proposal at the next meeting that will require participants in individual sports like cross country, swimming and track and field to participate in at least half of their team's scheduled regular-season events to be eligible for postseason competition.
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