Stung by hard financial times, the Arizona Interscholastic Association is considering reducing the number of state tournaments for individual sports such as golf, tennis and badminton, as well as reducing team tournaments, with the exception of the revenue-producing sports; football and basketball. One possibility is to eliminate the state
wrestling team tournament that has existed for five years.
The AIA wants to toughen the qualifying standards while giving individual athletes more opportunities to meet those marks in regular-season tournaments. The AIA could also eliminate region tournaments, which drain the AIA’s coffers but do produce revenue for the individual schools hosting them.
Other top storylines from the week
2. One more for Ewan: Chandler football coach Jim Ewan will step down after this upcoming season with offensive coordinator Shawn Aguano taking over. Ewan has coached the Wolves for the past eight seasons and wants to make one last run with star quarterback Brett Hundley. Ewan plans to take at least a year off from coaching, before returning in a lesser role. He has been a coach for 40 years.
3. Harris fired: Doug Harris, who coached Desert Vista (Phoenix)'s varsity boys basketball team for seven years and won a state championship in 2008, was fired last week. No reasons were provided for the dismissal.
4. Hawkins honored: Goodyear Estrella Foothills senior guard Corey Hawkins was named the Gatorade Arizona Boys Basketball Player of the Year. The Arizona State-bound Hawkins led the state in scoring at 36 points a game while leading Estrella Foothills to a third straight Class 3A championship. He also broke Mike Bibby's career and season state scoring marks. Hawkins had 3,154 points for his four-year career and 1,152 points this season.
5. Let’s hear it for Les: Once in a while, the folks covering the sports deserve a mention in this space and that’s certainly the case with longtime East Valley Tribune prep writer Les Willsey. With a new owner taking over the Tribune last week and downsizing the product, the Tribune further reduced its staff. Willsey was laid off, ending the 23-year career of a man who displayed consummate professionalism, a tireless work ethic and an underappreciated sense of humor. Les, you will be missed.
The Fab 5
1. Dallas Escobedo, Phoenix St. Mary’s; Sr., P: The Arizona State-bound Escobedo was named the Outstanding Player at the MaxPreps Softball Tournament of Champions after throwing two perfect games. In one of those games, she fanned 20 of the 21 batters she faced.
2. Shaylah Simpson, Phoenix Desert Vista, Sr., PV: Set a state record in the girls pole vault with a leap of 13 feet, 2 and 1/4 inches at the Nike Indoor Nationals in Boston. The jump eclipsed that of
Lake Havasu’s April Kubishta (13 feet and a quarter-inch), set in 2003.
3. Taylor Kaczmarek, Mesa Desert Ridge, Sr., 1B: Hit five home runs in two days (over three games) this week in the Triple Play Baseball Invitational at Gilbert Highland High School.
4. Dan Smith, Tucson Salpointe, Jr., MB: Earned tournament MVP honors at Ryan Sherrow Boys Volleyball Invitational in Marana as eighth-seeded Salpointe upset its way to the title. Smith had eight blocks in a championship match win over Gilbert Mesquite.
5. Nolan Whittlesey, Gilbert Highland, Jr., 3B/P: Pitched six scoreless innings and homered to lead the Hawks to a victory over Mesa in the Triple Play Baseball Invitational at Highland.
On deck
The 2010 Coach Bob National Invitational, sponsored by MaxPreps, opens Monday and concludes March 29 with 39 teams from nine states competing in three divisions. Games will be played at Anthem Boulder Creek, Glendale Sandra Day O'Connor, Phoenix North Canyon, Surprise Willow Canyon, Glendale Apollo and Tolleson high schools. For more information visit: http://bit.ly/cMmbMQ. The O'Connor-Deer Valley Softball Festival championship game is Saturday at 3:45 p.m. in Glendale.
Recruiting news
The Arizona Republic reported that Scottsdale Saguaro junior offensive lineman Cyrus Hobbi now has 15 offers, the most recent coming from Tennessee and Oregon State. Hobbi won MVP honors at a top-100 lineman camp at Rutgers a month ago. Sabercats coach John Sanders told the Republic that Hobbi also has offers from Alabama, Notre Dame, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Washington, Boise State, California, Arizona and Arizona State. … Also from the Republic, Goodyear Desert Edge senior guard Ryan Whitehead has official visits set up with Portland, Santa Clara and Texas-San Antonio. … Tempe Corona del Sol junior defensive tackle Todd Peat said that he received a football scholarship offer today from Oregon State.
Craig’s cranium
With the AIA considering stricter qualifying standards for state tournaments and smaller team tournaments in order to cut costs, we offer the same advice we offered several years ago when the association chose to split the 5A and 4A conferences into two divisions – advice, we might add, that was ignored.
By choosing to create seven conferences in a state that certainly didn’t need seven conferences, the AIA watered down the competition, thereby rewarding mediocrity at every level with state tournament berths. Equally important, it drove its own costs through the roof by having to host those extra tournaments.
We know the AIA still is not considering the more sensible approach, to create a 6A conference and do away with the 5A-II and 4A-II divisions, but we still believe that’s the best approach. First, it would be less expensive. Second, we wouldn’t have those ridiculous looking division titles. Third, we’d be rewarding meaningful performances and achievements. Every kid doesn’t deserve a ribbon or trophy. Losing is just as valuable a lesson, so let’s stop coddling our kids and start molding them into better adults.
Craig Morgan is a freelance writer who has covered professional, college and high school sports in the Phoenix area for the past 18 years. He currently serves as the Phoenix correspondent for CBSSports.com, covering the Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix Suns and other pro and college teams in Arizona. He also writes a weekly column and other features for The Arizona Republic. You can reach him at craig@thewordsmithonline.com.
