On Dec. 20, the Eagar Round Valley School Board made cuts to the budget that included the suspension of funding for all extracurricular activities for the spring semester and the 2011-12 school year.
It meant all sports for this athletically proud school were cut. Student athletes in this situation are allowed to transfer immediately and compete for their new school. It was terrible news for the White Mountains area, one of the state's more passionate areas when it comes to high school athletics.
Thanks to donations, as much as $1,500 by some individuals, and a baseball clinic to be held Feb. 12 at the Round Valley Dome called "Save the Game - White Mountain Baseball Clinic - Play Together to Stay Together," put on by former major leaguers Gil Patterson and Joe Sperle, the spring season for all sports have been saved, according to Round Valley superintendent Travis Udall in a story by The White Mountain Independent.
THE FAB 4* Robbie Mathers, Desert Vista (Phoenix) wrestling: The junior 125-pounder was named the Outstanding Wrestler at the state's toughest tournament in a weight class that included five state champions, including himself.
* Tempe Prep girls basketball: The Knights ended Chandler Valley Christian's 48-game winning streak with a 50-48 win in overcoming a 43-29 end of third-quarter deficit.
* Desert Vista (Phoenix) boys soccer: The Thunder came together for one game and knocked off previously undefeated Phoenix Brophy, 3-1. The Broncos fell to 16-1-1 overall and the Thunder improved to 6-4 in power point matches to crack the top 10 in the power point rankings.
* Christian Westerman, Hamilton (Chandler) football: The highly touted offensive lineman found a new home when he committed to Auburn last week after originally giving his verbal to Texas, but the Longhorns' change at offensive line coach was enough to sway the country's fourth-ranked OL.
ON DECK* Big school boys and girls state soccer: The Class 5A Division I and II and 4A Division I and II state tournaments get underway next Tuesday (girls) and Wednesday (boys) so that means this week's games are vital in making sure the decimal point falls in the right direction for postseason seeding.
* The final week of regular season basketball is winding up as teams are jockeying for power point position.
* The spring sports start having official team meetings/tryouts as the season(s) near. Is another sport season nearly two-thirds over?
SKODA'S SENTIMENTThe AIA has made its best effort reduce the amount of travel by cutting the number of state tournament games across the board. The individual sports got the new look this school year and the team sports change it up next year.
Additionally, the number of medals given out at state events has been reduced.
The top 14 cross country athletes received medals this year compared to 28 in years past. Swimming went from top 10 to top five. Wrestling is going from top six to top four even though the state tournament will still place the top six for the team points race.
I don't have the official numbers on other sports but they will be reduced as well.
Saving money is great. It's needed across the board. The $2 or $3 saved on each medal might add up quick, but having the wrestling teams in the top two divisions, made up of mostly of Phoenix and Tucson based schools, travel to Prescott Valley for the first time seems counter-productive as all of these programs now have to pay for transportation and hotel rooms.
Obviously, the Tucson teams did previously as well but it's adding another two hours to the trip.
Tim's Toyota is a nice facility, but holds only 5,100 for events that can't seat on the floor. The record crowd for the state wrestling tournament is close to 10,000 but that was for all six classifications.
The Friday night finals for the big schools, on Feb. 10, will be a tough ticket with the Division I and II fans wanting in along with the smaller classes in town for its preliminaries in the morning.
Jason P. Skoda has been a sports writer in the Phoenix area for the last six years of his 15-year career. He currently works at the Ahwatukee Foothills News after stints with The Arizona Republic, CoachesAid.com Arizona and a turn at freelancing for various newspapers and Web sites around the country. Before landing in Arizona, he also worked in Ohio, California and Texas. He can be contacted at jskoda1024@aol.com or 480-272-2449.
