The Front Row with MARK NELKE Sept. 1, 2011

So much for the hubbub about the Boise-area high schools wanting to host all of the state 5A tournaments on a two-year trial basis starting next fall.

At least for now.

A proposal by the 5A Southern Idaho Conference was discussed at the Idaho High School Activities Association's board of directors meeting last month in Boise, but no further action was taken.

"It's dead" unless someone wants to propose it again, IHSAA executive director John Billetz said. "There was no motion to move it to the action agenda. It has to be a motion from the board, and none of the board members made a motion."

At a glance, the proposal made some sense - in most cases, five of the eight 5A teams who qualify for state come from the Boise area. But, as North Idaho athletic directors pointed out, their reimbursement plan didn't come close to covering the cost of schools from North Idaho - and eastern Idaho - to send team after team to Boise.

Billetz, the former Post Falls High principal, understands both sides.

"We'll be sending 32 volleyball teams to Coeur d'Alene (for four state tournaments in October)," he said. "That's a pretty nice shot in the arm for the economy. And it's nice the kids and other fans can attend state tournaments up there - some can't always jump in a car and drive to Boise."

Billetz said the Boise area, with its vast supply of motels, is in general able to offer better deals on rooms than motels in North Idaho and eastern Idaho.

"The thing that scares us," Billetz said, "is we don't mind going to Idaho Falls and Coeur d'Alene and Pocatello, but we hope those motels will work with us."

ALSO FROM the board of directors meeting:

Idaho is one more vote away from adopting the new weight classes adopted by the National Federation of State High School Associations for this year. The board will vote to approve the new classes for Idaho at its next meeting Sept. 26-27 at the Shilo Inn in Twin Falls.

The new weight classes would be 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285.

Also, Idaho could vote to add a 98-pound weight class. Montana offers this weight class.

Either way, it's good that Idaho will likely do what its neighboring states are doing. If not, the annual Tri-State tournament hosted by North Idaho College, which attracts wrestlers from Idaho, Montana, Washington and Oregon, could become a mess with the others trying to adapt to the weights only Idaho is using.

There is a possibility the 2012 state track meet might have to be moved from Boise State's Bronco Stadium.

The IHSAA was told a while back that renovation at Bronco Stadium could be taking place during that time. Eventually, BSU wants to remove the track from Bronco Stadium so they can add more seating for football. Plans are to build a complex for football, track and softball on the site of the old East Junior High nearby.

The IHSAA is considering splitting the track meet between two sites, with the 5As and 4As possibly at Mountain View High in Meridian, and the 3As, 2As and 1As possibly at Rocky Mountain High in Meridian.

But plans to begin construction on Dona Larsen Park recently bogged down over concerns that there would be only 65-75 parking spaces at the new site - obviously not enough to handle any large crowd. Suggestions to bus fans over from the Bronco Stadium parking lot were met with lukewarm response, so the state meet might remain at BSU after all - at least for next year.

The four Boise high schools - Boise, Borah, Capital and Timberline - all play their home games at Bronco Stadium, which seats slightly more than 30,000 now, and they would move to the new complex if/when it's built. The plan was for those schools to play football in the new facility in 2012.

I think the cozy feeling of the new stadium - roughly 5,000 seats, with room for temporary seating - will serve the Boise football teams well. But I think the state track meet will lose some of its luster - especially on the Friday night when the 5A and 4A track finals are held and the meet draws its biggest crowd of the three-day affair.

Bronco Stadium is also the site of state championship football games when they are scheduled to be played in the Boise area. While Billetz said the smaller schools could play in the new stadium because they wouldn't draw as many fans, he said that he "can't say 100 percent that we would move out of Bronco Stadium" for a title game involving the bigger schools, where more seating would be needed.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected].