THE FRONT ROW with Jason Elliott May 30, 2012

There's something to be said about having home field advantage in a championship game.

It doesn't happen all that often.

Even with all the advantages of staying home, there is still a time when it still doesn't make a difference.

IN THE larger prep sports in the state of Idaho - whether it be football, volleyball, basketball, baseball or softball, in most cases, there's no such thing as having a home field/court advantage.

With football, the championship games often rotate to different venues - either Holt Arena in Pocatello, the Kibbie Dome in Moscow or Bronco Stadium in Boise.

Teams may get a chance to play a game or two on those fields during the regular season, but only a full schedule in the rarest of cases.

Lake City High and Post Falls qualified for the state volleyball tournament last fall, sending the state 5A tournament to Coeur d'Alene High (since teams can't play state volleyball on their home courts), while two other tournaments were played at Post Falls (4A) and Lake City (3A).

Basketball is a little different at the state 5A tournament as they play the first two days of the boys and girls tournament at the Idaho Center in Nampa, a little bit different setting than a typical high school gym.

Consolation games and other opening round games in all other classifications are played in an actual gym, what most players are used to anyway.

ON SATURDAY afternoon, the Coeur d'Alene High lacrosse team took on Timberline High of Boise for the state championship.

The game wasn't held at a neutral site as it was intended to be, instead held at the school field at Coeur d'Alene High.

When the North Idaho Lacrosse League had its tournament title game between Coeur d'Alene and Sandpoint, the game was played at Lake City, just like when Lake City played Timberline two years ago for the same championship, it was played at Coeur d'Alene.

And for all of the advantages that playing at home could have brought - it didn't matter on Saturday.

Coeur d'Alene took an early lead, but Timberline broke through with a pair of goals in the second period and won the game going away.

For all that a home field advantage may have brought, there's also a few sports where it doesn't matter where you play, because in most cases - good teams can play at a high level, no matter where that game is played.

Home field advantage is great in basketball and football, but in others, the difference is small.

The only thing Coeur d'Alene gained from hosting Saturday's game was getting more fans to a game that may not have watched otherwise.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected].