Lots of state tournaments ... elsewhere

Much of the beauty of North Idaho is in its isolation.

Except when high school state tournaments roll around.

This year, most of the spring state tourneys were hundreds of miles away.

Golf was in North Idaho, though the biggest classification (5A) still played some 120 miles away, in Lewiston.

Track was in Boise (450 miles away) and in Middleton (430 miles), but we’re used to that — sort of.

Softball — at least the 5A and 4A tourneys — are in North Idaho every other year. This year, they were in southeast Idaho — 5As in Chubbuck (523 miles away), 4As in Blackfoot (502 miles), 3As at Bonneville High in Idaho Falls (475 miles) and 2As in Pocatello (525 miles).

Due to rain and lightning in the southeast Idaho on Friday, play in two of the divisions was moved.

The 3As moved to Rigby (474 miles away from Coeur d’Alene).

It was first posted that the 2As would play at Willow Bay Recreation Area in American Falls (545 miles away), but then the tourney was shifted to Rupert (595 miles).

I guess that’s the good thing about Idaho weather. If you don’t like it, wait 15 minutes. Or drive 15 miles.

Two years ago, due to rain, they packed up the 5A softball tournament and moved it from eastern Idaho all the way to the Boise area, and finished on a Sunday.

UNLIKE STATE softball and most other state events, the state baseball tournaments are not run by the Idaho High School Activities Association.

Baseball is run by the coaches in each classification, and have largely been held in the Boise area — with the exception of the 3As, who play at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario, Ore. (only 400 miles from Coeur d’Alene).

Also, state 2A baseball has been held in Orofino on occasion.

(State 1A baseball is in Orofino this year, but there are no 1A baseball teams in our area, District 1).

In 2016, the 4A left the Boise area for the first time since at least the 1970s, moving to Twin Falls (580 miles away). This year, 4A baseball was at Melaleuca Field in Idaho Falls.

North Idaho coaches and administrators know it might take an act of God — or more accurately, an increase in motel rooms and gym/arena sizes) to pry away the marquee state tourneys (boys and girls basketball) from the Boise area. Wrestling is held in Nampa every third year, and in Pocatello on the other years. If memory serves, North Idaho last hosted state wrestling in 1995 at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow.

If a state baseball tournament could be moved to south-central and southeastern Idaho, why not giving the North a shot?

Harris Field in Lewiston would be an ideal setting for, say, 5A baseball, but good luck dragging that away from Boise. Plus, there’s that little matter of Lewiston getting ready to host the NAIA World Series on that field every year about this time.

But maybe the North would like to take a shot at hosting one of the other tourneys.

NORTH IDAHO’s “carrot” for not getting to have state basketball or wrestling up here has been the opportunity to host state volleyball and state 5A and 4A softball every other year. The North hosted volleyball last fall and will get softball in the spring of 2019 (seems like the 3A tournament used to be up North every other year, but no longer; however, the North will get to host the 3As in ‘19 as well).

In alternate years, state volleyball and softball goes to southeast Idaho or south-central Idaho. In recent years, the Boise area has honed in on hosting state volleyball and softball. Boise gets volleyball this fall and softball in ‘20.

Hopefully that doesn’t cut into North Idaho’s every-other-year portion of the rotation. So far, it doesn’t look that way.

But if it does eventually, there will be squawking from North Idaho — no matter how many miles we are away.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.