Friday, March 29, 2024
37.0°F

THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Politicos: Fix your own issues, then worry about preps

| April 22, 2021 1:30 AM

Boy, it seems like the last thing we need is politicians sticking their noses into sports, especially at the high school level.

I realize that sometimes it's necessary, like when Congress had to get involved during the steriod era, essentially helping baseball officials police their own sport.

Read a story last week by Michael Lycklama at IdahoStatesman.com that had me shaking my head. It said a pair of state legislators, Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, and Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, have proposed a bill which would establish a new review board to oversee the Idaho High School Activities Association — the governing body for high school activities in Idaho.

“There has got to be something different than allowing the Idaho High School (Activities) Association to be judge, jury and executioner,” Crane told the Idaho Statesman. “And that’s the current process that you have.”

How they are even interested in this is puzzling.

Don't they have better things to do in Boise than fret about the rules governing high school sports?

Among the legislators' complaints: Crowd sizes at high school events were unnecessarily limited during the height of COVID-19.

Yes, folks not always being able to attend their kids' games was definitely a bummer — but it beat the alternative, which was playing a shortened season that didn't even lead a championship event, which some other nearby states are going through now.

Sometimes folks are frustrated by the format the IHSAA has used to seed its state tournaments for years — but the group has always said if someone has a better idea, they'll listen, and change has happened recently, in football and soon in basketball state brackets.

I think maybe our friends in the capitol building should worry about more important things — like building enough roads in the Treasure Valley so commuting through the area is not always one big giant traffic jam.

Xerox a copy of that proposed bill to Boise.

The esteemed legislators from Nampa and Idaho Falls are also unhappy that the appeals process for decisions made by IHSAA officials consists of, basically, other IHSAA officials.

Yes, I could see where that would be frustrating, but in the case of transfer hearings, nobody's going to be completely happy with the results.

The athlete and school that benefits from a favorable transfer ruling will feel like justice was served, and the rival school that thinks it's unfair said athlete was able to transfer into their league will feel like there was an injustice in the system

Why don't we let the officials trained in education at the IHSAA govern high school sports like they have been, and let the politicians attend to the other important issues in our fine state.

OK?

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.