Arizona high schools are still getting used to the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s changes put in place last year, and they will still feel the effects throughout this year.
The changes regrouped the schools so that the high school athletic teams would play teams closer to home, decreasing the time and cost of travel. They also condensed the previous conferences in order to have fewer state championships which saves money for the state.
“The new system is difficult for the size of our school,” said Mark Showers, athletic director of Camp Verde High School.
Showers, who has been CVHS’s athletic director for 16 years, explained CVHS is now playing teams from schools four times the size of Camp Verde High. That can affect a small school’s chances of making it to state playoffs because other teams have a bigger pool of talent to choose from.
CVHS was a 2A school in the old system, but now it is playing 4A schools.
Yet, even with the new system in place, CVHS had an excellent year in sports. With the help of veteran coaches in virtually all of the sports, the wrestling team was state runner-up, the girls basketball team was in the Final Four, and the football team went 8-2 and beat one of its oldest rivals.
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Aug. 8, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.
