"This schedule issue is frustrating. I think it's frustrating because I thought it was resolved and I think that (the previous) schedule worked in favor for Elko," Spanish Springs Athletic Director Art Anderson said. "It helped them and it's frustrating that Elko came back and wanted to change it again."
Master schedules are usually completed more than a year in advance of their assigned school year, but that certainly was not the case with the basketball schedule at hand. The extended timeline came largely from differing views out of Elko County. After making some small changes to last November's initial draft, 4A athletic administrators seemed to have a final edition in place last March. That vote was put off until May when officials from Elko High asked to see a schedule draft that called for the Eastern Nevada school to play league games on Tuesdays and Fridays.
That was a big change from Elko's long-standing policy of playing on Fridays and Saturdays. The new draft was drawn up and the 4A administrators approved the plan in May. However, not soon after, calls from the Elko County School District's administrative offices, wanted to see the schedule revert back to the aforementioned back-to-back weekend league games. Expenses and missed class time were cited as concerns.
Senior ECSD officials got their way as Northern 4A administrators acquiesced to their wishes Monday, keeping both the boys and girls basketball programs at Elko High playing High Desert League contests on just Fridays and Saturdays.
Galena also cast a 'No' vote Monday, hoping to keep the schedule approved in May in place.
"Missed class time is always a topic of discussion, but it comes with having extra-curricular activities. That's what teaches you life skills and learning how to cope in the real world," said Galena Athletic director Teresa Burrows, who has been in charge with drafting the master schedule. "Elko has sports other than basketball. It's soccer, golf and track teams all come in during the week."
Before the vote was taken, a question arose over what could happen if Elko's request to vote in a new schedule was denied. The response was that Elko would likely appeal to the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, the state's governing body for high school sports.
"I got that it was a two-fold reason on why the new schedule was voted in," Anderson said. "I don't think many people wanted to wait for the NIAA to make a decision (if a vote came to keep the old schedule in place) and some felt there would be a loss of class time lost for students."
The change in schedules affects both of the Rail City's 4A high schools - Spanish Springs and Reed.
Most of Nevada's 4A basketball coaches have the freedom to build the non-league portion of their schedule, which is roughly the first five weeks of the winter season. Few coaches put any non-league contacts into their schedule after the Christmas break. This should make it relatively easy for coaches to accept yet another change to their master league slate.
"I can understand Elko's concern about the rising cost of fuel. The change didn't affect us that drastically so I was OK with it...It's not that big of a deal and in my point of view it made sense," Reed Athletic Administrator Al Babb said.
The late schedule change still creates one problem. In recent years, 4A North schedule makers have implemented a format where schools play at least one if not two league games in the final week before Christmas break. For instance, under the recently scrapped plan, the Spanish Springs boys and girls squads were scheduled to play at home against Reno and at Hug on Dec. 16 and 18 respectively. Reed was set to play at home against both McQueen and Elko on those dates.
Under the newly approved schedule, the six HDL schools other than Elko, will play just one game before the Christmas break. That is set for Thursday, Dec. 18. This difference between schedules is the biggest sticking point for coaches as it changes their non-league availability.
Elko High Athletic Director Lynette Davis found herself in a tough spot, knowing district leaders were forcing her to vote for the latest schedule change while her coaching staff wanted to keep the Tuesday-Friday format in place.
"I would have liked to have tried it for a year to see how it went, to give our coaches a break and our people a chance to prepare for games with the same advantages of other schools," Davis said. "But, it's understandable that school districts have to look at expenses. I definitely have mixed feelings."
Davis is the first to admit she wishes she had done things a bit differently over the past six months.
"When I was approached (about the Tuesday-Friday schedule), I said 'that sounds good to me. I don't think we as school administrators and our coaches got together as a department and sat down to make a plan," said Davis, who is one of the more proactive and most educated administrators when it comes to prep sports issues. "Had we done that, when the district came and said 'this is a problem,' we could have made a presentation and educated them more. We didn't do that until it was too late, so I kind of take the blame for that.
"We didn't have a leg to stand on. We couldn't say 'no, look at it this way or here's the positives.' Then again, last winter, we didn't consider getting to the position we're in. It's a lesson learned."
The first day of official practice for Nevada's prep programs is Saturday, Nov. 15. Teams can begin playing games Nov. 28. With the exception of the single HDL game now scheduled in mid-December, High Desert League schools start their conference clashes on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
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