By Rick Anderson

For the GH News Group

At its annual meeting last spring, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s Representative Assembly adopted a rule change that — at least initially — everybody seemed to like.

The rep assembly approved an amendment that gave high school officials an avenue for their teams to opt down in classification for football only.

Schools seeking to play in a lower classification beginning in 2020 must give notice to the WIAA by Nov. 4 and submit full paperwork by next January. Their petitions would be heard by a committee of district directors from throughout the state. If rejected at that level, petitioning schools may appeal to the WIAA Executive Board.

The amendment represented perhaps belated recognition that, in football, teams with small roster sizes are at a distinct disadvantage and are subject to a greater risk of injury in contests against larger powers.

“It’s a good rule,” former South Bend coach and athletic director Tom Sanchez said. “This is a small-school issue that big schools jumped on.”

In the immediate aftermath of the amendment’s adoption, there were fears that it might be too easy for moderately successful upper-classification schools to take advantage of the rule change in order to dominate smaller foes.

Presently, however, there are indications that policymakers might err on the side of caution.

“This rule is intended for safety only,” WIAA Assistant Director Justin Kesterson stressed in a video sent to member schools recently. “The intent is not to opt down in football (to) become more competitive and have (greater) access to postseason.”

“In my opinion, in order for a request to opt down to be granted, you have to show lack of success, a dying program and an effort by the school to correct it,” said Montesano athletic director Tim Trimble, the co-director of District IV athletics.

“The appeal that isn’t going to work is (a school representative) saying ‘We were decent last year, but we graduated a lot of people so we want to opt down and beat up on teams (in a lower class),’’’ Trimble added.

Class 2A Aberdeen seemingly would be one potential Twin Harbors candidate to opt down. The Bobcats haven’t qualified for state playoff competition since 1996 and were beaten soundly by Class 1A Montesano and Hoquiam in their opening two contests this year,

In addition, AHS athletic director Aaron Roiko said last week that —contrary to earlier speculation —the school almost certainly will not have a sufficient number of free-and-reduced lunch students to drop to the 1A class in all sports beginning next year.

But while Roiko said school officials are still mulling a football opt-down application, he seemed to be leaning against filing such a request. Having made the district crossover playoffs as recently as 2017 and possibly headed for a similar berth this year after winning their last two contested games, the Bobcats hardly fit the description of a dying program.

With recent success at the junior high and C-squad level, Roiko also believes the team’s long-term prognosis is relatively bright.

“If the district and parents support the current program, I really feel like that in a couple of years, we’ll be competitive (in 2A),” the Aberdeen athletic director said.

The Bobcats may play more frequently against 1A opponents as early as next year if plans to form a multi-classification league patterned after the Whatcom County-based Northwest Conference reach fruition.

Although talks are still very much in the formative stages, the idea would be to combine the Evergreen 2A and 1A leagues while adding Eatonville (returning to the District IV Class 1A ranks) to compensate for the possible departure of Forks (likely to drop to Class 2B) and Tenino.

South Bend’s experience this year could serve as a template for future opt-down requests.

Due to dwindling turnout numbers (they opened the season with a 19-man roster), the Class 2B Indians elected to play eight-man football this season and petitioned the district directors for Class 1B playoff eligibility. That request was denied and South Bend officials decided against an appeal.

South Bend went ahead with an eight-man schedule regardless, but is ineligible for playoff competition.

“They did not get the appeal, in my opinion, because they had success before (including a memorable state 2B championship in 2010), just not in the last year or two,” Trimble speculated. Since the petition involved a school in his district, Trimble recused himself from voting on the application.

Sanchez understood the decision (“We’re too big of a school,” he acknowledged), but argued that the opt-down standards are ill-defined.

“I don’t think that the people hearing the appeals know what direction to go,” he said. “What criteria do we need to make the appeal successful? Everyone is sort of in the dark about that.”

South Bend, in Sanchez’s view, has three options moving forward — continue as an eight-man team, return to 11-man football in a 2B league or join forces with Raymond in a combine. Discussions have begun on the latter alternative, but there’s a large catch. Combining the Willapa Harbor schools’ enrollments would push the co-op above the 2B classification limit.

“Playing as an A school and playing Montesano doesn’t solve our problem,” Sanchez concluded.

While I appreciate the state’s reluctance to rubber stamp opt-down requests, taking too hard of a line would defeat the purpose of the new rule.

When, a few years ago, Class 2A Aberdeen and Rochester spent two years in a predominantly 1A league, Evergreen 2A League officials devised a series of mostly reasonable procedures designed to grant the two schools access to district 2A competition.

They also threw in an “exceptional record” clause that theoretically would enable the Bobcats and Warriors to bypass district play-in games if certain performance standards were met.

The key word in this instance was theoretically. If soon became apparent that an Aberdeen boys basketball team could beat the Los Angeles Lakers without triggering the clause.

In the spring of 2016, the Bobcats went 15-1 in boys soccer — falling only to Hoquiam in a penalty-kick shootout. Their reward for that accomplishment was to be subjected to two play-in games.

On this occasion, the Bobcats got the last laugh. They not only survived the play-in gauntlet, but disposed of three higher-seeded Evergreen 2A clubs at district en route to a state quarterfinal appearance.

It was a sweet moment for the Cats. And also a reminder that it doesn’t serve much purpose to devise a regulation if you never intend to employ it.

The disparity between the haves and have-nots in state prep football has never been greater, with blowouts prevalent and seemingly the same teams making the playoffs every year.

The opt-down rule doesn’t solve that problem, but it is at least one small step to creating a level playing field.