Postseason ineligible
Fall yuhsd team programs not able to participate in aIa state playoffs play this year
There will be no postseason play this year for Yuma Union High School District football and volleyball programs due to an agreement between YUHSD and the Arizona Interscholastic Association, the Yuma Sun has learned.
It raises the question of when and if the coaches in the YUHSD were informed of the agreement.
An AIA document dating back to Sept. 21, states, “On a motion made, seconded and carried, the Executive Board approved a 1 year exception for the Yuma Union schools to participate in a Yuma only fall sports season. Based on the proposal presented, team sports will not participate in a championship tournament, however, if an individual qualifies they are permitted to participate in an individual sports state tournament.”
YUHSD made the decision to implement a oneyear YUHSD-only schedule this fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic and for the safety of players and coaches.
By doing so, YUHSD football and volleyball programs forfeited the chance of making the postseason.
“To be perfectly honest, there weren’t any fall sports contenders for a state title really, outside of Gila Ridge perhaps that could have been a potential playoff team in football,” YUHSD chief communications officer Eric Patten said. “We’ve had some success in volleyball over the last couple years with Kofa and Cibola, but it wouldn’t have been as widespread of an issue than it would have been in the winter.”
The main concern for YUHSD programs was finishing a season with all the uncertainty revolving around COVID-19, according to Kofa athletic director Dave King.
“We understood that to have a safe season and to be able to offer our kids a season that we wanted them to have while using some of our district safe protocols, that there was a chance of (not being able to qualify for the playoffs) when we created the district-only schedule,” King said. “We understood that it was a real possibility in creating the schedule that way.”
The timetable for when coaches and players received the news from each school’s administrators remains unclear.
“I wouldn’t be able to tell you from the get-go,” Yuma High athletic director Kathy Hoover said. “I would assume from the get-go when they knew they were only playing (a local schedule), it would be a longshot for them to be playoff eligible. I don’t know when that got communicated at each campus, but it wasn’t necessarily a concern for my coaching staff.”
Cibola athletic director
Brett Pavey said the coaches were informed before regular season play began.
“It was probably one of many reminders (coaches) were given,” he said.
Gila Ridge athletic director Steve Anderson said the district schools in town were aware of the possibility of not participating in postseason play before the AIA made the news official Sept. 21.
However, just 24 hours before their week one matchup against Kofa, Gila Ridge head football coach John Ellegood seemed optimistic about his team making another playoff run in 2020 in spite of the AIA’s action.
“We’ve still got high expectations,” Ellegood said on Oct. 8. “We expect to put ourselves in a position to make the playoffs. Just like last year, it’s taking it one game at a time. We can’t look ahead to Yuma High next week because we have Kofa staring right at us.”
Anderson added on Wednesday, “We weren’t really sure what the AIA was going to do at that time (before the Kofa game) and then obviously the document was released and he may not have seen it or whatever.”
“If that’s what it winds up being when the season is all said and done, it is what it is,” Ellegood said Wednesday. “My players and I have talked about it as often as we can. Regardless of playoffs or not, reality is reality. There’s only one way we can really make it and that’s if we go undefeated. Even then, there’s a chance that may not happen. It’s up to us to put us in that situation.”
“I’m just worried about the regular season right now. (The ineligibility) may be right, and if it is, it’s my bad for not looking too much into it, but we’ve got to put ourselves up for success before anything.”
Pavey noted there was not an appeal process regarding the playoff ineligibility.
YUHSD confirmed on Wednesday that winter sports will have a varsity-only travel schedule this season, giving each program an opportunity to qualify for an AIA state berth.
Additionally, the Southwest Rotary Classic basketball tournament – which brings in teams from California, Nevada, Utah and other surrounding Arizona areas – will not happen this year.