The Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA), which is in charge of high school sports in Arizona, decided to make the high school program be like club sports because of the loss of control its coaches have when their players engage in club sports.

The AIA’s legislative council voted to agree upon a measure that would permit year-round coaching and practices by sport. This agreement goes against the principle of, for example, softball season ending when softball is over or football season ending when football is over. Xavier lacrosse player, Riley Hrasky ‘19, feels that “the new AIA decision could be a really great thing for athletes who are dedicated to one certain sport, but for others who prefer to participate in more than one sport throughout the year, it could be seen as a deterrent.” On the other hand, the Arizona Republic newspaper said, “The measure, which passed [March 3] by a vote of 39-5 and goes into effect July 1, does not put limitations on out-of-season practices with the exception of helmets and shoulder pads not being allowed during football workouts…”

Athletic director for the Chandler Unified School District, Marcus Williams, said that he does not think the measure will have any remarkable effect on the perspective of high school sports because a lot of schools already have out-of-season programs, whether it’s clinics run by coaches or fall baseball.

Arizona is not the first state to go in this direction. The Virginia High School League made the same decision in 2011, and since then many state high school associations have become less strict with their rules.

While Arizona’s rule classifies what has already occurred at larger schools, the biggest reason for the change is competition between school and travel sports. The Arizona Republic reported that “one of the reasons behind the measure … is to try to woo kids away from club sports out-of-season by giving them an opportunity to practice with their high school coach…”

Although Scottsdale Prep athletic director, Duane Edinger, was against the plan, he appreciated some of it, saying, “I’d rather have my student practicing with my coach instead of a club coach.” He also said that “it helps even the playing field for rural schools that don’t have club programs nearby because they can now have their kids practice throughout the school year.”

Overall, the AIA decision to no longer support multi-sport participation within high schools was very beneficial, not only to coaches, but to students and parents as well.