ADRIAN – Come next fall, the Antelope football team will have the chance to repeat as 1A football champions in Oregon as Adrian is staying as a team playing in the Beaver State.
The Idaho High School Activities Association confirmed Adrian’s request to join Idaho for high school sports has been denied.
“The board voted not to pass the request forward for a first reading,” said Ty Jones, executive director for the IDHSAA.
The governing body for Idaho high school athletics is not known for accepting schools outside of Idaho. The last one, Jackpot, Nevada, played briefly in the Idaho league in 2008. Idaho currently has no schools outside the state playing a full year’s sports.
“We do have one or two schools playing in a cooperative situation for a specific sport,” Jones said. “We have a small town on the Idaho/Montana border that is in a cooperative with an Idaho school based solely on location.”
According to Jones, Adrian will have the opportunity to resubmit a request in a period of one year.
“If something changes, we will be happy to look an application in one year,” Jones continued.
The Adrian request was not the first for an Oregon school. Hermiston, citing extreme travel distances along with costs and student time out of the classroom, moved to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association in 2018 and remains playing in the Washington leagues for all sports. Again, due to travel, the Oregon Schools Activities Association recently accepted four small Washington schools for play in Oregon leagues. The schools are located on the Oregon/Washington border.
The decision was met with understanding by Adrian School Board member Ryan Martin.
Martin returned from a basketball tournament in Union where his two sons and one daughter took the court on Saturday.
“The board asked the district to submit the request to join Idaho in an effort to save travel costs and provide more time in the classroom for Adrian’s student athletes,” said Martin. “The rising fuel costs are hitting all districts and here in eastern Oregon, the games are so far away. Playing in the Idaho league would have saved us money and more importantly, provided the players more time in the classroom than on a bus. Going into this, we knew Idaho did not have a history of accepting out-of-state schools.”
Martin said with the decision now behind the district, it is time to concentrate on competing in the High Desert League.
“The decision does allow us to start next football season as the defending state champions with a chance for a repeat,” said Martin. “In all the sports, we are committed to competing in the High Desert League and making a run for an Oregon state title.”
Before you go! If you would like to support continuing and expanded high school sports coverage in eastern Oregon for as little as $1 a month click below! Thank you!
