NIAA realignment set for the south

A shakeup for the Division I-A is on the horizon.

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association’s Southern Nevada Realignment Committee approved as many as two schools each from the DI’s Sunset and Sunrise Regions to move to the DI-A, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The south uses a rubric, or point system, to determine which schools realign basing points on a school’s standing in each sport. The schools approved to make the transition would be at the beginning of the 2014-15 school year and be for two years.

The Northern Division I-A, meanwhile, does not use a rubric and the league athletic directors and administrators vote to determine if a DI school may move to its league. North Valleys was denied by a 9-0 vote last year to move to the DI-A.

Schools below 15 points are eligible for realignment, while teams in the I-A who reach 150 points or more may move up to DI.

According to the RJ, Rancho (11), Spring Valley (nine), Sierra Vista (six) and Del Sol (zero) would be the four schools to come on board to the DI-A. Desert Oasis (11) would remain in DI under the committee’s proposal and current point totals, the RJ reported.

“If we’re doing what’s best for kids and what’s best for schools, it’s not about the number of teams,” Desert Oasis athletic administrator Ron Isaacs told the RJ. “It’s about the competitiveness. Anybody below that 15-point number should move.”

Boulder City, Moapa Valley, Faith Lutheran and Virgin Valley — all original members of the former 3A (now DI-A) — all have the option to remain in the DI-A. Faith Lutheran has reached the 150-point plateau, while Boulder City is on the cusp. Both, according to the RJ, will remain in the DI-A.

Should the four new schools join the DI-A, it would give the Sunset League eight teams and the Sunrise nine and giving the Southern DI-A of creating four leagues.

The committee will send its recommendation in March to the NIAA Board of Control for approval, according to the RJ. In addition, the newspaper reported the committee will convene in April to go over point totals for future seasons.

“We’ve got some Division I schools that are suffering,” CCSD executive athletic director Ray Mathis told the RJ. “They’re going to end up losing programs. I don’t see them surviving unless we throw them a lifeline.”