Vegas doesn’t deserve state soccer

I see the NIAA remains clueless when it comes to state soccer venues.

Two years ago, I traveled with the Carson soccer teams to Heritage Park in Henderson for the state tournament. What a disappointment, and I’m not talking about the results of the matches.

I’m talking about the venue. Heritage is great for AYSO and club events, but not for high school tournaments. According to the NIAA website, Heritage is again hosting state.

I know the officials don’t like it because of crowd control issues, and it’s a bad facility for other reasons.

There are no bleachers, no scoreboards, no announcing. It’s a state tournament for crying out loud. The kids deserve better.

Another issue I had was the games were played at the same two times.

Why not stagger the times? People from out of town are going to be in Vegas the night before, so why not start the matches at 10, 12, 2, 4 and 6?

If Vegas can’t do it the right way, maybe soccer needs to be in the north every year. I felt last year worked well at Carson High. If it’s a matter of people not wanting to host or work, go to another location. Aren’t their any high schools that have lighted facilities that could host an event? Is there anything wrong with playing at different venues for different classifications?

Come on NIAA get with it.

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Kudos to the Carson High tennis teams.

The Carson boys were a strong fourth this year, and will host a first-round match against Spanish Springs.

Carson’s strength is in its doubles teams, as Kyle Kunz and Aaron Woodbury, and Jared Hearn and Trevor Solberger, are good for two or three wins every match.

The only problem with being seeded No. 4 is that you run into the top seed in the next round which is Reno.

The Carson girls, who finished sixth, will travel to Douglas on Tuesday.

The matches are scheduled for 3 p.m.

•••

The proposal to start spring sports a week earlier this year passed.

Apparently having championships on Memorial Day weekend doesn’t sit well with people, so at least for 2015 all sports will be done the weekend before Memorial Day.

Honestly, I’m not sure what all the fuss is about.

You have all summer to travel people, why impact schedules that are already impacted because of the crazy weather in northern Nevada. I know many states that hold state championships into June.

•••

While we’re talking about high school sports, I’d love to see lacrosse become an NIAA sanctioned sport along with bowling. I have no idea what it takes to make that happen, but bowling is popular with both sexes. Why is it Vegas has it and we in the north don’t? There are enough houses that could cater to a state or regional event.

•••

Anybody notice Hug beat McQueen on Friday? That wasn’t a misprint folks. I told folks in the Appeal office Hug was for real after watching the Hawks make Carson High sweat. Could Hug be the second-best team in the High Desert behind Reed? Only time will tell. I’m already looking forward to the Reno-Hug game.

•••

It’s always interesting to gauge the strength of the leagues on a sport-by-sport basis.

In football, High Desert is better. In volleyball, the Sierra League is better. Boys soccer I like the Sierra League and ditto for the girls. Golf belongs to High Desert and cross country I give Sierra League a slight edge.

For those of you who follow girls soccer, the first of two Carson-Douglas showdowns has been moved from Saturday Oct. 11 to Friday Oct. 10 at 3:30. The match will be on Douglas’ grass field because it’s homecoming week for the Tigers.