Darrell Moody: North Valleys’ move to 3A is gaining steam

It appears that North Valleys’ proposed move has a good chance of passing when it comes up for a vote in June.

I’m glad to see 3A schools finally getting a clue. All I can say is it took long enough.

“I’m not saying we could run the table (in any sport),” said North Valleys AD Richard Peraldo. “It would be nice to see my kids have a chance to compete for something.”

North Valleys has more than 2,000 students, but Peraldo is quick to point out that his two feeder schools are 7 and 10 miles away, respectively. Try arriving at North Valleys around the time school gets out, and you might be stopped for 10 or 15 minutes as the buses pull out.

The move by North Valleys would give the 3A 10 schools, and the football schedule has already been adjusted to allow teams to play a Hall of Fame game. If NV wins the vote, it would mean Wooster would be forced into 4A football once again, a move nobody wants to see.

Wooster and Hug have long fought a move to 3A. If Wooster and Hug were to agree to move down, and NV is accepted, it could give the 3A two six-team divisions.

Lowry, Spring Creek and Elko would always be together. On a two-year rotating basis, you would have three different teams rotate in to play in that division. And, there is no need to cross over in team sports (volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball, softball,) until you get to the playoffs. If you need some football games to fill out the schedule, you could cross over or travel to Sacramento for a game. In a six-team league you could play teams three times and that would give you a natural tiebreaker in sports like volleyball, basketball and baseball.

For instance, the first year you could have Elko, Lowry, Spring Creek, Fallon, Fernley and Sparks in the same division. Truckee, Dayton, Hug, Wooster, North Valleys and South Tahoe would be in the other division.

This would be for a two-year cycle, and then three new teams would rotate in to play with Elko, Spring Creek and Lowry.

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At some point, Hug and Wooster either need to get competitive or move down. It’s that simple.

Take the decision out of the hands of the administrators because they don’t seem to care about the kids.

On the plus side, if those moves were made, the 4A could be one nine-team league like it should have been all these years. It would allow teams to play two non-league games every year in football.

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All this talk about playing 5A is money driven. Another division means more playoff games where the NIAA can overcharge for entry into an amateur game.

It costs $10 for playoff admission for adults which is absurd when you can go watch the Aces or Bighorns for $9 or less. Keep the admission at the regular-season prices is what should happen, but I know my argument will fall on deaf ears.

And, more importantly, why does Northern Nevada want to go 5A? More prestige? Let Las Vegas have its own 5A division. Why would schools here want to compete with schools whose AVERAGE enrollment is 2,400. Let’s face it, Las Vegas has more athletes.

After going through the NIAA record book, and I hope I didn’t miss anybody, I compiled a list of state champs from the north since 2000 in the major team sports (volleyball, football, baseball, softball, boys and girls soccer, boys basketball and girls basketball).

Football — Reno (2003) and McQueen (2008); Baseball — Wooster (2002), Reno (2004); Boys basketball — Galena (2007) and Reno (2008); Girls basketball — Galena (2000), Reno (2001, 2013 and 2014) and Reed (2012); Volleyball — Galena (2004-05), Damonte (2006), Douglas (2010); Boys soccer — Reed (2000), South Tahoe (2003-04), Carson (2015) and Galena (2016); Softball — Wooster (2000 through 2003), Spanish Springs (2007, 2008, 2010, 2016), McQueen (2005, 2006), Reed (2015); Girls soccer — None. Arbor View has won every state title since it became a statewide fall championship.

Let’s do the math here. Between 2000 and 2016 school year, northern teams have won just 29 state titles out of 128 in the aforementioned sports, and 11 of those came in softball; Wooster won four of those 11 thanks to the great Brianne McGowan, who is now the pitching coach at UNR.

Why would schools in the north think that they are going to do any better by going 5A? By staying 4A, you still are going to face immense competition, but you will never see Bishop Gorman, and that’s a good thing.

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I have all the respect in the world for Manogue’s new football coach, Ernie Howren, but with him the 5A thing is personal. He’s probably not going to sleep at night until he beats Bishop Gorman.

No offense to anybody in the north, but hell will freeze over before Gorman loses a football game to a Nevada school.