The Colorado High School Activities Association is ready for its boys and girls basketball teams to use a shot clock starting in the 2026-2027 season.
All that’s left is a vote by its legislative council to amend a basketball committee report and make the rule official.
The council meets on Tuesday, Jan. 30, at the Douglas County School District Legacy Campus in Lone Tree. It’s the first of two decision-making meetings for the council this school year.
The association is following a rule put forth by the National Federation of High Schools in 2021. All levels of boys and girls basketball will use a 35-second shot clock. According to the agenda, 27 state associations use a shot clock in some form or other.
Among the advantages are no more stalling, thus reducing the number of possessions in each game, and preparation for players to use a shot clock while playing college ball.
The disadvantages are costs to financially strapped districts. The agenda packet pegged the price tag at between $2,500 and $5,000 during a time when school budgets are already tight. Another potential issue is associated costs to train and pay people to run the shot clock.
In other news
The council is expected to vote on a proposal to move up the beginning of the spring sports season by a week.
The main reason is longstanding. Teams that qualify for state tournaments, particularly baseball, often play over the Memorial Day weekend, which causes problems for participants, schools and organizers in trying to find ways to host the events. It’s also a common weekend for high-school graduations.
One potential issue wouldn’t take place that often. The agenda packet said there would be one more week of so-called “crossover” time between the winter and spring seasons.
Football
The council could add an extra week for football games this season. If approved, it would mean the removal of a bylaw that allowed teams that hosted end-of-summer camps and that didn’t have a bye to schedule a contest within two weeks of the first day of practice.
Football practice is due to begin the week of Aug. 11 this year. The agenda packet said adding an extra week to play games would make it easier to schedule game officials. It could also create one to two bye weeks during the season.
Volleyball
The committee could also act on a proposal to cap the sub-varsity volleyball team’s number of matches at 23, not including regional and state tournaments. That schedule limit is already in place for varsity teams. The downside, the agenda said, is extra costs for game officials and/or transportation.
Softball
In girls softball, there’s a proposal to eliminate the double-elimination regional brackets for both class 4A and 5A teams.
“With several schools (4A and 5A) playing games on different days, different formats and/or same day, we have created an equity issue for our student-athletes,” the agenda said.
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Class 3A schools, such as Fort Lupton High School, use the same number of teams in the so-called round of 32, Two teams advance from each regional to the state tournament.
The proposal would make the format consistent across all three classifications. Also, the agenda said, host schools that have just one field would not be able to host at their home site.
There is a financial impact, especially for schools that play on two days.
“If we eliminate the two-day option, there will be less of a financial impact for all traveling schools.,” the agenda said “This also helps those schools who have to rent a complex to host their regional tournament.”
The proposal did not get a vote to move out of the association’s softball committee.
Check back to www.coloradocommunitymedia.com later in the month for more CHSAA updates.