FLAGSTAFF, AZ — Some teams in Arizona's high country were worried they wouldn't have the same opportunities as other schools in the state after a proposed change in scheduling for Arizona high school girls' soccer.
Britni Hamblin drove more than three hours on Monday to fight for her team.
She’s the girls soccer coach at Blue Ridge High School in Lakeside, near Show Low.
She wanted to be present in the Valley to hear what the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) had to say about the proposed scheduling change.
Earlier this month, she shared that her area of the state gets “12 inches of snow in one snowfall,” making it nearly impossible to play on a frozen field.
The idea was to move all sanctioned girls’ soccer from the fall to the winter.
AIA Executive Director David Hines told us in a previous report, that there are fewer than 12 girls' soccer teams in the entire state that play in the fall.
For the Blue Ridge Yellow Jackets, playing in the winter is a safety concern. Last year there were 20 days either delayed or canceled due to winter weather.
“They’re going to get hurt, they’re going to get sick,” said Hamblin.
A key issue for northern Arizona schools is that if there’s only winter competition, those teams playing in the fall wouldn’t get a chance at a state title, and to some, that may be the only opportunity to be seen by that recruiting to play at the next level.
So, when it came time for the board to make a call, Hamblin said the discussions dissolved and no changes were made.
“[We can] proceed forward with a bright future for all of our girls. It was awesome, we had two girls on the mountain just this week commit to college on scholarships. So great, happy Thanksgiving! We’re so happy,” she said over a call.
Since our last story on November 3, Coach Hamblin said it caught the eyes of other schools in the same boat, generated community conversations and even a lawmaker showed up at AIA in support of them.
“The AIA made the right decision and we’re grateful to them and everyone else who pushed it along,” she said.
