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4J Seeks Reduced Travel Time for Student-Athletes
The Oregon School Activities Association, high school athletics' governing body, is tackling reclassification of schools and leagues this fall. Eugene School District 4J wants to put wellness at the center of the new proposals by reducing the travel time to away games for 4J’s student-athletes.
Every four years, OSAA reassesses high school enrollments and other factors to decide how schools are split into competitive classes and leagues to keep competition safe and fair. 4J and its four high school athletic directors are making the case with OSAA's Classification and Districting Committee that student wellness needs to play a central role in the final plans, not just comparative enrollments.
"The school district's values in this are to support fair and healthy competition while protecting student well-being in how much time they are away from the classroom and from their families," 4J Athletics Director Greg Borgerding said.
OSAA is considering draft proposals for both six and five competitive classes. The six-class proposal would largely retain the 6A Southwest Conference (of which Sheldon and South Eugene are members) and the 5A Midwestern League (which includes Churchill and North Eugene), with the only difference being Willamette High School would move to the 5A Midwestern from 6A Southwest, and 5A Ashland would drop to 4A. Between the two leagues, a total of five member schools would be at least 140 miles from Eugene.
4J supports the five-class proposal, which drops the 6A class and reorganizes local high schools between 5A Midwestern and 4A Sky-Em leagues. None of the proposed Midwestern teams would be outside the Eugene-Springfield area, and only two proposed Sky-Em teams would be more than 22 miles from Eugene (Marshfield and North Bend).
Continuing to have 4J student-athletes travel hours to and from away games with fewer across-town match-ups takes them out of class early in the school day and, after long bus rides, gets them home very late, disrupting both time for study as well as needed rest.
The high financial cost of so much travel is also a concern as the district faces a projected $30 million shortfall.
The OSAA committee meets next on Oct. 27 and again on Nov. 17 as it weighs some dozen classification proposals from the committee and the public. Families and fans can review the proposals, see the committee's purpose and watch meetings online at OSAA”s Classification and Redistricting web page. They can also attend meetings in person at the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville, 25425 SW 95th Ave. 4J student athletes and their families can send questions or thoughts about reclassification to 4Jathletics@4j.lane.edu.