Bronco sports fans wanting to watch the boys swimming and diving team at a home meet will have only one opportunity to do so this winter.
Except for hosting a dual meet Feb. 7 against Mesabi East, all the other meets on Falls’ 2011-12 schedule will be held elsewhere.
Because of a new rule related to minimum pool depth being implemented this season by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), meets cannot be held in the Falls High School swimming pool unless all the teams involved agree to start all the events in the water, rather than use starting blocks.
The pool depth ruling, which the NFHS announced earlier this year is for “risk minimization purposes and to reflect current trends,” requires a minimum depth of 4 feet to use starting blocks. The FHS swimming pool is only 3 1/2 feet deep.
Falls Athletic Director Don Rolando said the boys swimming and diving head coach, Hailey Silvers, had contacted the other teams’ coaches about the situation with the FHS pool and only Mesabi East agreed to come to the Falls.
As for the other three varsity meets originally scheduled at home, Rolando said an invitational planned for Dec. 28 has been canceled and two dual meets will be held in the opponents’ pools.
He said Chisholm will now host the Falls on Dec. 19 in a meet rescheduled for a week later to avoid a conflict at Chisholm, where the Broncos will compete in their first dual meet of the season, while Grand Rapids will host the Falls on Feb. 9.
In addition, Rolando said a junior high invitational that the Falls has hosted in the past will be held this season at Grand Rapids on Feb. 18.
This year’s girls swimming and diving season had also involved the Broncos having to travel for meets originally scheduled at home. As a result of the NFHS’s pool depth ruling, only two dual meets took place this past season in the Falls, while two other dual meets and a junior high invitational ended up being held elsewhere.
Rolando said the Falls school district faces additional costs for having to charter buses to travel to swimming and diving meets that were originally scheduled for home.
The Broncos would be able to host future meets with starting blocks upon the FHS swimming pool being deepened. Falls Superintendent Jeff Peura said the district plans to do so following the conclusion of the boys swimming and diving season.
Peura has said that could cost in the neighborhood of $100,000, based on what some other school districts in the state have experienced.
A potential pool renovation plan to be presented by Troy Miller of the architectural firm TSP is on Monday’s Falls School Board agenda.
