I’m at the Renton Holiday Inn — a nicer place than you might think if you’ve never been here, plus it has free wireless Internet — for the WIAA’s Winter Coalition meeting. The purpose of the Winter Coalition is for school, league, district and WIAA representatives to discuss amendments that will be proposed to the Rep Assembly in April.

According to the packet I received, 13 amendments will be discussed today. Nothing ground-breaking or new. Among the the notable are:

– Proposals to make boys and girls lacrosse varsity sports.
– Allowing eighth graders to compete on varsity for 2B and 1B varsity and JV teams.
– Instituting a running clock in the second half of football games when the margin is 40 points, instead of the current 45.

And, of course, there will be plenty of discussion about the format of the basketball state tournaments. My expectation is that topic will draw quite a bit of discussion.

UPDATE: Here’s my unedited story:

The new format of the state basketball tournament was a resounding financial success, but the event fell short in other areas, leaving the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association open to making more modifications.

“Could see some changes, yes, for next year,” executive director Mike Colbrese said. “I think the board is open for some changes.”

According to estimated figures released by the WIAA at its Winter Coalition meeting on Monday in Renton, the 2011 state basketball tournaments yielded an increased net income of $152,378 over the 2010 events.

The difference was made up entirely from the organization’s fewer expenses.

Under the previous format, the WIAA rented the Tacoma Dome, Yakima SunDome and Spokane Arena for eight days over a two-week span and its total expenses in 2010 was $619,320. The new format combined two classifications at each site for three days, resulting in expenses of $466,470, for a difference of $152,850.

Colbrese said the 2011 tournament yielded $30,698 more than expected, while the 2010 tournament fell $80,000 short of what was budgeted.

Attendance figures were nearly identical for the 2010 and 2011 tournaments, despite fewer teams advancing and fewer games being played at the final tournament sites. According to the WIAA, 106,130 people attended tournaments at the first-round and final sites this year, just 4,357 fewer than in 2010.

Ed Ploof, executive board president and Bellarmine Prep athletic director, believes that’s proof that the WIAA succeeded in its aim to make the state tournaments more intriguing.

“We brought back the casual fan,” he said.

Though the new format was a financial success – it allowed the WIAA to institute a sustainable revenue sharing program among member schools – the WIAA did not succeed in achieving all of its goals. A major failure had to do with the first-round games.

Among the complaints are:

n The games did not have the atmosphere of the “state tournament.”

n Some boys and girls teams from the same school played games in different cities.

n Game locations should be adjusted so teams can’t play games in their home gym.

n How can a team lose in the state tournament and still win the state title?

“That was probably the most resounding comment that we got,” Colbrese said. “’Don’t try to sell this is a state tournament. It’s a regional, section, divisional.’”

Some of the feedback came from the 1,100 surveys completed on the WIAA website earlier this month.

At Winter Coalition, much of the morning session was devoted to discussing the basketball state tournaments. Over the weekend, the board met with representatives from the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association. Though nothing official was proposed, WIAA leadership maintained no potential changes have been ruled out. For example, Colbrese said the coaches indicated last weekend that they are open to tournaments for different classifications having different formats.

WIAA staff members will continue to discuss potential changes with groups around the state before the executive board rules on April 17-18 if any modifications will be made to the tournament format. The WIAA will again meet with basketball coaches on March 29 and the topic will be discussed at the state athletic director conference in Spokane in early April.

Representatives also discussed 13 proposed amendments that will be voted on by the Representative Assembly in April. None would drastically affect the landscape of high school sports in Washington.

The most notable proposals would make boys and girls lacrosse varsity sports.

No movement on football

Colbrese said the WIAA has not yet met with the state football coaches association in regards to seeding teams that qualify for the state playoffs. He said he expects to meet with the association in April after the WIAA has completed its review of the state basketball tournament.