It is unfortunate that many of the great stories of this year’s February Frenzy are not being covered by the “media” with regard to the “small Schools” advancing through the tournaments. Although many concerns were raised and allegations continue that certain AIA processes hurt the small schools, here are only some of the great stories that need to be promoted for this year’s February Frenzy:

• In Girls Division IV basketball heading into the quarter finals this coming Thursday, six of the Elite Eight are from the 1A Conference…
• In Boys Division IV basketball heading into the quarter finals this coming Thursday, three of the Elite Eight have advanced through a very competitive bracket from the 1A Conference…a sub-story is how well the El Capitan boys have progressed (a student population of 113).
• In wrestling, Mogollon who was state champ last year in the reformatted divisional structure took fourth in the Division IV state tournament this year…
• St. Johns took the state wrestling title with an enrollment of 342 students with five individual champions and Mogollon had two individual champions with a student enrollment of 150 students; both schools going head to head against schools with more than twice their enrollment.

While many may want to write off the “small Schools”, I would hope we can focus on how well the Small Schools continue to develop and promote their students, no matter who they play. I know that many have seen the movie “Hoosiers”, telling the story of a small rural school in Indiana moving through the state tournament, this year Arizona may have its own “Hoosiers” story. Don’t count out the “Small Schools” this year…