Joint swim team unlikely this year

Columbia Falls and Whitefish high schools likely won’t have a joint swim team this fall. The team ran into problems with Montana High School Association rules, and now the family that was going to be a major booster is moving.

Columbia Falls athletic director Troy Bowman said there likely won’t be a team because of financing. The team was also going to have problems with MHSA rules because it was too big for Class A. According to Montana High School Association director Mark Beckman, a recently passed rule doesn’t allow a cooperative school program to field a team that would exceed their classification.

Earlier this year, Columbia Falls and Whitefish school boards agreed to create a joint swim team. Both high schools are in Class A, but the number of athletes they project to field in the upcoming season would be about 17 males and 21 females.

A typical Class A swim team has 20 to 25 swimmers altogether, Beckman said.

The schools appealed their case to the MHSA board earlier this year, and their appeal was denied, Beckman said. The schools may appeal again in September with revised athlete numbers, but even if that appeal is denied, it doesn’t mean they can’t field a team — they just can’t field a single combined team.

Instead, they’d have to compete separately. The teams could share the same coach under the rules, as well as travel and practice together, but they can’t compete as a single team, Beckman said. The rules also don’t allow a combined team to move up to Class AA, he said.

Schools with combined programs that compete separately are common in swimming, Beckman said. Glacier and Flathead high schools have a combined swim team — they practice together and have the same coach, but they compete separately. Missoula city schools do the same thing.

Under the agreement passed by both school boards in April, Columbia Falls is the team sponsor with Whitefish joining as a cooperative school. Columbia Falls will employ the coach and oversee the team funds. Under the agreement, both schools’ athletic directors will be involved in hiring coaches.

The cost of the swim team will be covered through private funding raised by team members and parents. Estimated costs are $8,000 to $12,000 per season.