I think the KSHSAA rules state there has to be a minium of 24 schools in a classification to have a state tournament. In girls soccer I count 32 of 32 6A schools have soccer, I count 32, maybe 31, 5A schools have girls soccer, and 19 or 20 4321A schools with girls soccer. Right now there is to few 4321A schools to have a girls state soccer tournament. Also, combing 6A and 5A would create a 64 team field for girls soccer and not leave enough 4321A teams for a state tournament. There is no problem with boys soccer: 32 6A schools with soccer, 32 5A schools with soccer, 38 4321A schools with soccer. To split boys to 4A and 321A would create a 27 team field for 4A, but only 11 teams for 321A--not enough for a state tournament.

Do agree that Metro teams have an advantage in many sorts due to expansive rec and club sports. No towns in Kansa can compare with the type, number and competition levels of youth sports in Johnson County and the Wichita and Topeka areas. The KSHSAA rule adopted in the mid 90s limiting the number school "participation"/"squad" members that could play on the same team in an out of season sport I think severly hurt the ability of smaller towns to put together stronger school teams. Briefly, the "participation/squad rules in basketball permits only 3 member of the same HS squad (i.e. varsity squad) to to play on the same out of season team. Restrictions in the other HS sports are: 6 in soccer, 5 in baseball, 5 in softball, 6 in football, 4?? in volleyball. To put together an off season team in Johnson County is no problem--there are how many HS (public and private) in Johnson County: 24, 25 26??. Same for Wichita, and in Topeka 7 HSs. Kids can travel a few miles to practice and play on teams that may have palyers from 5, 6, 7 etc different schools. Also, many competitive level clubs/teams in several sports are managed by companies that manage teams, using hired coaches. Many of these companies may have 10 to 15 to 20 different teams: boys U6, U7, U8, U9, U10, etc up through U18; for girls the same breakout and number of teams. For comparison, look at Hays--I use Hays because I have seen and was impressed by their girl's club team in a couple of tournaments. Hays girls, Hays boys if they paly off season soccer, go to Salina to play in leagues, a 200 mile round trip--Salina schedules them 2 games on the same day to reduce the travel days. How does Hays form a competitive club team with only 2 HS (Hays and Hays TMP) and restricted to not more than 6 players from either school's varsity team-by filling the roster with JV players. If Colby, Goodland and Oakley wanted to play HS soccer, where could there kids play in the off season to hone their skills--with only one HS in each town--could not form a town/club team-kids would have to mary up with players from the other towns to form a team--plus drive 20 to 30 miles on way to practice. How do small towns play off season field sports, I assume they don't, certainly not at the same competitive levels as metro areas. The KSHSAA "participation/squad" rule punishes small town HS sports by retricting their ability to form off season teams from only one HS!!!!!!