The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) is in charge of making rankings and pairings for all girls’ sports in the state of Iowa. The way they come up with these rankings is not the best option and it’s time they change it.
IGHSAU makes weekly rankings based on how the teams performed in their previous games. These rankings throughout the year don’t mean a whole lot, but by the end of the year every team wants to be in the top 8 because that means they get home court advantage for the playoff games.
Every team in the state has their own opinion about the rankings and how they are made, but for Pleasant Valley Girls’ basketball, they feel there is a better system that could be used.
“I think they need to get the media/coaches input, similar to how the Iowa Boys Association does it. I respect the IGHSAU and all they do for girls sports in the state of Iowa. However, I do think there could be a better way to do rankings by getting more input from more people in the state,” varsity girls’ basketball coach, Jennifer Goetz, said.
The frustration from PVGBB came last year when they lost to a ranked North Scott team and dropped six spots in the rankings. It was their first loss of the season and they still dropped below many teams that had worse records than them.
Varsity player, Adrea Arthofer, stated, “I think it’s simply a group of people that make assumptions of teams, without even seeing them play. It seems like they have a core group of teams that they believe will be good at the beginning of the season, and they stick strictly to that.”
This year, the Spartans recently beat the 2nd ranked North Scott Lancers, but they didn’t move up a single spot in the rankings while the Lancers only moved down one spot.
“It’s just frustrating because we work so hard and win tough games but ultimately we are defined by a rank. I think it also shows the hypocrisy of it all, in that there aren’t any rules or guidelines when making rankings,” Arthofer explained. “I think it’s time for a change in the system.”
