On September 30th, a vote was held within the Idaho High School Activities Association(IHSAA) to reclassify Canyon Ridge’s eight sports teams to 5A. Seven teams were approved for reclassification, with boys soccer being the only team to remain in 6A.
Canyon Ridge Activities Director, Mr. Chris Waitley, made a presentation following his petition to reclassify the teams on Monday, September 29th, to the IHSAA board. This was in light of Canyon Ridge being one of the smallest 6A teams in the state.
Mr. Waitley received the results on Tuesday, September 30th, marking the reclassification of the seven sports teams.
The petition to the IHSAA was made with community support. Mr. Waitley said that “the community rallied. Not just the parents, but medical providers talking about the development of the adolescent mind,” and that “It was truly a community effort.”
The change for Canyon Ridge sports teams is not immediate. “We have this year left at the 6A level,” Mr. Waitley said, meaning that Canyon Ridge sports teams will have to wait until the end of the year for the reclassifications to officially take place.
In moving forward with the petition’s results, Mr. Waitley has stated that “First and foremost, I think my priority and the administrative priority is to make sure that our numbers stay under 1,399 next year, and then we don’t have to go through this process anymore.”
Ali Hussein Jabbar • Apr 6, 2026 at 4:25 pm
It’s cool to see a community work together to ensure their student athletes compete at a level that reflects the school’s size and supports their long term development.