Coronado may be facing a classification change in the next CHSAA sports cycle. During the 2016-2018 seasons, Coronado competed in six 4A sports; football, girls’ golf, girls’ tennis, and girls’ and boys’ swimming; the remaining sports, boys tennis, cross country, track and field, wrestling, volleyball, and boys golf compete in 5A. Coronado’s enrollment numbers have declined from 1515 to 1432 since 2016, and that could result in the four sports that still compete in 5A to drop down.

Coronado has moved up through the divisions since it it was founded 1970 and participated in 3A. Over the years Coronado grew to have a population of 1803 which would put Coronado in the top 40% of all 5A schools in the 2016-2018 cycle.However, now Coronado is the 7th smallest school participating in 5A team sports.

Moving to down to 4A for the remainder of Coronado’s teams not already there would have varied effects on the teams’ success. For Coronado’s cross country team, the change would be welcome, as their region they must compete in to qualify for state is one of the toughest. Head Coach Grant Stoughton illustrated the complex effects of the change in division: “On the whole, it would be equally challenging in the area because when you drop down to 4A, you have to deal with Pine Creek, Air Academy, Cheyenne Mountain, and Palmer Ridge. But, on the whole, considering how tough our 5A region is, with three of the top four ranked boys teams in the state, and with a top five nationally ranked team in our girls’ region, 5A has not been kind to us, so a move to 4A would be very welcome.” He would definitely be glad to switch to 4A for track, as athletes could qualify more easily with the slightly less competitive qualifying times.

Head Coach Rick Rienks also thinks that Cougar Golf would be impacted beneficially from the move down: “Having just moved from 4A (coaching at Mitchell) to 5A I actually have mixed feelings. I believe for golf, moving to 4A would be very beneficial. I do believe that we would be more competitive in 4A and would stand a better chance of postseason success,” continuing, “I do feel overall it would be a good thing.”

Coronado’s volleyball program has had incredible success in Colorado’s 5A division, making a trip to state five of the last seasons. Head Coach Stormie Wells feels that although there are several powerhouse teams in 4A, “It’s significantly easier to get to the state tournament at the 4A level. Much more parity exists at the 5A level.” Due the exciting and competitive nature of 5A, Coach Wells would like to stay there: “In our current league, we must be ready for battle every night, and that’s more fun! . . . The 5A state championship is far more wide open, and that makes life much more interesting. I prefer the challenge of 5A, and I think our players do too. Winning our league means something special, and making it to State requires determination and excellence, and once we get there, should we be that fortunate, anything can happen!”

In Colorado tennis is divided into only two divisions for boys and three for girls. Therefore, even with the population decrease at Coronado, the men’s tennis team may still compete in 5A. Head coach Philipsen shed light on general theory of classifications being that with larger population the better athletics a school will have due presumed better numbers and athletes for every sport. Given this theory and the generally low population in CSML 5A schools in relation to a whole, says that this difference becomes apparent in the post season: “This becomes glaringly obvious in boys 5A tennis, when you look at the enrollment of Colorado Springs 5A schools . . . and add in the fact that my 2 doubles team from last year consisting of Reilly Fredell and Tucker Travins were the first Colorado Springs 5A school to win a SINGLE MATCH at state in 7 years.” For girls, the story is much different as they compete in 4A, where five of their positions advanced to state last year.

Moving forward, Coach Philipsen thinks that the Cougars will be at a disadvantage to larger schools in the postseason if they stay in 5A, and therefore believes that the move down would best facilitate success for mens’ tennis in the future.

As 2018 and the reclassification of sports divisions near, the complex effects of division changes for Coronado’s six remaining have become evident. Although most sports would have better chances of success in the offseason, others could have to compete against powerhouse teams they avoided before. Positive and negative effects aside, 4A will likely become a reality for Coronado’s athletics due to declined enrollment numbers.