Cory Higgs can hardly wait.

The activities director at Fort Washakie Charter High School, Higgs is more than enthusiastic about the school's burgeoning sports programs.

And if all goes as planned, the Eagles will be putting a six-player football program on the field by 2009 - at the latest.

The only problem is that Wyoming doesn't have state-sponsored six-player football.

That all could change this year.

The Wyoming High School Activities Association's board of directors could approve the scaled-down version of football for some of the state's smaller schools as part of a larger overhaul of the state's football classification system.

The board meets today and Wednesday in Casper and is scheduled to vote on the proposed changes. The board will have to approve it again in September for the proposal to pass - and to give schools like Fort Washakie a chance to play football.

"Our position is that we wouldn't be able to have an 11-man football team, so when we heard six-man might be an option for the future, we started to brainstorm," Higgs said. " … We want to start as early as possible so we can be fully prepared to compete for the fall of 2009 season if it's approved.

"Then we can figure out what we're doing. We can get the kids going."

Trevor Wilson, associate commissioner of the WHSAA, said seven schools have already committed to playing six-player football - two current 11-player schools (Guernsey and Hanna), two schools with six-player programs already in place (Meeteetse and Ten Sleep) and three new programs (Fort Washakie, Kaycee and Rock River).

Wilson also said Farson and Snake River are "seriously looking" at adding six-player football but don't yet have the approval of their respective school districts to start those programs.

In a survey conducted by the WHSAA in February, four other schools that now play 11-player football (Dubois, Hulett, Lingle and Shoshoni) also indicated possible interest in six-player football, while Arvada-Clearmont also noted an interest in starting a program if it can successfully fund the construction of a facility.

Complete overhaul

The new six-player division is an offshoot of a larger proposal for the 2009 season that would affect every one of Wyoming's five high school football divisions.

In the proposal, Class 4A would house the 10 largest schools, with Green River projected to be the smallest school in the class. Class 3A would be the next 12 largest schools, encompassing a division with Riverton (projected enrollment 746.4) as the largest school and Wheatland (300.2) as the smallest.

Class 2A would contain 16 schools from Pinedale (273.5) at the top of the class to Wyoming Indian (133.2) at the bottom.

The remaining 21 schools with football programs would comprise Class 1A. Under the proposal, all schools in the Class 1A division would have the option of playing either six-player or 11-player football, and no schools would be forced to play either six-player or 11-player.

Wilson said the new proposed alignment has been received well.

"So far, we've gone through all the districts, and it's received very good comments so far and passed all four of those districts," Wilson said.

New programs are key

Higgs said the Fort Washakie school board and community has enthusiastically supported the idea of a new football program. The school recently completed its first year of varsity girls basketball and will add varsity boys basketball within the next two years.

"We believe this is good for our kids," Higgs said. "We believe it's good for the smaller schools. If you can't play 11-man, it's a great alternative.

"If we wouldn't have six-man football, we probably wouldn't have football ever."

Clark Guenther, the activities director at Rock River, said his school and community have been a little more tempered in their reactions to six-player football.

"Right now, as far as other than right around the school, a lot of people aren't aware of it," he said. "We really haven't advertised it, just because it's not completely set. The kids that are aware of it, a couple of them are really excited, because a couple played in Laramie.

"After (the proposal) goes through the next reading, when it gets a little closer to being a reality, people will be more excited. … Right now we're not even sure that it'll go."

Wilson said six schools have to commit to six-player football for the division to be created. Therefore, the six-player experiment will depend a lot on schools that have not recently sponsored football, if ever.

Higgs said it would take about $12,000 up front to outfit football programs at the high-school and junior-high levels.

But the cost is secondary to what a football program would mean to his school.

"The rationale is that this will be great for our students, and another opportunity for them to compete for their community," he said.

Contact high school sports coordinator Patrick Schmiedt at (307) 266-0615 or patrick.schmiedt@trib.com.

What else?

The WHSAA board of directors is looking at more than just reclassification this week.

The board will consider a second-reading item that would allow make-up work at the end of a semester to count toward an athlete's eligibility.

"If this passes, they'd be able to make that work up and be eligible as soon as they make that work up and pass their four classes," WHSAA Associate Commissioner Trevor Wilson said.

Also up for discussion is a second-reading item in which the fall golf season would start and end a week earlier than now scheduled. Currently, fall golf practice begins at the same time as other fall sports, usually in mid-August, with tournaments starting the same week.

The proposal passed in the Northwest, Southwest and Southeast districts. The Northeast district did not vote on the proposal.

"It's been a little hit and miss, mixed review so to speak," Wilson said. " … It'll be interesting. I don't know where that one's going to go."

The board will also hear first-reading proposals on increasing the certification requirements for cheerleading coaches, adjusting the football tiebreaking procedures and changing the length and period of the spring golf and spring tennis seasons.

The board is scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m. today and 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Projected enrollment for the schools for 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years. Projected average daily membership figures for 2010-11 and 2011-12, available in September, will be used in the WHSAA's upcoming reclassification cycle.

Schools in italics do not currently sponsor football programs.

*-indicates school that has expressed an interest in starting a six-player football program. Meeteetse and Ten Sleep play six-player football in a Montana league.

Projected/proposed Class 4A football

1. Gillette 2078.352

2. Cheyenne East 2018.077

3. Cheyenne Central 1945.018

4. Natrona County 1817.486

5. Kelly Walsh 1672.315

6. Rock Springs 1286.163

7. Laramie 1021.503

8. Sheridan 940.517

9. Evanston 891.843

10. Green River 752.386

Projected/proposed Class 3A football

11. Riverton 746.377

12. Star Valley 739.501

13. Cody 662.347

14. Jackson 653.460

15. Lander 538.179

16. Douglas 500.088

17. Powell 489.123

18. Rawlins 469.663

19. Worland 387.983

20. Torrington 375.552

21. Buffalo 348.768

22. Wheatland 300.183

Projected/proposed Class 2A football

23. Pinedale 273.532

24. Newcastle 251.386

25. Glenrock 222.310

26. Lyman 212.722

27. Mountain View 203.497

28. Thermopolis 199.382

29. Kemmerer 197.417

30. Lovell 187.202

31. Burns 184.233

32. Moorcroft 175.255

33. Big Piney 173.554

34. Wright 165.647

35. Greybull 150.076

36. Big Horn 147.118

37. Tongue River 146.446

38. Wyoming Indian 133.232

Projected/proposed Class 1A football

(two divisions)

39. Pine Bluffs 133.232

40. Sundance 114.889

41. Rocky Mountain 112.633

42. Wind River 107.338

43. Lusk 105.951

44. Riverside 105.712

45. Shoshoni 103.820

46. Lingle 96.308

47. Southeast 96.234

48. Normative Services 90.000

49. Arapaho Charter 88.381

50. Saratoga 87.623

51. Guernsey 84.817

52. Burlington 78.574

53. Dubois 75.317

54. Hanna 74.840

55. Upton 73.900

56. St. Stephens 70.000

57. Midwest 69.158

58. Fort Washakie 68.586*

59. Snake River 66.281*

60. Hulett 62.780

61. Cokeville 57.845

62. Kaycee 52.031*

63. Farson 48.676*

64. Encampment 37.931

65. Meeteetse 33.601

66. Arvada-Clearmont 31.426*

67. Ten Sleep 25.917

68. Chugwater 25.820

69. Rock River 25.357*

70. Glendo 25.069