Douglas, Carson to play for The Cup

There's always plenty on the line when rivals Carson and Douglas High Schools face each other in any sport.

But now there will be more than ever at stake when the school's student-athletes face each other. The term student-athlete is used because how they conduct themselves and how they do in the classroom will be just as important as the result on the scoreboard.

Beginning this year, the 2005-2006 school year, Carson and Douglas will compete for the Sierra Nevada Cup presented by Les Schwab in an annual all-sports competition. The winning school will be presented the Sierra Nevada Cup provided by Ponderosa Stamp on June 2, 2006 during a ceremony a Silver Oak. Representatives from Les Schwab and the Nevada Appeal and coaches from CHS and Douglas will be invited to the event.

Points will be awarded in head-to-head competition in all the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association-sanctioned sports that the two schools compete with each other on the varsity level:

Football, volleyball, girls golf, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls tennis, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, wrestling, baseball, softball, boys golf, boys and girls track and boys and girls swimming.

In every Sierra League contest in which the two schools face each other, the winning team will be awarded five points. If the contest ends in a tie, each school will recieve 2.5 points.

In boys and girls cross country, boys and girls golf and boys and girls track, the school that places higher in the Northern 4A Championships will receive five points. If the two schools end up tied at the zone championships in any of these sports, each team will receive 2.5 points.

But just as important in the competition will be sportsmanship and academics. For every violation such as a red card, technical foul, ejection or point deduction in sports like wrestling, one point will be deducted from each school.

At the end of the year, each school's cumulative grade point average for all the teams will be taken. One point will be awarded for every 10th of a point in G.P.A. For example, if the school's teams finish with a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.21, that school will be awarded 32.1 points.

The school that finishes with the most points at the end of the year will be awarded the Sierra Nevada Cup. If the two schools end up tied, the first tiebreaker will be which school had the less points deducted for unsportsmanlike conduct.

If the two schools are still tied, the second tiebreaker will be which school's teams had the highest cumulative G.P.A. if the two schools are still tied, then the tiebreaker will be based on the school's finishes on the state and possibly zone levels. If the two schools are still tied - well, then they would have to be just declared co-winners of the Sierra Nevada Cup.

"Carson and Douglas is getting together to make this something cool," Carson athletic director Ron McNutt said. "By doing something like this, not to put any more pressure on the school to win the trophy, but we're emphasizing what the NIAA has asked we do, what the coaches have asked the athletes to do, to keep your grades, to show good sportsmanship and to be good citizens."

Douglas athletic director Jeff Evans said the competition could create more interest in sports that normally don't receive that much attention.

"I think it's good," he said. "It can possibly give some recognition to the lesser-known sports. Maybe there are games there will be some more people there out for the teams.

"Like coach (McNutt) says, we want to promote sportsmanship and grades and a positive rivalry. It should make it fun."