The Free State High volleyball team, the city team with the best chance of winning a state title this fall, recently faced the possibility of not getting the opportunity.

The Firebirds, who began the season winning 13 of their first 15 matches and were ranked as high as third in Class 6A, nearly were the victims of an old-fashioned scheduling snafu.

Credit a lack of communication and the Kansas State High School Activities Association for their predicament.

Last week, the Firebirds traveled to Olathe East for a league triangular with the Hawks and Leavenworth Pioneers, but were surprised by the presence of St. James Academy.

It seems St. James, a private school in Lenexa, was added to the meet late last year before the Dec. 1 scheduling deadline, making the event a quadrangular instead of a tri.

Oh well. So Free State got to play another match. No problem, right?

Wrong.

According to KSHSAA rules, varsity volleyball teams are only allowed to accumulate 36 points through their schedule. The points system is new this year, replacing the old system that allowed 10 playable dates regardless of the number of opponents. But now, every opponent is accounted for. If you play a dual, that’s one point. A tri, that’s two points. A quad gives you three, and any tournament counts for five.

Adding St. James, which the Firebirds were forced to do because Olathe East presented a signed contract, seemed to put Free State over the 36-point maximum.

Both Leavenworth and Free State still had the match as a triangular on game day. Both schools have new athletic directors this season, and turnover inevitably creates the potential for problems.

Credit the new leadership for fixing it.

Free State athletic director Mike Hill said Tuesday that there was no issue and that the Firebirds were fine. After looking over the season’s volleyball contracts, Hill discovered that Free State was within the limit of 36 points, and no act of desperation was necessary.

But the bigger problem lies in the way the rules are written. Year after year, the KSHSAA continues to punish Kansas athletes. Rules which limit the number of games, practice times and the ability of coaches and players to work together in the summer, severely hinder the Kansas athlete’s opportunity to develop. College coaches, especially those in-state, refrain from recruiting as many Kansas athletes because those from other states are so far ahead. What a shame.

There is hope, though. KSHSAA might be coming around, based on several issues on the agenda for the upcoming regional meetings. Included in the board’s topics for discussion are: allowing basketball coaches to work with more than three players at a time in the summer; proposed points systems for scheduling in other sports; allowing baseball and basketball programs to find ways to fit in more than the 20 games per season they’ve been allowed in the past; and increasing the number of quarters a basketball player can play on a given night from five to six.

These all are steps in the right direction and will go a long way in helping Kansas athletes become more competitive on the national scene.

They’re all still proposals at the moment, but at least that’s a start.