3A basketball tournaments moving to Air Force
The Class 3A boys and girls state basketball tournaments are on the move.
The tournaments, held at CSU’s Moby Arena since 2002, will move to the Air Force Academy’s Clune Arena beginning this season, according to assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann, who oversees basketball. The move is being made in hopes that it will re-energize the 3A tournaments, which have seen a recent decline in attendance. Additionally, a survey of member schools revealed a desire to move the tournaments closer to a central part of the state.
Facilities in and around Denver were considered, but not available for the dates needed. This season’s tournaments will be March 13-15, and will remain at Air Force for at least the next two seasons. Air Force has previously hosted a number of CHSAA tournaments.
“We are disappointed that we have to leave CSU because we love the people, facilities, the hotels and the community, but we need to re-energize the tournament,” Borgmann said. “We are hoping that these changes help with that, and bring us closer to a majority of the schools that participate in the tournament. We are very excited to work with the Air Force Academy again.”
The 3A state tournaments at Clune Arena will comprise the Great 8 and beyond, including consolation games.
Sites for the other state tournaments have not changed. Thus, 5A and 4A will remain at CU, 2A at CSU-Pueblo and 1A at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland.
