99 years ago, CHSAA was founded. These are the minutes from the Board meeting.
In May 1921, 99 years ago this month, the first ever Board meeting of the organization of what became the Colorado High School Activities Association was held.
That organization, the Colorado High School Athletic League, was founded on April 2, 1921. They held a “meeting of the Central Board of Control” at the University of Colorado in Boulder the following month, and conducted two items of business:
They set a date for “filing applications … for League membership to the State Athletic Association.” That date was June 1, 1921. This date later became a source of controversy during the first sanctioned football season, as Canon City had one of the best teams in the state, but was shut out of a chance at a state title because it missed that deadline. Here’s the whole story of that first season.
And the Board divided the state up into four regions:
- The San Luis Division. It consisted of “all schools south of Colorado Springs.”
- The Central Division. This stretched far-and-wide, and is pretty unimaginable today, including Denver, Colorado Springs, “towns of Denver suburban league, and all towns east of Denver to the state line and all mountain towns to the west.”
- The Northern Division. It included “Boulder and north and east to the state line.”
- The Western Division. Schools included “those … in the Western division of the State Teachers’ Association.”
The first president of the original organization was R.W. Truscott, who officiated the first state football championship game. Truscott later served for 21 years as the Association’s commissioner, from 1926 to 1948.
John C. Casey, of Eaton, was named the first “president” of the association. This title was later changed to commissioner during Truscott’s tenure in 1930. Casey served for five years. (Note: The Board minutes say that Casey is from Longmont, but he actually was from Eaton.)
The Board minutes from that meeting were found by assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann in CHSAA’s archives:
