When the Division I-A (formerly 3A) went to a pods system, it was meant to cut down on travel expenses as the Northern I-A was divided geographically into three leagues.

While it cut down travel expenses for Washoe County, mainly because Elko was no longer in the same classification, other counties in rural areas didn’t see a decrease in costs and in some instances saw higher expenses. Also, it increased the discrepancy in enrollment numbers and created massive mismatches.

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association voted to do away with the pods system at its Board of Control meeting this week. So now Sparks will strictly play Division I-A schools in league play.

It’s a welcome change at Sparks High despite the expected slight increase in travel costs now that added trips east are guaranteed. However, the D-1A North has played crossover league games this year, so there won’t be as much added travel next year.

Sparks athletic director Rob Kittrell is looking forward to playing in the nine-team league because each game will matter in terms of seeding. More importantly, schools of Sparks size tend to have teams at each level of play. If there wasn’t a crossover league tournament in a week and a half, the Sparks freshman girls basketball team’s season would have ended last Saturday because the smaller schools in the Mount Rose League don’t have freshman teams.

Kittrell said being able to fill schedules for the lower level teams in sports like girls basketball and volleyball will benefit the varsity squads in the long run.