The state of Kansas recently moved its high school softball tournament to a recreational multi-use sports complex instead of the traditional host sites. Playoff games will no longer be played at the University of Kansas or Wichita State University as has been the case case in the past.
Players, their parents, and local communities are pushing back on the controversial decision.
They point to the discrepancy between high school softball and high school baseball within the state. Their initial efforts proved to be a great success.
Kansas moved the high school softball tournament.
The Class 5A and Class 6A high school softball tournaments played every single game at a Division-I athletic facility in 2025. That has actually been the case for a few years now.
Class 6A played at Arrocha Ball Park, home to the Kansas Jayhawks. Class 5A played a Wilkins Stadium, home to the Wichita State Shockers.
Not anymore!
The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) recently informed Class 5A and 6A teams that all state softball tournaments will be moved to the Blue Valley Recreational Sports Complex moving forward. Only the championship games will be played at the University of Kansas.
Blue Valley Recreational Sports Complex has 24 irrigated baseball and softball fields on its campus in Overland Park. It also has volleyball courts, basketball courts, swimming pools, a gymnastic center, multiple weight rooms and an indoor track. It is not a softball-only facility.
Although Blue Valley is one of the premier sports complexes in the midwest, the softball fields are a huge downgrade from a Division-I college stadium. Players are bummed.
“You work so hard and you want to play at a nice field and have a nice facility and you see all of these girls do it the years before you and you think this could be the year we make it to state and all of a sudden you’re not playing at KU,” Ada Schweller told WDAF. “You don’t get the nice facilities. You’re playing at a field you’ve played at half the tournaments in the summer.”
They are not only disappointed with the change in facility. They are also upset with the inequality.
The baseball tournament has not moved, yet.
Megan Angus-Coombs of Softball on SI recently shed light on the stark disparity between high school softball and high school baseball in the United States. It is impossible to ignore!
The KSHSAA’s decision to move the state softball tournament is the perfect example.
No changes have been announced for any of the baseball tournaments. The Class 3A tournament is scheduled to be played at Kansas State, the Class 5A at Wichita State and Class 6A at Kansas.
KSHSAA Assistant Executive Director Jeremy Holaday claims the discrepancy stems from pitch counts.
“With pitch counts, we have to be a little bit more evaluative as far as the calendar goes, because they have a rule that softball does not have,” he said. “We could still do the same thing for baseball. We just, we haven’t made a final decision on baseball this year. Never have. So we’re still formulating that, potentially.”
To be quite honest, I don’t really know why that matters. If anything, a lack of pitch count typically allows for softball games to move much faster than a baseball game— which would make scheduling easier.
Nevertheless, Kansas high school softball players and parents are furious.
“We’re fighting for all kids,” a parent told KCTV5. “I have no idea if my kid will even make it to the state tournament. You know, she may not. But some other child will, and they will have worked really hard to get there. They deserve the same equal treatment as the baseball teams and the baseball players do.”
Their outrage actually made a difference. The Blue Valley School District, which was going to host the tournament at the Blue Valley Sports Complex, withdrew its offer to host so KSHSAA must now go back to the drawing board.