The AIA said it would postpone the playoff tournaments for 1A and 2A high school basketball a day after the organization said the games would go on as scheduled in northern Arizona.
The AIA said its decision to continue playing the games in Prescott this weekend despite the weather emergency was due to several challenging factors.
The organization said if it were to postpone the tournament a week or two there was a possibility some school would not be able to play.
"Postponement of any length created hardships due to other travel plans of the participating teams and their students’ possible involvement in Spring sports," the AIA said in a statement Friday.
The organization said many of the participating teams traveled Wednesday before the major storm hit, but concerned parents and family of the participating student-athletes begged the AIA on its Facebook post to reconsider over the danger of traveling to a city in an emergency. Family members and other community members even messaged 12 News with concerns.
The AIA said Friday that despite 13 of the schools being in the Prescott area, it's "unsafe for them to travel to the arena."
"We have advised the schools to stay in and avoid the roads until it is safe to return home," AIA said in the statement.
The AIA statement says the organization will evaluate ways the teams that traveled to Prescott can be reimbursed.
The tickets purchased ahead of the tournament are fully refundable, AIA says.
The AIA said it’s looking into ways to split the conference tournaments when the weather improves. The organization will look into options in the Phoenix area. Once venue options have been decided, teams will be notified on a conference call to finalize the date and time of the tournament.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience to everyone affected. It was our sincerest desire to give the very deserving student-athletes the full tournament experience,” the AIA said in the statement. “The intensity of storms like these has been rare for the Prescott area and we did not anticipate the full effect it would have on our traveling teams. We now appreciate the magnitude of this weather and want only for the safety of our teams.”
The AIA said it would continue to post updates on social media.