Those hoping for a change to the MIAA soccer playoff format will likely be ready some time longer.
On Thursday morning, the MIAA Football Committee voted to carry off on any judgment on Milton head coach Steve Dembowski’s new postseason proposal, as a substitute selecting to formulate a subcommittee to take a look at potential tweaks which will make the proposal extra interesting to the broader membership.
The subcommittee, which was shaped by a 16-1 vote, will meet on Feb. 1. They will current their findings and amendments on the subsequent MIAA Football Committee assembly March 1.
“I hope you understand the situation this sport faces,” Dembowski stated. “We are not helping the game right now as a committee. We are down from 315 to 275 teams over the last decade and every year we are losing the game.”
Under Dembowski’s plan, introduced on behalf of the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association, the MIAA Football common season could be prolonged to 12 weeks with groups having two byes all through the course of the season. This would make Thanksgiving Day soccer, at present meaningless because it pertains to postseason implications, the ultimate common season recreation of the season. The system is a mannequin of Connecticut’s present highschool soccer event.
The state event would even be altered, as the quantity of groups that qualify could be decreased from 16 groups per division to eight. The largest opposition to the proposal comes from the truth that the system will additional bleed into the winter sports activities season. Dembowski has argued closely that the brand new system would diminish the quantity of “widely unpopular consolation games” that happen now when a workforce loses or doesn’t qualify.
Following dialogue of the proposal, district suggestions introduced by members on the committee indicated it might fail if voted on throughout Thursday’s assembly. Some members on the committee, together with Boston Public Schools assistant athletic director Billy Sittig, believed that the proposal wanted to be defined extra completely to athletic administrators and college directors.
“Look at the media tour that Jim O’Leary and Shaun Hart did when it came to the statewide tournament,” Sittig stated. “Everyone knew that was and with this, there is no understanding of where this can take football. This is not going to get passed at any level right now. In my opinion, not because it’s a bad system but because people do not know the pros of this.”
Also through the assembly, soccer event director Scott Paine mentioned the necessity going ahead to seek out extra state semifinal websites which can be appropriate for a full event expertise. He commented how in 2022, Milton and Hanover performed in a state semifinal recreation at Weymouth High School the place locker rooms weren’t out there for both workforce.
While the soccer committee met just about, the MIAA wrestling committee met in-house and one of many prime matters was the brand new proposed wrestling realignment for the 2023-24 season. Given some additional time to correctly provide you with an agreed-upon alignment, the committee checked out two proposals and settled on one whereby the groups had been sorted into divisions strictly primarily based upon their CEM (aggressive fairness modifier), after which break up up as evenly as doable into sections. This is in line with what the MIAA has executed for different sports activities’ realignments.
The committee accepted a proposal by Burlington wrestling coach Paul Shvartsman to extend the variety of sectional qualifiers from 4 to 5 heading to the states. This should go to the Tournament Management Committee for additional approval.
Shvartsman’s rationale was that it was unfair for the fifth-place finisher to be on standby, apply all week with no assure he would get an opportunity to compete on the states except somebody was injured or did not make weight. It additionally rewarded these sections who’ve an abundance of fine wrestlers at a specific weight class.
In different information, Barnstable athletic director Steve Sentes has been named the brand new Division 1 state event director. Prior to accepting the AD job, Sentes served as the pinnacle wrestling coach at New Bedford, the place his workforce emerged as an influence. While one gap was plugged, the MIAA continues to be on the lookout for somebody to host the Div. 3 West sectionals.
Source: www.bostonherald.com