MIAA plans division changes
After receiving recommendations from the TMC, the MIAA Ice Hockey Committee is hoping matters go in a different direction.
The MIAA Ice Hockey Committee met Thursday afternoon and approved divisional alignments for boys and girls hockey beginning in the 2021-22 winter seasons.
The committee requested four divisions for boys and two for girls. Since the amount of divisions voted on differed from the three divisions the TMC recommended following the passage of the Statewide Tournament in February, those requests will now go before the TMC for final approval.
In both cases, the decision of how many divisions was reached by a subcommittee. Wellesley Athletic Director John Brown explained how on the boys side, a survey went out to every school notifying them of where they were likely to be placed in the upcoming alignment period based on enrollment and whether they would likely opt up, appeal to go down, or stay where they were originally slotted. After receiving 135 replies out of the 195 surveys that went out, Brown and his fellow subcommittee members placed teams where they thought each team would end up.
That left 50 schools in Division 1, 49 schools in Division 2, 60 in Division 3, and 36 in Division 4.
For girls hockey, a pair of divisions were created with all co-ops and parochial schools placed in Division 1 and all public schools and vocational schools placed in Division 2. As a result of neatly aligning it that way, there were 45 schools in each division.
The Ice Hockey Committee also announced the formation of a subcommittee to examine whether a continuance of the Boys Division 1A Super Eight Tournament should be requested beginning in the 202122 session. The subcommittee will also examine whether the tournament should be double elimination, and whether one should be implemented for girls as well. Due to the passage of the Statewide Tournament and the incorporation of National Federation rules, any desire to continue the Super Eight as currently constructed would have to be approved by the TMC.
The most notable rule change request to stem from the hockey meeting was an 8-1 approval to require all boys and girls games to have a four-on-four, five-minute overtime in the event of a tie at the end of regulation. This now goes to the Board of Directors for final approval.
Earlier in the day, the MIAA Basketball Committee met to discuss divisional alignments and a pair of rule changes.
After a subcommittee was formed to examine how many divisions should be in place beginning in the 2021-22 season, it was determined that the TMC recommended five divisions were appropriate on both the boys and girls side.
Some committee members expressed concern about the tiny enrollments of a handful of schools in Division 4. Whitman-Hanson Athletic Director Bob Rodgers made a motion to move eight non-vocational schools up from Division 5 to Division 4 in anticipation of a bevy of Division 4 schools wanting to appeal down. The motion, however, was rejected.
The most notable matter of the day came from the Merrimack Valley Conference. After receiving approval from the Board of Directors, the MVC this past winter experimented with allowing kids to play six quarters between freshman, junior varsity, and varsity in one day as opposed to the currently allowed four. Tewksbury Athletic Director Ron Drouin reported back that the change was met positively throughout the league. As a result, the committee voted 17-0 to make the rule change effective statewide. It will now go to the Board of Directors for final approval.
The committee also voted 14-0-3 to ask the TMC for a one-year reprieve on playing sectional semifinal games at the higher seed. A concern was shared by many members that playing sectional semifinals at higher seeds as opposed to neutral gymnasiums would lead to hundreds of fans being left outside.