MIAA board votes to form urban athletic committee

Gives ADs at urban schools platform to have voices and challenges heard

Urban school athletic directors throughout the state have been hoping for their collective voices to be heard within the MIAA.

The MIAA Board of Directors clearly agreed.

By a vote of 20-0, the board voted for the formation of an ad hoc/advisory committee for urban athletic directors to allow their voices and challenges among their schools to be heard by the MIAA. According to Boston Public School athletic director Avery Esdaile, who spoke on behalf of the group of urban school athletic directors, the impetus for this began in 2018.

“It started as an urban athletic director organized in corroboration with (Randolph AD) Tony Price and Mike Rubin,” Esdaile explained. “It was a platform for urban athletic directors to get together and talk about their experiences in raising awareness of the common challenges we face. We met again in 2019 and the sentiment was to try and establish a group which would be formally recognized within the MIAA.”

Rubin, who previously served as headmaster and Hall of Fame basketball coach at East Boston for decades before joining the MIAA six years ago as an assistant director, lauded the passion displayed by the group of urban athletic directors.

“Since their first meeting, the mission has been to gain formal recognition,” Rubin said. “There are at least 32 athletic directors at every meeting and there is a great deal of enthusiasm among them. I’m excited about the possibility for them to be accepted as a group by the MIAA.”

In a letter sent to the board prior to the meeting, they spoke of a need for additional support and consistent representation at the MIAA level. There are often critical discussions and decisions made, that do not reflect, or take into consideration, the realities of urban/high needs schools and districts.

One of the end goals was having a designated urban/ high needs seat on all MIAA committees. The urban athletic committee shall advise the MIAA Board of Directors in areas of leadership, governance and representation which the MIAA might expand in support of urban student-athletes, coaches and athletic administrators.

“This is huge, it’s another step toward leveling out the playing field,” said Lowell athletic director Dave Lezenski. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the Boston schools, Somerville, Malden, Lynn, Haverhill or Methuen, as urban schools we all have obstacles to overcome. But we also have kids who want to play.”

In other matters, the issue of whether schools could carry 15 players on a basketball roster came up for discussion once again. The Sports Medicine Committee (SMC) had mandated in a recent meeting that no more than 12 players should be on a gameday roster, but the board voted to go with the traditional 15-man roster (and three coaches).

MIAA executive director Bill Gaine admitted that the SMC was disappointed that this vote wasn’t sent back to them for further review. Brookline athletic director and board member Peter Rittenburg sided with the Sports Medicine Committee and said that the Bay State Conference was going ahead with the initial recommendation of the SMC.

“We don’t want to be a rubber stamp body,” Rittenburg said. “We’re not medical people. It feels odd that we didn’t go back to them for guidance.”

As a concession, rosters can remain at 15, but only 12 will be allowed in the pregame warmups. If a team has more than 12 players, the remaining members of the squad will be allowed to stretch under the basket.

Duxbury athletic director Thom Holdgate, a member of the COVID-19 Task Force, said there has been early discussion among the sports landing in Fall 2 (football, indoor track and cheerleading) in terms of modifications.

He also expects that there will be more clarification in the upcoming days in terms of spectators allowed in winter sports and also stressed to the MIAA the importance of putting out some sort of communique in a timely manner for clarity purposes.

It was an eventful day for Holdgate as he was unanimously selected to take over as vice president of the board and chairman of the finance committee, replacing Lindsay von Holtz.

Von Holtz will be replacing board president Jeff Granatino, whose two-year term ends on July 1.