Committee OKs spring sectional tourneys

The MIAA Tournament Management Committee gave its blessing for a sectional tournament in the spring, but stopped short of sanctioning a statewide championship.

The committee voted 126-1 in favor of a sectional tournament on Wednesday. The next step in the process is for this to go to the Task Force before the MIAA Board of Directors for a final vote.

“The Cape Ann League is in favor of having a sectional tournament, there’s been a good response to it,” said committee member Mary Ryan, the former athletic director at Rockport. “They would prefer to get specific dates sooner rather than later, so they can start preparing.”

Many of the committee members are sympathetic toward the spring sports as they were the only ones who went without a season last year due to the pandemic. “I feel that we should try to do everything possible to give these kids the most amount of games possible,” said Burlington athletic director Shaun Hart. “We can’t give them back what they lost last year, so we should give them the best that we can in the spring as they deserve it.”

One of the biggest reasons why a statewide tournament was shot down by a healthy 14-4 margin was the fact that the seasons could extend into July. It was very obvious from the tenor of the meeting that few committee members felt comfortable with that sort of scenario.

“The longer we go into June, the more we have conflicts with outside organizations,” said St. Mary’s athletic director/girls basketball coach Jeff Newhall. “The last thing I want is to force a kid to have to decide between playing high school or AAU (or summer showcases).”

Wellesley athletic director John Brown said the majority of schools in District 7 would prefer a statewide tournament. Brown is one of the few committee members who can speak to the subject on a personal basis.

“In 1982, my Natick High baseball team went undefeated,” Brown said. “But we didn’t get a chance to compete for a state title because of Prop 2 K. It’s 39 years later and that still bothers me.”

The committee also agreed to the point-margin of victory numbers being sent on to the Board of Directors to be used in the future power rankings. In soccer, hockey and field hockey, the goal total is three, five runs for baseball and softball, 10 points for basketball and lacrosse, with 14 the maximum number for football and rugby.

There will also be an alignment appeal committee formed to listen to appeals from schools unhappy with their placements.