Realignment formula unchanged
RIPCOA adds realignment committee
WARWICK – There will be no tweaks or modifications to the realignment formula that’s used to place teams in corresponding divisions for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
Before all the findings are presented to the Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s Principals’ Committee on Athletics, they will first have the chance to be gone over with the league’s version of a fine-toothed comb.
A realignment review committee that was proposed by Ponaganset athletic director and PCOAmember Tom Marcello was unanimously approved (13-0) at Monday’s Principals Committee meeting. This particular committee will meet 3-4 times in a given realignment year to review each sport’s realignment proposal prior to the PCOA’s final and deciding vote.
“This would provide schools an opportunity to provide additional information if they possibly need to. It could also make sure that all the aspects that pertain to realignment are complete,” said RIIL executive director Tom Mezzanotte. “It basically gives us the opportunity to make sure everything is done appropriately before the (PCOA) has a vote.”
The realignment review committee will be comprised of principals and athletic directors. One of the committee’s missions will be to reduce the number of schools protesting their alignment over a given twoyear period.
If the realignment review committee feels there has been an omission, they will kick the proposal back to the corresponding sport committee. The realignment review committee will also provide a uniform proposal template for all sport committees to follow, including information pertaining to division alignment, regular-season league schedule breakdown, and playoff structure.
Here are some issues that were covered during Monday’s PCOA discussion, which took place at the RIIL’s new headquarters located off Centerville Road:
• Earlier this month, the National Federation of State High School Association (NFHS) announced that the overall number of participants in interscholastic competition increased for the 28th consec- utive year in 2016-17.
In Rhode Island, last year featured 17,691 male participants spread over 589 teams. That represents an increase of 470 participants over the 2015-16 school year. Of note, football featured a one-year increase of 48 more participants between 2015-16 and 2016-17.
In girls’ sports, Rhode Island in 2016-17 saw 12,053 participants among 492 teams – a decrease of 338 from the previous school year.
Between male and female participants, Rhode Island saw an increase of 132 student-athletes in 2016-17.
• A co-op wrestling team featuring Tolman, Central Falls, and Shea was unanimously approved. All signs point to Tolman serving as the base school, though most of the practices will take place at Central Falls.