TMC punts on making winter tourney decisions
COVID-19 Task Force receives modifications for low- and moderate-risk sports
For now, the rest of the MIAA Tournament schedule is on as planned.
On Thursday morning, the MIAA Tournament Management Committee met for the first time since the Board of Directors created a four-season structure for the 2020-21 athletic calendar and elected to hold off on making decisions for postseason play with regards to the winter season.
The Board of Directors canceled all fall MIAA tournaments at its meeting last week. Sherry Bryant, liaison of the TMC, made clear during Thursday’s meeting that while there will be no sanctioned MIAA fall tournaments, individual leagues and regions have the opportunity to craft their own postseason plans.
The group unanimously decided, however, to hold off on making any plans for the rest of the other three seasons as it pertains to tournament play. Both Bryant and Westborough Athletic Director Johanna DiCarlo expressed a desire to have winter tournaments if it’s feasible and within the updated Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) guidelines which are expected to be released toward the end of October.
dditionally, due to the ongoing work that athletic directors and school administrators are doing to get schools and athletics back up and running, the TMC unanimously agreed to hold off on releasing new alignments set to begin in the fall of 2021 until Oct. 1.
The TMC is slated to meet again on Sept. 24. In other MIAA matters the COVID-19 Task Force chaired by Duxbury athletic director Thom Holdgate and St. John’s Prep principal Keith Crowley received modifications from the MIAA Sport Committees that represent each of the low- and moderate-risk sports slated to compete this fall.
These modifications have to be approved by the MIAA Board of Directors on Sept. 1 and be in
accordance with EEA guidelines. Should they be approved, schools will have 17 days until the start of fall sports on Sept. 18 to get an understanding of how to implement them.
While the exact modifications across each of the fall sports — golf, cross country, girls volleyball, swimming, soccer, and field hockey — are not yet entirely known they are expected to be exhaustive and specific. Soccer modifications are expected to include no throwins, no corner kicks, no defensive walls, and all players while participating must wear masks.
A handful of conferences including the Hockomock League have already announced intentions to push girls volleyball back to the floating ‘fall II’ season set to begin on Feb. 22.