It was a good day for the statewide football playoffs and high school sports in western Massachusetts on Friday.
Athletic directors from across the state voted to continue the statewide high school football tournament and also voted to keep the current structure of the MIAA sport committees during the MIAA annual general assembly meeting at the Doubletree Boston Hotel in Milford.
There were two major topics being put to a vote at the meeting, the first of which dealt with the fate of the statewide football playoff, which completed its third season of existence this past fall. The reason for the vote was because some schools were not especially happy with the current statewide system, the main argument being that it cheapened Thanksgiving Day games for schools competing in the tournament, particularly those schools that play on Thanksgiving but also meet during the playoffs. Those schools argued that they were taking a financial hit due to lower attendances on Thanksgiving. Much of the opposition came from schools in the eastern part of the state.
The proponents of keeping the statewide tournament in place argued that it was good for the sport to crown true state champions and that by keeping the statewide tournament in place, it would allow the football committee to continue to try and tweak the system in order to appease everyone.
Each of the MIAA’s 378 member schools had a vote, although only 266 showed up. The vote was a silent vote and saw 161 in favor of continuing the playoffs, and 105 opposed.
“I’m pleased with everything that happened today,” Greenfield High School athletic director and football coach Mike Kuchieski said. “I think that they will continue to try to tweak the system to make everyone as happy as possible. I’ve always been a proponent of a statewide playoff. Having coached in Florida, I saw firsthand the benefit of having true state champions.”
Franklin County Technical School athletic director and football coach Joe Gamache agreed.
“I think it’s a win for football as a sport because you still have the opportunity to crown true state champions just as they do in any other sport,” he said.
Some people also argued that because western Mass. has not done well at the state level, perhaps it would be best to return to an older format, which included playing sectional Super Bowls, as was done prior to the statewide format. But the state will introduce new divisions this fall, and the hope is that the West will be more competitive with the new alignment.
With Friday’s vote, the future of the statewide tournament will no longer be voted upon. The statewide football tournament is here to stay, although it can still be tweaked by the football committee.
“I think that especially for the western part of the state, it’s a much better system,” Athol athletic director Dave King said. “I think the sport would have taken a step backwards.”
There is more to come regarding football in western Mass. The PVIAC annual meeting takes place on Thursday and football alignments for western Mass. will be voted on. Stay tuned.
As for the other major vote taking place on Friday, the athletic directors decided that the current structure of the various sports committees in the MIAA were not in need of changing.
A proposal had been drawn up and presented earlier this year by Westford Academy’s Dan Twomey, which would have essentially given eastern Mass. the majority of the voting clout on the sport committees. Every MIAA sport has a committee, which is responsible for things such as rule changes, and decisions affecting postseason tournaments. Currently, each committee has one athletic director and one principal from each of the eight districts across the state, except for District E, which encompasses all of central Mass. and has two of each. That means that each of the four sections in the state (West, Central, North and South) each have four voting members. The catholic schools in eastern Mass. also have two votes, for a total of 18 voters on each committee.
The new proposal would have seen eastern Mass. with 11 votes, central Mass with 3 votes, and western Mass. with 3 votes, which means the eastern portion of the state would have held much of the voting power. The argument to change the current structure was that there are more schools and more athletes in the east, so they should hold more clout. The argument against changing the structure was that there are four sections in the state, and each section should be equally represented.
When it went to a vote, the final count was 119 in favor of changing, 146 opposed, and one abstention, so the current structure remains. King, who is also president of the MIAA Board of Directors, said that from Athol’s point of view, keeping the current system was in the best interest.
“I think at times it’s easy for people to lose focus on what is happening around the rest of the state,” he said. “For us, it puts us in a good position moving forward.”
Kuchieski concurred.
“It’s beneficial to western and central Mass. because we are going to get respect and have a say for what is going to happen in the committees,” he said.
Gamache said he was pleased with the vote as well, and was a little surprised.
“Honestly, I thought there was a strong possibility that it could pass,” he said. “I felt like there would be a more unified vote among the eastern Mass. schools, but there are obviously more schools that see the benefit of having equal representation.”