We've already has one fight this season - which is one too many. Fighting has no place in interscholastic sports which is why the MSHL reserves its harshest penalties for those who do fight.
How do we eliminate fighting? Simple. It takes an act of will by the student-athlete to say to him/herself, "I will not fight." That's it. If you ingrain it into your conscience that the ice rink is not the time nor the place to settle your differences by punching your opponent, then there will be no more fights.
It's not the ref's job to prevent a fight from starting, nor is it the parent(s) in the stands, nor the coach. The responsibility falls on the players.
So next time the adreniline starts rushing through the veins, take a deep breath and get even in the traditional way -- on the scoreboard.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Game Counts
There are many differences between High School sports and youth sports. One of them is that high school sports is an extension of the classroom. To that end, rules are set up by the various governing bodies to prevent one side or the other from exerting too much influence over the student. That's why all high school sports have competition limits for a season and for a given week.
Let's look at game limits for a minute. Let me work backwards
MSHL (MPSSAA Basketball) -- 22 games before the tournament
NCAA Divsion III - 25 games before the tournaments
NCAA Division I - 34 games before the tournaments
USA Junior - 40 - 54
USA Youth - unlimited to the extent of budgets.
The MPSSAA says that you can play 3 games in a week (Monday - Saturday) TWICE in a season and that an in-season tournament must happen when schools are not in session.
The MSHL has roughly a 10 week window to play league games and 2 more weeks of pre-season time. That means if a school wishes to play a full 22 game schedule, they have to play 1.8 games per week. Throw in a week of exams, and the number gets to 2 games / week, which fits nicely into the MPSSAA guidelines.
Why all the restrictions? We're trying to strike a balance between academics and extracurricular activities where one is not more important than the other, but each complements the other. "All work and no play make Johnny a dull boy." is the old adage. We want our students to have time for academics and sports, which is why we should not overload the extracurricular at the expense of the curricular (and vice versa).
A coach is a teacher and the practice is where his/her knowledge of the sport is conveyed to the players (students). The game is where he/she finds out how well his/her players absorbed the concepts taught in practice. Any coach can proctor an exam, I mean supervise a bench during a game, but the special ones are those who take raw talent and make it better by school's end.
So why my fuss about game counts? If you treat a game as an examination of what you have learned in practice, then you can see the concern. Imagine a teacher who scheduled 5 tests in 5 days (Monday - Friday). As a parent, would you say anything? You should. First, the teacher is not teaching. The students are learning the subject by examination and the teacher can get lazy. We pay our teachers to teach, not to proctor exams, though that is part of their duties.
Let's look at game limits for a minute. Let me work backwards
MSHL (MPSSAA Basketball) -- 22 games before the tournament
NCAA Divsion III - 25 games before the tournaments
NCAA Division I - 34 games before the tournaments
USA Junior - 40 - 54
USA Youth - unlimited to the extent of budgets.
The MPSSAA says that you can play 3 games in a week (Monday - Saturday) TWICE in a season and that an in-season tournament must happen when schools are not in session.
The MSHL has roughly a 10 week window to play league games and 2 more weeks of pre-season time. That means if a school wishes to play a full 22 game schedule, they have to play 1.8 games per week. Throw in a week of exams, and the number gets to 2 games / week, which fits nicely into the MPSSAA guidelines.
Why all the restrictions? We're trying to strike a balance between academics and extracurricular activities where one is not more important than the other, but each complements the other. "All work and no play make Johnny a dull boy." is the old adage. We want our students to have time for academics and sports, which is why we should not overload the extracurricular at the expense of the curricular (and vice versa).
A coach is a teacher and the practice is where his/her knowledge of the sport is conveyed to the players (students). The game is where he/she finds out how well his/her players absorbed the concepts taught in practice. Any coach can proctor an exam, I mean supervise a bench during a game, but the special ones are those who take raw talent and make it better by school's end.
So why my fuss about game counts? If you treat a game as an examination of what you have learned in practice, then you can see the concern. Imagine a teacher who scheduled 5 tests in 5 days (Monday - Friday). As a parent, would you say anything? You should. First, the teacher is not teaching. The students are learning the subject by examination and the teacher can get lazy. We pay our teachers to teach, not to proctor exams, though that is part of their duties.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Hockey on Campus
OK, I confess, I am a college hockey geek. I saw my first college hockey games at Madison Square Garden in 1972 watching the ECAC Holiday Hockey tournament. Those first games?
In the consolation round: Clarkson vs St. Lawrence and in the championship it was St. Louis vs. Notre Dame. I was planning on going to Clarkson the following fall and I was interested to see what college hockey was all about. CCT beat SLU and ND beat St. Louis, and I was hooked.
This love affair with college hockey is now 38 years old and I am pleased to find other college hockey geeks through US College Hockey Online (www.uscho.com) and the meets and greets at the Frozen Four. It is a fun group and yes, a bit geeky, but we all love our schools, even though Clarkson will never make the NCAA Divsion I finals again. Plus, there are a bunch of us in the MSHL.
So now I find a new resource - Hockey on Campus (www.hockeyoncampus.com) which is an internet radio show devoted to college hockey. Last night was the first broadcast and they archive them as well for later listening. Yesterday they interviewed the college hockey conference commissioners and mens and womens college coaches. The focus was all on D-1, but I hope they do focus on D-III in later shows as I have a financial interest in D-III hockey.
So, if you have any interest in college hockey, every Wednesday night at 7 PM the show is live. Apparently, you can tweet or email the show, too!
In the consolation round: Clarkson vs St. Lawrence and in the championship it was St. Louis vs. Notre Dame. I was planning on going to Clarkson the following fall and I was interested to see what college hockey was all about. CCT beat SLU and ND beat St. Louis, and I was hooked.
This love affair with college hockey is now 38 years old and I am pleased to find other college hockey geeks through US College Hockey Online (www.uscho.com) and the meets and greets at the Frozen Four. It is a fun group and yes, a bit geeky, but we all love our schools, even though Clarkson will never make the NCAA Divsion I finals again. Plus, there are a bunch of us in the MSHL.
So now I find a new resource - Hockey on Campus (www.hockeyoncampus.com) which is an internet radio show devoted to college hockey. Last night was the first broadcast and they archive them as well for later listening. Yesterday they interviewed the college hockey conference commissioners and mens and womens college coaches. The focus was all on D-1, but I hope they do focus on D-III in later shows as I have a financial interest in D-III hockey.
So, if you have any interest in college hockey, every Wednesday night at 7 PM the show is live. Apparently, you can tweet or email the show, too!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Bob Otte
Bob Otte sent me an email on Sunday afternoon announcing that he had to resign as Rules Interpreter of the MSHL. Bob has been taking more and more responsibilites with USA Hockey plus, his new job at his old place with a new employer that actually had him working more hours now then before he retired!!
Bob is a voice of reason. He and I knocked heads a few times over some rule interpretation or another, but it was always civil. Invariably, he was right. But in the end we both respected each others opinion.
So now another of the original 6 (or so) who founded the league has moved on. It is up to us to nurture what they began over 20 years ago so that when our successors look back they can give us the same warm kudos and we give them.
If you see Bob at an ice rink, please give him kudos for a job well done!
He will be missed.
Bob is a voice of reason. He and I knocked heads a few times over some rule interpretation or another, but it was always civil. Invariably, he was right. But in the end we both respected each others opinion.
So now another of the original 6 (or so) who founded the league has moved on. It is up to us to nurture what they began over 20 years ago so that when our successors look back they can give us the same warm kudos and we give them.
If you see Bob at an ice rink, please give him kudos for a job well done!
He will be missed.
The Referee - Coach - Player partnership
You all know the scenario. Big game, maybe late in the game or maybe not, and the official makes a call that your side does not like. Can be any level from little kids to pros and can be in any sport.
What happens next? Well if we watch TV, the camera immediately pans to the player and/or coach who goes ballistic, or the manager who comes flying out of the dugout and starts arguing with the official. Looks great on TV - great entertainment -- but it has no place in interscholastic sports!!!!!!
So what should you do??? Ask the official in a calm voice if you and he/she could discuss the call at the next break. You all know that the call is not going to change, so why take away valuable ice time arguing???? At the break, go to the end of the bench - away from the players -- and ask the official what happened. He/she will generally give you their side of the story. And that's it. End of discussion. You got the information you wanted and now its back to coaching/teaching.
Referees are not 100% perfect -- not at this level. And guess what, neither are the players and neither are the coaches. Imagine the ref in the middle of the game yelling out, "that was a horrible line change.", or "that was the worst pass I have seen in the last 6 months." You wouldn't like it, and the players would not like it. So, as my mother once said, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
Coaches coach
Players play
Officials officiate
Spectators cheer
If everyone does their assigned job, we have a great game. When we try to do more than what we have been assigned, then that is when problems arise.
As Patrick Swayze said in Road House, "Be nice."
What happens next? Well if we watch TV, the camera immediately pans to the player and/or coach who goes ballistic, or the manager who comes flying out of the dugout and starts arguing with the official. Looks great on TV - great entertainment -- but it has no place in interscholastic sports!!!!!!
So what should you do??? Ask the official in a calm voice if you and he/she could discuss the call at the next break. You all know that the call is not going to change, so why take away valuable ice time arguing???? At the break, go to the end of the bench - away from the players -- and ask the official what happened. He/she will generally give you their side of the story. And that's it. End of discussion. You got the information you wanted and now its back to coaching/teaching.
Referees are not 100% perfect -- not at this level. And guess what, neither are the players and neither are the coaches. Imagine the ref in the middle of the game yelling out, "that was a horrible line change.", or "that was the worst pass I have seen in the last 6 months." You wouldn't like it, and the players would not like it. So, as my mother once said, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
Coaches coach
Players play
Officials officiate
Spectators cheer
If everyone does their assigned job, we have a great game. When we try to do more than what we have been assigned, then that is when problems arise.
As Patrick Swayze said in Road House, "Be nice."
Monday, September 21, 2009
YAHOO
When you first think of the word Yahoo, you generally associate it with a web page or a search engine or some other part of that giant web service company out on the left coast. But, do you know what Yahoo means?
You
Always
Have
Other
Options
That's right, you always have other options. So what, in the context of the MSHL does this mean? First, there is the golden rule - what happens in the MSHL stays in the MSHL. We don't air our dirty laundry in public. Disputes are discussed internally amongst the board and, when appropriate, the membership. However, we don't go around gossiping in rinks about internal issues.
OK, enough of that. Some school has issues with a decision made by MSHL management. Could be anything ranging from a suspension to player placement, to how cold the rink is. You know what happens? Our email box gets flooded with wailing and gnashing of teeth from one or more people claiming (figuratively) that the world is going to end if their problem is not solved right now and to their satisfaction.
And that's the way it is left. They dump their problem on the league's lap and then expect the league to become Solomon and solve the problem. The trouble is, if they don't agree with the solution, the league is wrong and more emails come flooding in.
What's missing is Yahoo. OK, you have an issue. Instead of asking the league to solve it, why not present an alternative that may work for all parties, not just yourself. Be creative. If you think it is too cold for your team, don't go out and buy space heaters and blow the fuses, but maybe offer to buy the ice at an indoor rink at a time convenient to both teams. It may not be the best solution for you, but it may be the best solution for all.
So if you have an issue, don't be a complainer, be part of the solution. Just remember that when the league makes a determination it is making it with the whole league in mind, not just you. Keep that in your mind as you pound out the email to the league.
You
Always
Have
Other
Options
That's right, you always have other options. So what, in the context of the MSHL does this mean? First, there is the golden rule - what happens in the MSHL stays in the MSHL. We don't air our dirty laundry in public. Disputes are discussed internally amongst the board and, when appropriate, the membership. However, we don't go around gossiping in rinks about internal issues.
OK, enough of that. Some school has issues with a decision made by MSHL management. Could be anything ranging from a suspension to player placement, to how cold the rink is. You know what happens? Our email box gets flooded with wailing and gnashing of teeth from one or more people claiming (figuratively) that the world is going to end if their problem is not solved right now and to their satisfaction.
And that's the way it is left. They dump their problem on the league's lap and then expect the league to become Solomon and solve the problem. The trouble is, if they don't agree with the solution, the league is wrong and more emails come flooding in.
What's missing is Yahoo. OK, you have an issue. Instead of asking the league to solve it, why not present an alternative that may work for all parties, not just yourself. Be creative. If you think it is too cold for your team, don't go out and buy space heaters and blow the fuses, but maybe offer to buy the ice at an indoor rink at a time convenient to both teams. It may not be the best solution for you, but it may be the best solution for all.
So if you have an issue, don't be a complainer, be part of the solution. Just remember that when the league makes a determination it is making it with the whole league in mind, not just you. Keep that in your mind as you pound out the email to the league.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Emails
Emails -- we get emails.
High school hockey is a winter sport. This means that we follow the winter sports season, with some adjustments due to ice availablity and spring sports and youth hockey playoffs. The Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association (MPSSAA) sets the first day of winter sports practice as November 15, and the first day of competition in early December (19 days of practice later). The winter sports season ends around the middle of March. While we'd love to follow those guidelines, with the lack of ice rinks and available ice times, we can't. So here are our dates...
1st day of organized practice: 10/18/09
1st day of non-league games: 11/2/09
1st league game : 11/16/09
Last day for games for teams not involved in post season play: 2/5/10
Playoffs start: 2/8/10
Playoffs end: 2/20/10
All Star week: 2/22-26/10
Spring sports start: 3/1/10
In addition each team is limited to playing 22 games (TOTAL) between 11/2/09 and 2/5/10.
If there is a registered USA Hockey MSHL team practicing right now, then it should be brought to the attention of the league. If there are teams that exceed the game count, then that, too, should be brought to the league's attention.
High school sports is built upon trust that every one of the student-athletes, coaches, and administrators are playing within the rules. If one team, coach, or student-athlete breaks the trust, then we have a weakening of the educational system that we are part of along with the teachers and administrators in the school systems.
Sounds like a parent who is more familiar with youth hockey that high school hockey. Many youth 16U and 18U hockey teams have a high proportion of high school students on them. It may look like Great Northern High School out there, but in reality it may be the Upper Patapsco 18U AA team. Why they are practing in mid-August when the season does not start until mid October is another matter.I was called last night by a parent asking me why we were not practicing and playing tournaments like several schools to be named later in our conference. I told them as far as I understood we were supposed to follow the MPSSA rule on when we could start a winter sport. I want to follow the leagues guidance and advise my parents accordingly. Would you give me the leagues guidance on this issue, Thank you.
High school hockey is a winter sport. This means that we follow the winter sports season, with some adjustments due to ice availablity and spring sports and youth hockey playoffs. The Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association (MPSSAA) sets the first day of winter sports practice as November 15, and the first day of competition in early December (19 days of practice later). The winter sports season ends around the middle of March. While we'd love to follow those guidelines, with the lack of ice rinks and available ice times, we can't. So here are our dates...
1st day of organized practice: 10/18/09
1st day of non-league games: 11/2/09
1st league game : 11/16/09
Last day for games for teams not involved in post season play: 2/5/10
Playoffs start: 2/8/10
Playoffs end: 2/20/10
All Star week: 2/22-26/10
Spring sports start: 3/1/10
In addition each team is limited to playing 22 games (TOTAL) between 11/2/09 and 2/5/10.
If there is a registered USA Hockey MSHL team practicing right now, then it should be brought to the attention of the league. If there are teams that exceed the game count, then that, too, should be brought to the league's attention.
High school sports is built upon trust that every one of the student-athletes, coaches, and administrators are playing within the rules. If one team, coach, or student-athlete breaks the trust, then we have a weakening of the educational system that we are part of along with the teachers and administrators in the school systems.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Some ideas for next season
The off season is never truly "off" for anyone who is involved in interscholastic sports administration. There is the next season to plan, venues to reserve, schedules to get done, uniforms to order, etc.
Here are some of the plans for the MSHL
(a) Hockey Weekend Across America -- January 29 (Friday) and January 30 (Saturday)
Friday night will be rivalry night. The biggest rivalries in the state will take place that night. For example, Severna Park - South River, DeMatha - Gonzaga, Wootton - Churchill...
On Saturday there will be an NVSHL - MSHL All-Star game - our best 21 vs. their best 21. Sure some of the best will be away with travel commitements, but we should be able to find 21 student-athletes. The proceeds from the gate will benefit a local charity.
(b) The Gardens Classic (tentative)
An 8 team tournament on December 28,29, and 30. 3 games per team, one game per day. In case you're wondering how this works...
Day 1
Games 1,2,3, and 4
Day 2
Game 5 - loser game 1 vs loser game 2
Game 6 - loser game 3 vs loser game 4
Game 7 - winner game 1 vs. winner game 2
Game 8 - winner game 3 vs. winner game 4
Day 3
Game 9 - loser game 5 vs. loser game 6 (7th place)
Game 10 - winner game 5 vs. winner game 6 (5th place)
Game 11 - loser game 7 vs. loser game 8 (3rd place)
Game 12 - winner game 7 vs. winner game 8 (Championship)
They'll be a paid gate with the proceeds returned to the participating teams to offset their costs.
Here are some of the plans for the MSHL
(a) Hockey Weekend Across America -- January 29 (Friday) and January 30 (Saturday)
Friday night will be rivalry night. The biggest rivalries in the state will take place that night. For example, Severna Park - South River, DeMatha - Gonzaga, Wootton - Churchill...
On Saturday there will be an NVSHL - MSHL All-Star game - our best 21 vs. their best 21. Sure some of the best will be away with travel commitements, but we should be able to find 21 student-athletes. The proceeds from the gate will benefit a local charity.
(b) The Gardens Classic (tentative)
An 8 team tournament on December 28,29, and 30. 3 games per team, one game per day. In case you're wondering how this works...
Day 1
Games 1,2,3, and 4
Day 2
Game 5 - loser game 1 vs loser game 2
Game 6 - loser game 3 vs loser game 4
Game 7 - winner game 1 vs. winner game 2
Game 8 - winner game 3 vs. winner game 4
Day 3
Game 9 - loser game 5 vs. loser game 6 (7th place)
Game 10 - winner game 5 vs. winner game 6 (5th place)
Game 11 - loser game 7 vs. loser game 8 (3rd place)
Game 12 - winner game 7 vs. winner game 8 (Championship)
They'll be a paid gate with the proceeds returned to the participating teams to offset their costs.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Dual Sport State Champions
Later this week, South River High School will play in the Maryland State 4A/3A boys lacrosse championships. One of the student-athletes on that team is Matt Gregoire who was a member of the 06-07 MSHL State Championship squad.
This gets me wondering, how many of our student-athletes have won an MSHL championship AND another state title? I know a number of student-athletes at DeMatha did it in the late 90's early 00's with the lacrosse team, but has anyone else?
Please post a list - it would be interesting and fun to recognize multi sport athletes.
Update: South River did it! Congratulations to Matt Gregoire and the rest of the Seahawks.
This gets me wondering, how many of our student-athletes have won an MSHL championship AND another state title? I know a number of student-athletes at DeMatha did it in the late 90's early 00's with the lacrosse team, but has anyone else?
Please post a list - it would be interesting and fun to recognize multi sport athletes.
Update: South River did it! Congratulations to Matt Gregoire and the rest of the Seahawks.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Provisional Teams
Since its inception, the MSHL has encouraged the development of high school hockey. In getting a high school team off the ground, frequently it is necessary to combine student-athletes from more than one school to get sufficient numbers to form a team. The term used by the MSHL (and other high school leagues), is "Provisional Varsity".
Provisional varsity teams have all the rights and priviliges of single school teams with the exception of not being able to compete for the state championship. There is a long history behind this, but the main reason is that, in the past, teams were formed for the express purpose of winning using only students that also played on travel teams to the exclusion of students who were unskilled or low skilled hockey players.
Most coaches and teams thankfully have gotten away from that mind set. High school sports is not solely about winning. Though winning is nice, wonderful even, the purpose of high school sports is to extend the learning begun in the classroom.
The MSHL gives a three year grace period for the provisional team to make it to a single school. Some schools have made the jump, while others have not and have no forseeable change in their status. If the status quo on these long term provisional schools won't or can't change, should the MSHL bow to the new reality and see what we can do for them?
In the past few years I have been thinking about the provisional teams and how other states handle low numbers in various schools. In states where the educational system is built around towns, many states allow schools to combine, for a certain period, to get enough numbers to field a team. These co-op teams have full rights and can participate in post season play. Interestingly, it is these states where we find ice hockey as a sanctioned sport.
The other side of the coin is what we have here in Maryland. Our schools are county run. The state has determined that individual high schools are self sufficient and cannot combine with another high school to get sufficient numbers to field a team. It also takes an entire county to sponsor a sport -- an single public school cannot go at it alone. Ice hockey teams in these states are generally club sports.
So how does this affect the MSHL?
Part of our problem with the counties and the state is we have these "provisional" teams competing with our single school teams. For many at the county and state level, this gives them the impression that we're just another youth sport masquerading under a high school flag. We're most certainly not, but if one does not know what we do, the external shell could lead one to that impression.
What I would like a healthy debate on are two things:
(a) changing the name "provisional" to "co-op"
(b) having a separate co-op championship.
With a co-op program, adjacent high schools or high schools within a defined cluster, set up a three year relationship. In that time frame, any student-athlete who attends the cluster schools is eligible to play for that co-op's ice hockey team. There can be no cuts. If somebody pays, then they are allowed to participate. No student from outside the co-op can participate on this team.
What about a home schooled student? Until the State of Maryland allows home schooled students to participate in extra curricular activities, or their local private school allows home schooled students to participate in their extracurricular activities, then they cannot play in the MSHL.
How does this work? Let me give a few examples:
There is one MSHL high school program in the District of Columbia -- Wilson. Any students attending a high school in DC that does not already sponsor ice hockey as a varsity sport, would be eligible to participate on Wilson's team.
Currently there appear not to be enough students in Washington County (Hagerstown) to form a single school team. Washington County would be be the co-op team for all the high schools in that county.
Frederick County has many single school teams and a few that do not have the numbers to field a full team. Tuscarora High School is designated as the co-op program for Frederick County.
In Montgomery County, the situation is a bit more complicated with clusters and many schools that have their own hockey teams. But for example, the Northeast Cluster is composed of Blake, Paint Branch, and Springbrook High Schools. In 2008-09, Blake had sufficient numbers to form its own team, while Paint Branch and Springbrook did not. Therefore, Paint Branch and Springbrook would combine students to reach the magic number of 15. If they are below that number, then they could combine with schools in the Downcounty Cluster (Einstein, Northwood) to form a team. There are similar, well defined, clusters in Montgomery County that can combine to form a co-op team.
In Prince Georges County, for example, Roosevelt would get all the schools West of the BW Parkway and inside the Beltway. Bowie would get all the schools East of the BW Parkway and outside the Beltway.
The list goes on.... The important thing is that no kid is cut because of ability and no student from outside the boundaries may play.
Now, because co-op teams can have, for the lack of a better tern, "ringers", should they be placed in their own separate schedule or should they be integrated in their county's schedule?? Personally, I prefer their own separate division, though travel concerns could be an issue.
So what about a championship? A certain amount of teams qualify and then they play down to their own championship on Saturday afternoon (3 ish) before the boys varsity title game.
This in new. This is a radical departure from the current paridigm. Can it work? Will it work?
I invite your comments. WARNING: If the comments get off track, or degenerate into name calling, I'll turn off the comm box.
Provisional varsity teams have all the rights and priviliges of single school teams with the exception of not being able to compete for the state championship. There is a long history behind this, but the main reason is that, in the past, teams were formed for the express purpose of winning using only students that also played on travel teams to the exclusion of students who were unskilled or low skilled hockey players.
Most coaches and teams thankfully have gotten away from that mind set. High school sports is not solely about winning. Though winning is nice, wonderful even, the purpose of high school sports is to extend the learning begun in the classroom.
The MSHL gives a three year grace period for the provisional team to make it to a single school. Some schools have made the jump, while others have not and have no forseeable change in their status. If the status quo on these long term provisional schools won't or can't change, should the MSHL bow to the new reality and see what we can do for them?
In the past few years I have been thinking about the provisional teams and how other states handle low numbers in various schools. In states where the educational system is built around towns, many states allow schools to combine, for a certain period, to get enough numbers to field a team. These co-op teams have full rights and can participate in post season play. Interestingly, it is these states where we find ice hockey as a sanctioned sport.
The other side of the coin is what we have here in Maryland. Our schools are county run. The state has determined that individual high schools are self sufficient and cannot combine with another high school to get sufficient numbers to field a team. It also takes an entire county to sponsor a sport -- an single public school cannot go at it alone. Ice hockey teams in these states are generally club sports.
So how does this affect the MSHL?
Part of our problem with the counties and the state is we have these "provisional" teams competing with our single school teams. For many at the county and state level, this gives them the impression that we're just another youth sport masquerading under a high school flag. We're most certainly not, but if one does not know what we do, the external shell could lead one to that impression.
What I would like a healthy debate on are two things:
(a) changing the name "provisional" to "co-op"
(b) having a separate co-op championship.
With a co-op program, adjacent high schools or high schools within a defined cluster, set up a three year relationship. In that time frame, any student-athlete who attends the cluster schools is eligible to play for that co-op's ice hockey team. There can be no cuts. If somebody pays, then they are allowed to participate. No student from outside the co-op can participate on this team.
What about a home schooled student? Until the State of Maryland allows home schooled students to participate in extra curricular activities, or their local private school allows home schooled students to participate in their extracurricular activities, then they cannot play in the MSHL.
How does this work? Let me give a few examples:
There is one MSHL high school program in the District of Columbia -- Wilson. Any students attending a high school in DC that does not already sponsor ice hockey as a varsity sport, would be eligible to participate on Wilson's team.
Currently there appear not to be enough students in Washington County (Hagerstown) to form a single school team. Washington County would be be the co-op team for all the high schools in that county.
Frederick County has many single school teams and a few that do not have the numbers to field a full team. Tuscarora High School is designated as the co-op program for Frederick County.
In Montgomery County, the situation is a bit more complicated with clusters and many schools that have their own hockey teams. But for example, the Northeast Cluster is composed of Blake, Paint Branch, and Springbrook High Schools. In 2008-09, Blake had sufficient numbers to form its own team, while Paint Branch and Springbrook did not. Therefore, Paint Branch and Springbrook would combine students to reach the magic number of 15. If they are below that number, then they could combine with schools in the Downcounty Cluster (Einstein, Northwood) to form a team. There are similar, well defined, clusters in Montgomery County that can combine to form a co-op team.
In Prince Georges County, for example, Roosevelt would get all the schools West of the BW Parkway and inside the Beltway. Bowie would get all the schools East of the BW Parkway and outside the Beltway.
The list goes on.... The important thing is that no kid is cut because of ability and no student from outside the boundaries may play.
Now, because co-op teams can have, for the lack of a better tern, "ringers", should they be placed in their own separate schedule or should they be integrated in their county's schedule?? Personally, I prefer their own separate division, though travel concerns could be an issue.
So what about a championship? A certain amount of teams qualify and then they play down to their own championship on Saturday afternoon (3 ish) before the boys varsity title game.
This in new. This is a radical departure from the current paridigm. Can it work? Will it work?
I invite your comments. WARNING: If the comments get off track, or degenerate into name calling, I'll turn off the comm box.
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