Emails

Emails -- we get emails.

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.

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.

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.