PENNSYLVANIA INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

DISTRICT II

 

Frank Majikes, Chairman   

Tom Jenkins, Vice Chairman   Mike Ognosky, Secretary      Frank Victor, Treasurer

Wilkes Barre AVTS              

Wayne Highlands SD Montrose Area SD Valley Middle School

P. O. Box 1699                       

474 Grove Street 80 High School Road 100 Rock Glen Road

Wilkes Barre, Pa.  18705     

Honesdale, Pa.  18431 Montrose, Pa.  18801 Sugarloaf, Pa.  18249

570-822-4131                         

570-253-4661 570-278-6298 570-788-6081

 

OCTOBER, 2003 DISTRICT II NEWSLETTER

 

ITEMS THAT NEED TO BE COMPLETED BY ATHLETIC DIRECTOR/PRINCIPALS:

 

1.  Did you know that the committee meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month?  If you check the web page by the next Monday the newsletter will most likely be there.  Next meeting is scheduled for November 12th.  Beginning with this month I will no longer mail the newsletter – it will simply be placed on line at the web site address:  www.piaad2.org – thanks!

 

2.  The annual Business meeting and Banquet will be held in April.  This year the business meeting will begin at 4:00 p.m. and the Banquet will follow at 6:30 p.m.  Please note the change in time – last year we ran into a bit of a time crunch so there will be a 2 ˝ hour difference rather than the 2 hours of last year.

 

3.  The football point totals and standings are now updated on the web page weekly.  The information will be available by Monday afternoon.  Just go to the website and go to Sports, then Football and follow the directions on the page.

 

4.  Very shortly you will begin to see the different championship formats on the web page as well.   I have asked all of the sports chairs’ to either send the information directly to the webmaster or to me and I will send them on.   We will also work diligently at getting the championship results up as well.

 

5.  The PIAA Baseball and Softball steering committees have recommended to the Board that the number of allowable contests be increased from 20 games to 24 games.  Please discuss this proposal with your coaches and don’t hesitate to contact a committee member with your feelings.

 

6.  There has been a change in the NCAA core course requirements – please take note and be sure that your guidance personnel are aware of those changes.  The requirements for those student-athletes enrolling at a Division 2 or 3 program have increased by one, from 13 to 14.  That increase must be in English, Math, Natural/Physical Science, Social Studies, Foreign Language, Philosophy or nondoctrinal Religion.  The requirement for a student-athlete enrolling in a Division 1 program has increased from 14 to 16 core courses.  One of those courses must be in Math while the other can be in any of the major areas listed for Division 2 and 3 schools.

 

POINTS OF INFORMATION:

 

1.  Welcome to Rose Marie Crotti to the District II Committee as the Womens’ Sports Representative.  Rose Marie will serve as the Girls’ Tennis chairperson and work with a number of committee members at this fall’s championships. 

 

2.  As you know, currently a sports’ official who is convicted of, or who pleads guilty or no contest to, aggravated assault, a drug related offense, or a sex related offense receives a lifetime ban from the PIAA.  There is a proposed revision that calls for the official to have a right of reinstatement appeal following a three year suspension of their license.

 

3.  At our last meeting Frank Galicki, sportsmanship chairperson, reviewed the status of our fall ejections:

 

            Soccer                         12 players                    7 coaches                     19 total

            Football                          2 players                    0 coaches                       2 total

            Field Hockey                  0 players                    1 coach                          1 total

 

Statewide, there have been 254 soccer ejections as of October 4th.  Given those numbers, there has been an increased emphasis on sportsmanship and many districts have now developed procedures that add to the penalty of the next game suspension given by the PIAA.  If you go to www.masd.info you can see the policy of the Montrose Area School District simply be clicking on the Athletic Manual icon on the front page.  At Montrose an athlete, coach or spectator ejected from a contest by an official, police or school authority receives an additional one week suspension.  Check it out!

 

4.  Our most recent audit of the District II books has just been completed and the District passed with flying colors – not one major recommendation for change.  Congratulations to Frank Victor, District II Treasurer, for his excellent leadership in that area.

 

5.  There is a first reading before the PIAA to allow a member school to request the rescheduling of a district or inter-district game based on the fact that it is in conflict with a major religious holiday.  The procedure allows for the request to be acted upon by either the District Chairperson (District games) or PIAA Executive Director (Inter-district games).

 

6.  Did you ever wonder how the PIAA decides on the location of inter-district games.  First round contests should be scheduled in proximity to the higher seeded team (that is why our district champions get a game in our location on most occasions).  In succeeding rounds the PIAA Executive Director is asked to use a geographical location that is as close to equidistant as possible for the two schools.  The Executive Director does have the right to use his discretion when making site determinations but should, and most usually does, use the guidelines listed above.

 

7.  The new football brackets have been released and they call for the sliding of districts out of the east and west and into the other bracket in three instances.  In AAAA, District 3 will move from the east to the west; in AAA, District 4 moves from the east to the west; and, in A, District 6 moves from the west to the east.  This was a first reading – please forward your opinion to a member of the committee.

 

8.  The first district champions have already been crowned and many more will be decided in the next few weeks.  If you have not received formats for the fall championships contact the following chairperson:

 

                                    Cross Country              Bill King

                                    Field Hockey                Tom Finan

                                    Football                        Tom Jenkins

                                    Soccer                         Ray Lowery

                                    Tennis                          Rose Marie Crotti

                                    Volleyball                     Maureen Williams

                                   

 

 

Yours in sports, 

 

Mike Ognosky

District II Secretary