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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 School Dist        Hazleton Area SD

P. O. Box 1699                           474 Grove Street                             80 High School Road                   1515 West 23rd Street

Wilkes Barre, Pa.  18705          Honesdale, Pa.  18431                    Montrose, Pa.  18801                   Hazleton, Pa.  18201

570-822-4131                              570-253-4661                                   570-278-6298                                570-459-3111 ext. 3101

 

MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 3, 2004 MEETING

@ BISHOP HOBAN HIGH SCHOOL

 

Meeting was convened at 4:20 p.m. by Chairman Majikes

 

ITEM 1           Chairman Majikes called the meeting to order at 4:20 p.m. 

 

                        Absent but accounted for:  Don Rogers, Rose Marie Crotti, Dan Donovan, Don Kanavy, Marty Lawler and Phil Cappellini

 

                        Advisors Present:  Dolores Dalickas

 

ITEM 2           Chairman Majikes announced to the committee that congratulations are in order to Frank Galicki in his recent appointment to the Assistant Superintendent position in the Dallas Area School District.

 

ITEM 3           A motion was made by Maureen Williams, seconded by Bob Okrasinski, to approve the minutes of the October 6, 2004 meeting.  All Ayes

 

ITEM 4           Frank Victor presented the Treasurer’s Report.  He reported a current fund balance (as of November 3, 2004) of $115,664.82.  Frank explained that this is the same fund balance as reported last month as there is very little activity prior to the reports and financial statements coming in for the various Fall Championships.

                        A motion was made by Joe Lalli, seconded by Ray Lowery, to approve the treasurer’s report as submitted.  All Ayes  

 

ITEM 5           SPORTS REPORTS:

 

                        a.) Field Hockey (Tom Finan):  Tom announced that the District Championships will be held this evening at Lake-Lehman High School.  He also announced that tonight’s winners will host first round state playoff games next Tuesday evening at a location in District II.

                        b.) Cross Country (Bill King):  Bill praised the efforts of all that assisted with the very successful district championships held in the past week.  He explained that at this year’s championships, chips were placed in one of the runner’s shoes in order to assist with the timing of the event.  In a coaches’ meeting prior to the event, it was decided that spotters would be placed at the finish line and would assist in the calling of close finishes by utilizing the torso of the runner.  This is exactly the technique utilized at the state championships.  Those calls were compared to the ‘chip’ finishes and in only a few occasions were placements reversed.

                        c.) Football (Tom Jenkins):  Tom announced that the seeding meeting will be held on Monday, November 8th at noon at the Victoria Inn in Pittston.  District II will possibly host 5 games next weekend including the “A” Championship, “AA” semifinals, “AAA” sub regional semifinal and a “AAAA” sub regional quarterfinal. 

                        d.) Soccer (Ray Lowery):  Ray announced that the girls’ district final is this evening while the boys’ finals are tomorrow night.  If the boys’ games are postponed due to the weather the rain date will be Saturday.  A decision on Thursday’s games will be made by 1 o’clock in the afternoon.  Our three champions will host state first round games next Tuesday.  Chairman Majikes read a letter from Dennis Mishko, Head Coach at Abington Heights, regarding the delay in the start of the “AAA” semifinal game at Scranton High School on Monday, November 1st due to the completion of a Junior High Football game on that field.  Game time was pushed back from 6:00 to 6:08 and the field warm up was started at 5:37 rather than 5:30.

                        e.) Tennis (Rose Marie Crotti):  Chairman Majikes praised all of those that pitched in during the tennis championships this fall.  He thanked Jerry Fulmer, Bob Coleman, Bob McDermott and Glen Moskosky for their help and assistance.  He also thanked Joe Lalli and Maureen Williams for their expert guidance during the tournament.

                        f.) Volleyball (Maureen Williams): Maureen announced that the Volleyball finals will be held on Thursday, November 4th at Coughlin High School starting with the “A” final at 5 p.m.  She also announced that the district will host a first round state playoff game on November 9th at Tunkhannock.

 

ITEM 6           Chairman Majikes asked that all committee members continue their diligence in providing sports information (playoff brackets, news, tournament formats) to either Mike Ognosky or Mark Heckel in order to get up to date information on the web page.  Information was distributed to committee members providing avenues of communication (e-mail addresses, FAX numbers, etc.) for that purpose. 

 

ITEM 7           Chairman Majikes distributed information to committee members regarding an issue in District I on hazing within various football programs and the resulting investigations. 

 

ITEM 8           The Fall Sports Chairpersons’ State Workshop Level schedule was announced as follows:

 

                        Field Hockey              Sat, November 20th (3 p.m.)                Tom Finan

                        Cross Country             Wed, December 15th (10 a.m.)            Bill King

                        Soccer                         Wed, December 15th (Noon)               Ray Lowery

                        Football                       Wed, December 15th (2 p.m.)              Tom Jenkins

 

ITEM 9           The Committee reviewed applications for the vacant position on the District II Committee with the retirement of Marty Lawler.  Following a lengthy discussion, a motion was made by Tom Finan, seconded by Bill King, to appoint Tony Rusnak, Principal of Forest City Regional, to the position.  All Ayes

                       

ITEM 10         Chairman Majikes provided information to the committee regarding the current probationary status of Sto-Rox and Trinity.  If you recall, both schools were placed on probation two years ago for the fighting incident in the state “AA” Boys basketball game. 

 

ITEM 11         Frank Galicki, Sportsmanship Chairperson, provided the committee with the list of fall ejections.  23 member schools of District II have received ejections from fall sports contests, including the ejection of four coaches.

 

ITEM 12         Chairman Majikes once again brought the request from the Wyoming Valley Conference for a fall district championship in junior high soccer.  The committee continues to have questions of the make up of the teams (are they all co-ed, for example).  The motion was tabled until all of that information can be determined.

 

ITEM 13         Chairman Majikes reported the feedback received regarding Competitive Cheerleading as a sport.  The Wyoming Valley Conference has reported that they are against such an initiative while no feedback has been determined from the Lackawanna League at this time. 

 

ITEM 14         Chairman Majikes reported a complaint from the parent of a member school regarding the distribution of medals at the medal ceremony for the Golf Team Championships.  Chairman Majikes will review the concern with the Golf Tournament Chairperson and report back to the parent.

 

ITEM 15         Tom Jenkins, Football Chairperson, led a discussion regarding ticket prices for this year’s district and sub regional championships.  After a lengthy discussion, a motion was made by Bill King, seconded by Frank Galicki, that the ticket prices for all events hosted by District II at the district and sub regional level would carry a ticket price of $5 for adults and $3 for students, both during pre-sales and at the gate.  All Ayes

 

                        Tom also announced that each championship team, as well as the 2nd place team, would be provided 50 medals for distribution and additional medals would be available at an individual cost to the member school upon request.

 

                        Tom provided a point total summary, through week 9, for both District II and the sub regional areas that include Districts 1,2,4 and 11.

 

                        Finally, Tom led a discussion on the proposal by District VII to conduct a 16 week football schedule that would begin on the second Monday of August.  District VII will propose that format for consideration at the next PIAA State Committee meeting.

 

ITEM 16         Jim Higgins, Swimming Chairperson, led a discussion regarding an increase in medal awards at the District Swimming Championships from 6 to 8 for each event.  Jim will conduct a meeting of the swim coaches in order to get their feedback and submit a proposal for consideration at the December 15th monthly District II Committee meeting.

 

ITEM 17         Chairman Majikes presented a request to the committee from Abington Heights for reclassification in boys’ and girls’ Volleyball for the 2005-2006 school year from “AA” to “AAA”.  After a lengthy discussion, a motion was made by Ross Scarantino, seconded by Bob Okrasinski, to deny the request.  All Ayes

 

ITEM 18         Chairman Majikes reviewed a communication from the PIAA State Office to the Superintendent of the Karns City School District regarding the history of the inclusion of private schools in the PIAA.            

 

ITEM 19         Chairman Majikes announced that a special hearing has been established to review the Wyoming Valley West – Dallas situation next Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Wilkes-Barre Area Vocational-Technical School.

 

ITEM 20         Chairman Majikes recognized and congratulated Walter Blejwas, Jr. and Kathleen Goeringer for their years of service and dedication to the PIAA as officials.  Both were honored at this year’s PIAA Officials Convention.

 

ITEM 21         Chairman Majikes presented the committee with information regarding eligibility concerns in District XI and the suspension of a girls’ basketball coach for recruiting prospective student-athletes in District VII.

 

ITEM 22         A motion was made by Tom Jenkins, seconded by Bill King, to grant eligibility to Donald Morningstar, from Wilkes-Barre GAR to Wilkes-Barre Meyers, in accordance with Article VI, Transfers and Residence, Section 8, of the PIAA By-Laws, principal – to – principal sign off.  All paperwork has been received and is in order.  All Ayes

 

ITEM 23         A motion was made by Jim Sabatini, seconded by Jim Higgins, to adjourn the meeting.  All Ayes

 

 

Meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Mike Ognosky

 

 

Mike Ognosky

District II Secretary