Important vote; Initial 2013-15 division placement drafts
October 17, 2012 by Jose Garcia, AZPreps365
The Arizona Interscholastic Association’s executive board will make its first big decision on Monday that’ll help shape the next two-year scheduling block for Arizona's high school sports teams.
During Monday’s executive board meeting, the board will vote on whether to accept a computer scheduling committee proposal as is or with some modifications. Having fewer schools in sections is in the proposal and is expected to pass.
But one of the proposal’s recommendations might not go over well with the coaches if it passes. The computer scheduling committee wants the state’s region chairs to schedule the freedom games for schools.
Currently, athletic directors schedule the freedom games against teams their coaches want to play. The games teams play within their division are scheduled by a computer based on the location of each school.
The AIA’s leadership is concerned that coaches and school athletic directors might lose their scheduling voice if region chairs start to schedule freedom games. There are districts, such as Deer Valley and Glendale, that don’t have region chair representation.
Another issue is that region chairs might schedule games for a school that isn’t in that region chair’s district. Some of the smaller schools in the state and private schools also might not have a region chair assigned to them.
But region chairs should continue to be allowed to mediate a scheduling conflict between schools, said Chuck Schmidt, the AIA’s associate executive director. Some of the new divisions for the next two-year scheduling block are expected to be released after Monday’s meeting.
The initial section placement for every school will be released in December. Schools will then have the chance to file an appeal to move into a different division.
In January, the board will approve the final section placements for the 2013-15 seasons. Below are the links showing the initial 2013-15 division placement drafts by sport and school and enrollment figures that will be presented to the board on Monday.
Getting to this point
The vote by the board on Monday is another step in a process that began in 2006.
That’s when the AIA began to implement a plan to reconfigure divisions and tournaments. In 2008, the AIA’s strategic plan called for a system to manage schedules and tournaments more effectively by 2013.
But the AIA is one year ahead of meeting the goals it set in 2008.
Links with initial division placement drafts for 2013-15
