Meeting was convened at 4:15 p.m. by Chairman Majikes.
ITEM 1 Chairman Majikes called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m.
Absent but accounted for: John Haas, Bill King, and Chad Vinansky.
ITEM 2 A motion was made by Bill Schoen, seconded by Pat Patte, to approve the minutes of the February 28, 2018 meeting as submitted. All Ayes
ITEM 3 Pat Patte, District II Treasurer, reported that all checks are out for the District II Winter Championships He then presented the Treasurer’s Reports for February and March. The February report showed a total fund balance of $316,625.20 and the March report showed a total fund balance of $251,492.74. Pat explained that the March report does not yet reflect the income received from the District Basketball and District Swimming championships. Following the report a motion was made by Tim Hopkins, seconded by Jay Starnes, to approve the report as submitted. All Ayes
Pat then reviewed the revenue portion of the Basketball championships, specifically the shares to be paid out to each of the participating schools. Following that presentation, a motion was made by Tim Hopkins, seconded by Ben Tolerico, to approve the distribution of shares to member schools at the Annual Business Meeting on April 18, 2018. All Ayes
ITEM 4 SPORTS REPORTS:
· Baseball (Frank Majikes): Frank Majikes explained that the Baseball Committee had met and put together the tentative format for this year’s Baseball Championships. A meeting is scheduled with District XI on April 24th at which time the 1A subregional format will be completed. A motion was made by Joe Farrell, seconded by Brian Durkin, to approve the format as discussed. All Ayes The format will be distributed to member schools and placed on the website.
· Basketball (Frank Majikes): Chairman Majikes reported that all went well with the District Championships and thanked all committee members who helped out covering games. One issue that needs to be addressed is the media seating area at the Championships at the Arena. Frank also congratulated Abington Heights, the 2018 PIAA State Champion in AAAAA Boys’ Basketball.
· Lacrosse (Tim Hopkins): Tim Hopkins distributed the proposed format for the 2018 District II Lacrosse Championships and explained the same procedures will be in place as was the case in last year’s championships. The Championships are scheduled to begin on May 14th for Boys and May 16th for Girls. Following the presentation, a motion was made by Brian Durkin, seconded by Mary Ruth Tanner, to approve the format as presented. All Ayes
The format will now be distributed to member schools and placed on the webpage.
· Softball (Pat Patte): Pat Patte explained that preparations have started for the 2018 District II Softball Championships. The Softball Committee recently met and put together the tentative format. District II and District XI will be meeting on April 24th at which time the 1A and 5A subregional format will be finalized. A motion wasmade by Bill Schoen, seconded by John Coyle, to approve the format as discussed. All Ayes The format will be distributed to all schools and placed on the website.
· Tennis (Bill Schoen & John Coyle): John Coyle presented the format for the 2018 District II Boys Tennis Championships and reviewed it with the committee. A motion was made by Mary Ruth Tanner, seconded by Ron Collins, to approve the format. All Ayes. The format will now be distributed to member schools and placed on the webpage.
· Volleyball (Maureen Williams): Maureen Williams presented the format for the 2018 District II Boys Volleyball Championships and reviewed it with the committee. A motion was made by Eric Emmerich, seconded by Pat Patte, to approve the format. All Ayes. The format will be sent out to the Athletic Directors and placed on the webpage.
· Track & Field (John Coyle): John Coyle explained that the 2018 Track and Field Championships will be held at Scranton High School. The AAA Championships will be held on Monday, May 14th and the AA Championships will be held on Tuesday, May 15th. May 16th will be utilized as a rain date. The 2018 Qualifying Standards and 2018 Entry Posting Information has been distributed to Athletic Directors and is on the webpage. The Championship format will remain as in place from last year and will be distributed to schools in the near future. A motion was made by Bill Schoen, seconded by Ron Collins, to approve the format as presented. All Ayes
· Wrestling (Jay Starnes): Jay Starnes reported on the recently held State Wrestling Steering Committee meeting held at the PIAA State Offices. He reported that the PIAA will maintain the current 20 person brackets per weight class in the State Individual Championships for the next two years. He also congratulated Willie Evanitsky of Scranton on his PIAA State Championship in the AAA 152 pound class.
· Swimming and Diving (Fred Barletta): Fred Barletta reported on the recently held State Swimming and Diving Steering Committee meeting held at the PIAA State Offices. He asked for feedback on the State proposal to increase the entry in the relays for the state championships from the current 24 teams to 36 teams. The committee members present shared their thoughts on the issue.
· Officials (Bill Schoen & Maureen Williams): Maureen & Bill reported that they attended a meeting of the State Male and Female Officials’ Representatives from all 12 PIAA Districts recently. Bill explained to the group that they were updated on a number of potential legal issues regarding PIAA Officials. Frank Majikes commented that a number of those issues will be updated at next week’s Business Meeting as PIAA State Staff personnel will be on hand to offer their insight on those issues to our member schools.
ITEM 5 The Committee had a lengthy discussion regarding the playoff structure in all sports for the next two year cycle, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. At the conclusion of that discussion that following motion was presented for action –
A motion was made by Chris Gegaris, seconded by Maureen Williams, as follows:
· The power rating system will be utilized to determine seeding in all District II team tournaments, with the exception of Boys & Girls Tennis, Golf, and Wrestling. In those three sports, league winning percentage will continue to determine seeding in the team championships.
· In classifications in all sports in which there are 8 or less member schools in that classification, all of those teams will be eligible for the district tournament.
· In classifications in all sports in which there are more than 8 members, the top 8 qualifiers, as determined by the power rating system, will be eligible for the district tournament.
· In classifications in all sports in which there are more than 8 members, any other school that has an overall winning percentage of .500 or better will also be eligible for the district tournament.
· In those championships in which we are combined with another district to form a subregional, we will continue to meet on a sport by sport basis with the other district involved in the subregional and develop a format that is agreed upon by both districts.
All Ayes
ITEM 6 A motion was made by Brian Durkin, seconded by Ben Tolerico, to
approve the immediate eligibility of Joseph Boler, Wyoming Valley West
to Wyoming Area, in accordance with Article VI, Transfers, Residence,
and Recruiting, principal to principal sign off, of the PIAA By-Laws. All
Ayes
ITEM 7 A motion was made by Bill Schoen, seconded by Eric Emmerich
to approve the immediate eligibility of Angelica Dore, Italy to
Wallenpaupack, and Victorio Sibeiro, Brazil to Wallenpaupack, in accordance with Article VII of the PIAA By-Laws, Foreign Exchange Students. All Ayes
ITEM 8 Jay Starnes explained that we had a situation occur during this past wrestling season in which a member school, competing in an out of district tournament, had one of their competitors wrestle what was considered to be an “exhibition” match. Jay explained that member schools need to be cautioned against this practice. Once the first PIAA play date for wrestling has occurred, any matches wrestled must be classified as either a Junior Varsity or Varsity match. You are not allowed to have an “exhibition” match following the first legal play date.
ITEM 9 Chairman Majikes reviewed with the committee a situation reported to his office following the recently completed District II Swimming Championships at the Wilkes-Barre CYC. Chairman Majikes has been in contacted with the parties who reported the incident to him and has offered them the opportunity to review the materials he has reviewed in determining the specifics of the incident. He will report back to the committee in a future meeting with an update.
ITEM 10 Chairman Majikes updated the committee on a recent article in the Citizens Voice regarding the weather situation and the spring sports. In the article, a coach of a member school is quoted as having his team participate in “games” prior to the first legal play date. In discussions with the member school, they related that the “games” were merely scrimmages. Mr. Majikes cautions member schools in begin mindful of the first legal scrimmage/practice dates versus the first legal play dates and to put your schedules together accordingly so as to not endanger any potential concerns.
ITEM 11 Chairman Majikes provided the committee with an update on the most recent PIAA Board of Directors meeting conducted on March 26, 2018 at the Basketball Championships in Hershey. The complete summary of the meeting is located on the District II webpage. Chairman Majikes highlighted the following:
· On a third reading, it was voted to amend the Article VI, Transfers, of the PIAA By-Laws, effective April 1, 2018, to include a new provision barring a student transferring after a season has begun from further participation during that season if that student was eligible and available to participate in 50 % of the number of PIAA maximum number of competitions per sport.
· Approved accelerating the applicable date of an amendment to Article VI, Transfers, to April 1, 2018. This amendment provided for a 21 day sit-out following a Transfer, and was previously approved to be applicable effective July 1, 2018.
· Accepted, on a first reading basis, a recommendation to adopt a policy to provide for an exception to the NFHS contest rules to address religious headwear and referred this policy proposal for further review to the winter sport steering committees of basketball, competitive spirit, wrestling and swimming and diving to discuss safety and competitive issues with headgear and full body attire requests.
· Approved, on a first reading, a proposal to amend Postgame Policy Regarding Spectators Entering the Competition Surface, to prohibit players/coachers from teams from leaving the competition areas and rushing into the stands to celebrate with their fans after winning a contest.
ITEM 12 Chairman Majikes reported that all of the disqualification reports from the winter sports have been received from the member schools who were required to complete those forms.
ITEM 13 A copy of the program for next week’s Annual Business Meeting was distributed and reviewed by the committee members.
ITEM 14 Reminder that the Annual Business Meeting is set for Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at Arcaro & Genell’s in Old Forge. Committee members who wish to assist in the set up of the banquet room are asked to report to Arcaro & Genell’s next Tuesday evening at 7 p.m.
ITEM 15 A motion was made by Joe Farrell, seconded by Ron Collins, to adjourn the meeting. All Ayes
Meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Mike Ognosky
Mike Ognosky
District II Secretary