Coach McCormick
IHSWCA Board Members
Semi-State Qualifier
Cool Points: 10
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Posts: 189
Re: Team State Debate
? Reply #7 on: October 11, 2010, 04:39:01 PM ? Quote
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I certainly agree with most everything that has been brought up on this thread regarding Team State. The reality is that the IHSAA has already made up their mind. I base this comment on conversations I have had with administrators who have recently attended IHSAA regional meetings across Indiana. The IHSAA has handed out a spread sheet which documents the decline in revenue (and interest) in our Team State format. The last e-mail that I saw from the IHSAA several days ago said, "2010-11 will be the last year for the Team State. The new format will go into affect 2011-12."
There are several variables that must be considered on this topic, and I don't think we will ever get all parties involved to agree on one solution. I truly believe that if the Team State Duals series were "classed"; we would see an explosion of excitement, increased revenue and increased interest in our duals series. As mentioned in another post, the current Team State series is really a race between about 6 schools year in and year out. All you need to do is look at the results since the inception of this event to support this statement. Again, as mentioned earlier, someone said, "the same set of schools vie for the 5A football title every year." The difference is that there are 4 other classes where there is tremendous excitement and many, many schools get a shot at winning the 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A football titles each year. The classed football system works as it offers hope and equitable opportunity for schools of all sizes across our state.
There are a number of other variables that will impact our sport in the near future. Things such as increased budget cuts, more lay coaches, the cutting of middle school wrestling programs are just a few that come to mind. I am not going to say that any one person is wrong for the way they feel about our post season structure. I see some value in everyone's comments. I, personally, have seen this topic from many angles too. I was part of Delta's 1985 team state title when we won it with 3 placers (a 1st, 3rd and 4th). I have been a varsity coach for 22 years with 18 of those as a lay coach. I, and my coaching staff, work 365 days a year to keep our dreams alive of winning a team title some day. Wrestling in the Team State finals was a great experience this past season, but with 700 students in our school, I can tell you right up front that achieving this feat on a regular basis will be difficult as we just don't have the numbers to "reload" every year like bigger schools.
In the end the tournament is "owned" by the IHSAA. They don't seem to care what those in the trenches have to say on the matter. I wish our state AD association would step up and take more of a stand on issues of this nature, but it seems to me that the IHSAA has a "checks and balances" system that, let's just say, favors the IHSAA's decisions at the end of every meeting.
I have had some great conversations of late with coaches about other "controllables" in our sport. I would also like to point out that Cale Hoover has done a nice job of walking the tight rope with regard to the IHSAA during his tenure as president of the IHSWCA. He is not to blame for the direction in which our post season tournament is headed. The IHSWCA officers have made presentations and suggestions to the IHSAA, but again, in the end the IHSAA has the final say so. As the next president of our coaches' association, I plan to focus on the "controllables" in an attempt to strengthen wrestling in Indiana as a whole.