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WIAA Board of Control meeting starts shortly. Plenty of media coverage, but I will be taking it in.
If you missed it earlier, the WIAA reps at the Wisconsin Assembly hearing told the Assembly that fall sports are not canceled, and sport-specific guidance could arrive by Friday.
If you missed it earlier, the WIAA reps at the Wisconsin Assembly hearing told the Assembly that fall sports are not canceled, and sport-specific guidance could arrive by Friday.
On the docket: auto-seeding for basketball tournaments, permanent two divisions in hockey, and girls wrestling as a sanctioned sport. Among other things. Here we go.
On girls wrestling, the sports advisory committee says that there wasn't enough participation in terms of teams to justify adding the sport. Deciding factor was level of participation in the 2-13 vote against.
Terry Slack wishes the BOC luck discussing it in their meeting.
Terry Slack wishes the BOC luck discussing it in their meeting.
Hockey proposals:
Boys: Permanent Two Divisions: Passes 10-0
Boys: same number if teams in each division: Fails 0-10 (currently 52 D1 32 D2)
Seeding: passes 10-0
Sectional Finals: fails 0-10
Overtime: passes 10-0
Boys: Permanent Two Divisions: Passes 10-0
Boys: same number if teams in each division: Fails 0-10 (currently 52 D1 32 D2)
Seeding: passes 10-0
Sectional Finals: fails 0-10
Overtime: passes 10-0
Girls wrestling is up now for discussion.
Wade Labecki details the plan for girls wrestling and how it would be integrated into the current setup.
Proposal is for next year (2020-21). Labecki says they aren't opposed to the sport, and looked to see how Kansas implemented. Bylaws state it would be a new sport in Wisc.
Proposal is for next year (2020-21). Labecki says they aren't opposed to the sport, and looked to see how Kansas implemented. Bylaws state it would be a new sport in Wisc.
Labecki says he would prefer following Kansas model. 5% of membership would have to offer it as a team sport. He says the advisory council likely looked at the bylaws as the reason for voting against it.
Dave Anderson says they absolutely would welcome the sport, but 2020-21 is not realistic.
Anderson: Adding girls wrestling as a one-off invites other sports to do the same thing, citing golf as a potential example (girls division during boys season).
He adds that eventually, girls will be better served by having their own division. His concerns are organizational.
He adds that eventually, girls will be better served by having their own division. His concerns are organizational.
Asked about 2021-2022, Anderson says there's 'a lot of road to cover' but wouldn't rule it out. Co-ops and weight classes need to be determined. Placement of the tournament is also a concern.
Labecki says Kansas had a two-year transition to girls wrestling.
Labecki says Kansas had a two-year transition to girls wrestling.
Labecki says they need to survey schools about which ones will have a girls wrestling program, since they would be adding a sport.
Coaches are proposing something different than what the bylaws allow, says Labecki. They need to gather more information before they move forward, and plan for tournament structure and location.
Now mentioned that adding any sport this year seems impractical given the state of everything. Support for the sport is there.
A jamboree is being discussed as a way for the sport to enter. Willy Chambers says that it's to be decided whether wrestling happens at all this year.
A jamboree is being discussed as a way for the sport to enter. Willy Chambers says that it's to be decided whether wrestling happens at all this year.
Labecki says the process is more of a 3 to 5 year timeline, and a lot has to be done to facilitate that. They communicated that to coaches.
He also says the sport for this year is considered high-risk for COVID19 transmission, so this season already has challenges.
He also says the sport for this year is considered high-risk for COVID19 transmission, so this season already has challenges.
Anderson: Goal for girls wrestling now is to drive participation. If there are enough teams, the WIAA could offer a jamboree, and eventually a championship. All depends on number of teams.
A couple of counterpoints made indicate more of a fast-track to getting the sport sanctioned, with one comment on walking away today with a promise to come up with an individual championship down the road.
Debate now settles on having team participation thresholds met, whereas the coaches proposal centered around having girls wrestle on boys teams, then compete in their own individual sectionals and state championships.
Anderson asks members to consider bylaws in their decision.
Anderson asks members to consider bylaws in their decision.
Should be noted, everyone who has spoken so far supports adding the sport, but how it gets started and then implemented into existing structure is where the debate is. Sport itself appears to have a lot of support.
The @wiaawi has posted the results of votes so far on hockey, gymnastics, and wrestling. Lengthy debate on girls wrestling proposal sounds like it's wrapping up. I don't expect this to pass... At least as drawn up.
Labecki makes it clear that he views this as adding a new sport, not a new division within boys wrestling.
Chambers was about to motion to amend to add the sport in 2021-2022, and a discussion on what that would mean for who participates in what tournament (boys and girls) came about. Regular season could be mixed but tournaments would be separate.
Chambers is going to propose an amendment to begin individual girls wrestling tournament in 2021-22. Not teams.
In fewer words. Amendment would be to separate boys and girls wrestlers for an individual tournament in 2021-22. Then build a team version of the sport down the road as participation grows. Regular season not affected.
