Attention Cross Country Coaches, Athletes, and Parents !
Please plan ahead, because the MIAA State Divisional Championships meet and the SAT Exam are both scheduled for November 8th, 2014. If you are a varsity caliber cross-country runner it would be wise to plan in advance and choose an alternate testing date. Although the MIAA seems to be an easy target nowadays, they are not to blame for this testing date change. For as long as I can remember, the SAT date has always been the first Saturday in November. This typically collides with our MSTCA Coaches Invitational and it has been widely accepted over the years as a perfect fit. The Coaches meet doesn't offer any team scoring, and the athletes compete in races assigned by grade. Many coaches take the weekend off from competing, while others utilize it for a final tune-up before the Divisional meet. It was the perfect situation and it was something we all accepted into our schedules as coaches. The SAT exam is now added onto the biggest Cross-Country Saturday of the fall, and I guess we have to accept this as the way it will be for another 40 years.
The MIAA Baseball tournament made the national spotlight last spring after a game between Methuen and Chelmsford was postponed because of rain. The MIAA made a huge mistake by rescheduling it on the same day as the SAT exam. The Miaa refused to change the makeup date and many players were forced into tough decisions. The parents and coaches were so irate it went as far as the state legislature to pass a bill to prohibit the MIAA from scheduling games during testing times. I guess even an act of legislature can't help our track kids ! Track and Field is exempt from this process because of the size of our competition and limited dates on our schedule. The Sat Exam date in June has always collided with our All State Championships. We do make an attempt to work around it by pushing up our All State starting time to late afternoon. As a coach we try to avoid having our athletes sitting through a draining exam on the most intense track and field meet of the season. This spring testing conflict has created other problems for the seniors that graduate on Saturday evening, as they are once again forced to decide to compete or not.
Why are the poor cross country and track runners forced into making these decisions? How about a Thursday or Friday night All State meet in the spring? I am sure all our SAT kids and graduating seniors would be very appreciative to that change. That kind of seems like a "no brainer" to me. Wouldn't it be nice if the kids were able to take the SAT Exams during school? How about one central location for a makeup SAT date for these track and field kids ? I don't have all the answers, but I am getting tired of our student - athletes getting the short end of the stick. I guess we will all have to accept it as coaches, parents, and athletes because it's something our sport has always done.
It all starts here for our varsity cross-country athletes, so please accept it and plan ahead.