I have two very important announcements to make regarding the playoffs
Play-in Round Scheduled
The league council took a vote last night and decided to have a "play-in" round
before the actual playoffs begin. The initial intent this year (because of
the compressed schedule) was to drop the play-in round, which has traditionally
been a part of the league schedule. As discussions progressed, it was
decided that most of the board was uncomfortable with making the playoff cut off
at the top 8 teams in each division because the league position has always been
that everyone has a shot at the championship, not matter how badly there regular
season may have went. A prime example was a senior team from Monrovia last
season. The finished the regular season with only 3 wins and had to face
teams that had beaten them badly in both the play-in round and the 1st round.
That team won both games and ended up taking 3rd in the league despite having
the 2nd worst record entering the playoffs.
This will affect both of our teams since the Sophomore division has 14 teams
and the junior division has 12. In the Sophomore division, the top 2 teams
will automatically make the playoffs. The remaining 12 teams will have to
play for the remaining 6 playoff slots. In the Junior division the bottom
8 teams will be playing for the 4 remaining play off slots.
All play in games will be held on Tuesday, October 14th. The
locations and times are still TBD at this time, but the start times for games
could be as early as 5 PM and as late as 8 PM. All game hosts are
going to do their best to make sure we don't start any games before 5:30 or any
later than 7:30, but, if there are not enough lighted fields available to host
all 11 play in games (10 from the SO and JR divisions plus 1 from the SR
division), one field may have to host 3 games, which could force the
earlier/later start times. If these start times will be a problem for your
children (particularly the early time) please let your coach know ASAP. If
we have to forfeit a playoff game due to low numbers, we will be fined $500 by
the league. If we know ahead of time that a 5 PM game is just not possible
for one of our teams, we can work with the schedulers to try and have one of the
later slots.
WCA to Host 1st Round Playoff Games
I also have good news regarding the playoffs. WCA will be host to the 4
games of the 1st round of the Sophomore Division Playoffs. These games
will be held on Saturday, October 18th at the Brockway Campus football field.
I will be organizing a working group to start putting together work schedules,
etc. Based on previous years, We will need to cover a total of
approximately 9 hours of work time at the field. This will include manning
the gate, concessions, and scoreboard, as well as set up and tear down.
This is a great chance for the association to put away some much need cash
for next season and to show off the new campus. The new concession
stand/ticket building will be completely operational by the time we host these
games, which will make everything MUCH easier than the last 2 seasons. We
will need a minimum of 30 volunteers to get through the day assuming we work 2
hour shifts. I may revise that estimate upwards once I have had a better
look at the new concessions and gate areas to see how we can best manage them.
The planning team will also be discussing the shift length. In past
years we have always done things in 1 hour shifts, but it is my feeling that
trying to line up 60 volunteers is going to be to much to ask. I am
currently basing my plan on the 2 hour shifts to keep the total number of people
needed to help out down, but we will discuss the possibility of 1 and 1 1/2 hour
shifts as well.
The other reason I want to keep the total number of people committed to
working down is there is a possibility that one or even both of our teams could
make the playoffs. I know at this point that seems unlikely, but there are
still five weeks left for our boys to improve and all it takes is one win on
October 14th to move on to the 1st round so lets encourage our kids to work
harder at practice and stay focused during the games so they can have a
legitimate shot at making the playoffs.
As soon as we have some firmer plans in place, we will begin putting the
volunteer schedule together. As always, thank you for all of your support.
