24 January, 2014
Franklin, MA - The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) announced the recently completed fall season and tournament was very successful. In a report sent to MIAA member schools William Gaine, Executive Director, said, “By all our usual measurements we had an excellent fall season. The credit for this goes to the hundreds of site directors, school officials, tournament personnel and others who assist in staging the events.”
The fall season includes cross country, field hockey, football, golf, western Mass gymnastics, soccer, swimming/diving and volleyball.
Among the highlights covering tournament revenue, school and student participation, attendance and other factors were the following:
The number of student athletes competing in tournament games increased by 10% from 2012 with 27,094 representing 1,548 teams. In 2012 24,594 students on 1,353 teams competed. The largest increase was recorded in football with 8,800 athletes compared with 5,160 in 2012.
The new football playoff format worked well including meeting its main objective of allowing more students to experience the tournament environment. A total of 8,800 players from 160 schools participated in the football tournament compared with 5,160 from 97 schools in 2012.
Fall team sportsmanship awards were made at the championship games of each of the fall sports. These awards are presented at the state championship final of every MIAA sponsored sport to a worthy team in each division of competition. The awards are presented to those teams who have demonstrated an allegiance to the highest ideals and objectives of sportsmanship during their season of play. Teams are nominated for this award by coaches, athletic directors and principals.
The Association is most grateful to the legions of school administrators, staff and volunteers from dozens of high schools, colleges and communities that supported the fall tournaments by serving as host sites for MIAA tournament events.
