Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyMac
Our few local blowouts are due to the way our conferences and leagues have evolved based on “sports culture” and enrollment size. Geography and proximity of schools is only the third consideration ... a technical school league ... magnet school league ... very small mostly urban schools.
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The technical school league completely avoids the concept of geography and proximity of schools. It's state-wide league. Some schools in the league are over 110 miles apart.
Before they formed their own league, these very small technical schools, not very sports oriented, but with goals of providing Connecticut with future electricians, plumbers, carpenters, machine operators, welders, mechanics, chefs, practical nurses, cosmetologists, etc., were always getting blown out by other schools in their previously "geography and proximity" based leagues.
Same thing with magnet schools. When these small academically oriented magnet schools (some without gyms or athletic fields) started "popping up" about twenty years go, they first joined existing "geography and proximity" based leagues. That didn't go so well. Now most have their own league, not many schools in the league, but it works.
Before the magnet schools formed their own league, I remember officiating a girls varsity game between a very small urban magnet school for college bound students (played their home games in a nearby middle school) against a large urban public high school. The score got so lopsided that the losing coach asked if we could switch to a running clock in the second half (no mercy rules in Connecticut basketball). I replied that we couldn't but that we could shorten the last two periods with the agreement of both coaches and the referee (NFHS), so we did.