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H.S. Baseball (enrollment vs. ability)

Gater022Gater02210+ posts
I coach at the varsity level on Long Island. Our county (Nassau) is most likely re-aligning it's Conferences with a new ability based format. This format has already been put to use in several other sports. (Softball, Hoops and S****r to name a few)

Our coaches association has spoken out strongly against ability based conferences. Most members feel that the standard enrollment based system worked just fine. AA- big schools, A- midsize, B-small C- and D- really small)But it looks like it is going to happen in '08. Within each conference (still based on enrollment) leagues would be drawn up based on ability. Within a given Conference (AA for example with 22 teams) you might have a top division with the 7 strongest teams, a middle division with 8 middle of the road teams and a bottom division with 7 weaker teams. Obviously more playoff teams will come from the top divisions than the weaker ones.

Many different factors would go into ranking and seeding to determine where teams are placed from year to year, for example past records (5 yrs back?) returning starters/pitchers, JV record, strength of sched etc. In hoops, coaches filled out a questionarre and all of the info was used to determine where each team is placed.

Im on the fence. Ability grouped Conferences would make things more competitive. Especially since my program is in the bottom half of the county. In softball all of the top division teams make the post-season, about half of the mid division, and only the winner of the bottom div (this bottom div team had to win %90 of their games).

If you are still reading.... my question is, have any of you heard of this format in baseball or any other sports across the country? What do you think of it? If you need more of an explanation, i would be glad to answer (if i can)... post your comments/questions and concerns!
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T TG500+ posts
How often are they going to reevaluate conferences? A program could be bad, have a talented class come through and be great for a few years, and once the class graduated not be good anymore. I realize some programs are perenial winners or losers, but there are a lot of programs in the middle. How long has it been done in other sports? Has it been five or more years to determine if it works?
Last edited by TG
ILVBBILVBB1,000+ posts
Gater022:

What you have outlined is exactly how it is done in our area. There are several leagues which are then broken up into various divisions based upon perfomance. Teams move up and down from division to division based upon several performance based criteria. In spite of some moaning and growning each year when section seeding occurs, the system appears to work.

Here is a link to the section (Californi operates in sections because of it's size) webpage that talks more about the various leagues and divisions.

http://www.cifccs.org/history.htm
U UpstateNY2008100+ posts
gater022, I live in New York as well, and I see an initial problem with going to ability based conferences. Under the current AA, A, B, C, and D classification format, what happens in the playoffs? NYSPHAA sets the guidelines for classification, so I don't think it can be altered, but if this is already happening in other sports I guess there is a solution.

Also, any word on if this is going to to be part of all NYS athletics in the next few years?
D Dooer100+ posts
ILVBB left out the competitive part of it.

Teams accumulate points throughout the season. The highest 40 point totals make the playoffs and then are divided by enrollment. Those points are then used to seed the teams in their respective enrollment divisions.

Teams in the "A" leagues accumulate more points then do those teams in the "B" & "C" leagues. A "C" league team pretty much has to win it's league and grab a automatic qualifier bid, otherwise there is no way it can accumulate enough points to make the top 40.

Generally speaking, that "C" league champion will move up to a "B" league the next year.

League rating levels are determined by success in the playoffs.

That was a very simplistic view on how it works. It is possible for the best team to play in the smallest enrollment division and some potential great matchup do not occur because of the division by enrollment.
quillgirlquillgirl100+ posts
I can see how this might be needed, particularly in the "small school" divisions that include private schools. Many private schools have a small enrollment but superior players because of the ability to take players regardless of their school district. We have a number of private schools with very strong teams in the AA division that could compete well among AAAAA schools. They always end up competing against each other in the AA playoffs, but blow out small public schools and private schools that don't recruit for athletics. Maybe they DO need to play against teams/schools that are able to select among greater numbers of recruits for a more level playing field.

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