The waiver/co-op team process is a joke.  Both are supposed to be granted only for team sustainability.  I find it hard to believe that SM is having a sustainability issue.  I’m pretty sure that SM is able to use 6-8 grade girls because they are a 6-12 grade school housed in the same building.

STM doesn't use waivers, the school runs grades 6-12. There is only one girl on their roster not in the high school that sees regular ice time.

The Waiver/co-op options are a necessary aspect for ice hockey.  There are some towns/ schools that just do not have enough players within the normal 9-12 grades to field full rosters of players.  So from that standpoint the policy is needed.  Now is it possible for a given school to abuse or twist this process in order to get some young "star" caliber players onto the roster and thus be more competitive than if they just used their normal 9-12 eligible players.  That is very very hard to police or enforce. 

Most kids want to play on teams that have a chance of winning, especially when talking about a sport like ice hockey which takes a lot of work and practice.  A program with no chance of winning will eventually lose support and participation from those atheletes who have choices, to either change schools or sports, and soon you have no viable program.  I am not sure what the MIAA minimum roster size is, but I assume it is at least 15 for hockey.  The SM roster for exmaple only lists 16 players on with 5 of them 8th graders.  None of them were major scorers or players, but I am sure they all saw some ice time at some point to give the front lines a break or spell. 

What the MIAA should also do however is some bookkeeping changes and limit records in all sports to achievements tallied during high school years 9-12 and not just while playing on a high school team.  Some of the career totals for players who had 6 or 7 years to tally them up could never be challenged by players who only were able to play for the 4 years actually in high school. 

 

I’m glad I stumbled across this forum, I just wish it hadn’t taken me until the end of the season.

 

I think you can underestimate the advantage of having 8^th graders play varsity by saying that they “didn’t get much playing time.”  These players get another year to learn under a good coach and play at the high school level.  The playing and practice time that they get will pay dividends in future years.  That said, the biggest advantage that schools like St. Mary’s have is that good players in nearby towns can choose to be a good player on a state champion team like St. Mary’s rather than the best player on a team that may or may not make the state tournament.

 

Does St. Mary’s have a great coach-yes.  Do the St. Mary’s girls work hard and play hard-definitely.  Does having teams like St. Mary’s elevate the play of all the other girls teams in the state – no question.  If they had made “Miracle” about Massachusetts Girls high school hockey, would St. Mary’s have been the Team USA – No.

 

So is anyone starting a Softball thread?

 

Well NNDad this is about the only sports discussion forum here that gets any traffic at all year after year.  Not sure why, but it is.

In response to PetefromNorthofBoston's comment:

I guess I'll look for EMASS Girls Hockey 2012-2013 next year.

In response to shoot2score's comment:

Up or across/down to D1?  

How did the two "D1" state finalists do this year against the little town on the south shore that draws from one town to field a team?  4-1 and 1-0 over SM and 3-0 over AC. BAM!  

In response to Scooter8's comment:
[QUOTE]

In response to shoot2score's comment:

 

In response to Scooter8's comment:

 

Congratulations to Duxbury. Once again THE BEST girls public high school team in the state. Falmouth right there too. 

 

Might be time to step it up to D1? 

 

 

Up or across/down to D1?  

 

How did the two "D1" state finalists do this year against the little town on the south shore that draws from one town to field a team?  4-1 and 1-0 over SM and 3-0 over AC. 

 

Step it UP then.

Sort of Defending Scooter/aka Duxbury fan...arrgh!.  To be fair, the MIAA LOCKED down Girls Hockey and Tennis divisions a few years ago for period of time thru Spring 2013 and even if Dux had wanted to jump from D2 to D1 they would not have been permitted to do so.  Now however, with a new alignment situation coming up, we shall see how that plays out.   There are quite a few teams in D1 that have far fewer girls in their schools.  

 

Based on the current proposed alignments for 2013-2017 Dux is sticking in their comfort zone of D2...hmmmm.  Gardner is stepping up to D1 and Everett is stepping down to D2.  Otherwise no changes.

Whole list is here, will need to paste the two lines together in this forum.

http://www.miaa.net/gen/miaa_generated_bin/documents/basic_module

/IceHockeyGirls.pdf

There is no reason for Deluxebury not to go to D1.  Unless they are afraid.

BTW, St. Mary's is the best team in Massachusetts. 

In response to Scooter8's comment:

You tied SM the last time you played them. Shootouts in regular season games do not count.

In response to hockeychrishna's comment:

I imagine that Nobles wouldn't have any problem beating St. Mary's.   But maybe they don't count because they can recruit.  Oh wait a minute ...

prep schools are a whole different animal. and nobles is the most consistent top team in girls hockey in new england.

 

i assumed that "EMASS Girls Hockey 2012-2013" was public HS hockey in Eastern Mass.  if we are expanding it to prep schools, the conversation totally changes.  but i don't think we are.

In response to hockeychrishna's comment:

 

prep schools are a whole different animal. and nobles is the most consistent top team in girls hockey in new england.

 

i assumed that "EMASS Girls Hockey 2012-2013" was public HS hockey in Eastern Mass.  if we are expanding it to prep schools, the conversation totally changes.  but i don't think we are.

 

Just pulling your chain a little because you said "the best team in Massachusetts".  Short of a super 8 like tournament, I guess we'll never really know from year to year who the best MIAA team is.  But I'd vote Duxbury.

 

gotcha.  obviously the top public teams are light years away from the best prep teams.

duxbury does not get my vote if they stay d2.  because if they do, they are ducking the likes of st. mary's in the tourney.

at some point you have to step up.

In response to hockeychrishna's comment:

It has been fun stoking the fires. I felt that this discussion had much more vigor in the past. In an effort to crank it up I decided to push it. Done for the year.  Had no kid this year but will next.  Clearly Duxbury has its detractors since it is such a dominant sports town. 10 state titles 10 years in a row between lax, boys hockey, girls hockey, girls soccer. Pretty impressive and I KNOW it pisses folks in other towns off - especially people like me that like to razz and rub it in.  Heres to the best sport around. The girls talent continues to amaze. Lets hope the public schools can retain the realty talented players to keep this great sport growing for our girls. 

In response to Scooter8's comment:

I would suggest if you have a daughter interested in skating on a great team, have her shadow at St. Mary's of Lynn.               www.stmaryslynn.com

In response to NNDad's comment:

what the heck does this mean?   I don't get it ---- 
 If they had made “Miracle” about Massachusetts Girls high school hockey, would St. Mary’s have been the Team USA 

In response to Hockeychix's comment:

It means that in massachusetts girls hockey, unlike Team USA in "Miracle", St. Marys will never be viewed as the plucky underdog who wins against all odds.  St. Marys will always be viewed more as the evil empire, like the Russians in "Miracle", the Yankees in baseball, the Patriots in football, and Assabet Valley in girls club hockey.

Do snippy comments like this meen NNDad is just jealous that his daughters team doesn't play at the same level as SM - Is the new Pope Catholic? :)

when my daughters' team wins 3 straight division 2 titles (never) and stay in d2 I will slam them to no end.  deluxebury choosing not to compete at the highest level at this point is pathetic.  but not surprising!

NNDad: RE: Softball thread - coming right up! Maybe it'll get some traffic this year, tried it last year but it didn't do much.