GBB: 'Tourney success' factor introduced for 2013-14 by IHSAA

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From ihsaa.org

The IHSAA Executive Committee has approved a two-year “tournament success factor” in each team sport (girls and boys basketball, baseball, softball, football, volleyball, and boys and girls soccer), an accumulation of points by which any school would move up one class based on tournament series performance during that time.

That decision was a highlight of the committee’s final monthly meeting of the 2011-12 school year June 21.

Members of the Indiana Football Coaches Association had presented a multiple-part proposal to the Executive Committee at its February meeting, with the Committee then opting to table the proposal for continued study during its March gathering. In brief, it included adding a sixth competition class for football, seeding the top two teams in each sectional, and adding a four-year “tradition factor.”

The Executive Committee voted 13-5 to adopt the sixth class but rejected by a 17-1 total the seeding of sectionals as well as the four-year tradition factor (by unanimous 18-0 consent). Instead, the Committee voted 16-2 to go with a similar proposal written by IHSAA Commissioner Bobby Cox calling for a two-year tournament success factor in each team sport – not just football.

On a sport-by-sport basis, schools will earn one point for a sectional championship, two points for a regional championship, three points for a semistate title, and four points for a state title. The maximum number of points a team can earn in a single year is four points.

Should a school earn six points or more during a specified two-year period – for instance two state championship appearances – that school would compete in the next-higher enrollment class for the ensuing two seasons.

Tournament success achieved during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years will be used to determine classifications in 2013-14. New classifications will be announced this coming winter, followed by the various sectional assignments.

“I am extremely encouraged by the vision and valor of our Executive Committee in making these progressive decisions on behalf of student-athletes in the Hoosier state,” said Cox. “It is my belief that these changes significantly address competition issues in football and will prove to enhance the team sport experience across all other disciplines.”