PENNSYLVANIA INTERSCHOLASTIC
ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
DISTRICT
II
Frank Majikes,
Chairman Bill King, Vice Chairman Mike Ognosky,
Secretary Frank Victor, Treasurer
Wilkes Barre C
& TC 1310 Ridgewood Avenue 544 School
Road 1113 Johns Street
P. O. Box 1699 Scranton,
Pa. 18505 New Milford, Pa.
18834 Hazle Twp, Pa. 18202
Wilkes Barre,
Pa. 18705 570-840-5732 607-237-9263
570-459-0042
MINUTES OF OCTOBER 21, 2014 MEETING
@ WIKES- BARRE AREA CAREER & TECHNOLOGY CENTER
Meeting was convened at 4:20 p.m.
by Chairman Frank Majikes
ITEM 1 Chairman
Majikes called the meeting to order at 4:20 p.m.
Absent but accounted for: Danielle Adams, Frank
Galicki, Joseph Farrell, Jim Higgins, Bill Schoen and Chad Vinansky
Advisors Present: Atty. Donald Rogers,
District II Solicitor
Chairman Majikes began the meeting by welcoming
the newest District II Committee member, Ron Collins, Principal of North Pocono
High School.
ITEM 2 A motion was made by Pat Patte, seconded by Vito
Quaglia, to approve the minutes of the September 17, 2014 meeting. All Ayes
ITEM 3 Frank Victor presented the Treasurer’s Report. As of
October 21, 2014 the total fund balance stands at $212,595.97. The total
Certificates of Deposit is $12,596.16, while the total Savings and Checking
Account Balance is $199,999.81. Our starting balance, as of July 1, 2014, was
$217,951.12. Following the presentation, a motion was made by Chris Thomas,
seconded by Eric Emmerich, to approve the report as presented. All Ayes
ITEM 4 Sports
Reports:
·
Cross Country (Bill King): Bill King reviewed the plans for
tomorrow’s Cross Country Championships to be held at Elk Lake Junior-Senior
High School. He explained that he had toured the course earlier in the day
with the school administration and everything looks great. He thanked the Elk
Lake Administration and School Board in their efforts for preparing the site
for the visiting schools and looks forward to a great championship competition
tomorrow.
·
Tennis (Pat Sheehan): Pat Sheehan reviewed the recently
completed championships and informed the committee that AAA Team Champion
Abington Heights and AA Team Champion Scranton Prep won their first round matches
in the state team championships. They will now compete this Friday in the
state team quarterfinals at the Hershey Racquet Club.
·
Volleyball (Maureen Williams): Maureen Williams reviewed the
seeding procedures for the district championships. All league competition
concludes on Friday with the District Championships scheduled to begin on
Monday of next week.
·
Field Hockey (Chris Gegaris): Chris Gegaris discussed the brief
controversy regarding the seeding criteria for the championships and explained
his communication process with member schools that led to the utilization of
the overall league record versus the divisional record in establishing the
seeds. Chairman Majikes explained that he had received a communication from a
member school regarding that decision, which led to today’s discussion.
Following the discussion, the committee affirmed the seeding as presented by
Chris.
·
Soccer (Al Holtzer): Al Hotzer informed the group that the
District Soccer Playoffs began last evening with a AA Girls play in game and
will continue through the next two weeks. He thanked the seeding committee for
their efforts and looks forward to very competitive championships in all
classifications.
·
Wrestling (Jay Starnes): Jay Starnes distributed dates of
interest for the 2015 District II Wrestling Championships. The league deadline
for the completion of schedules is January 28th with the seeding
meeting to follow on January 29th. The team dual tournament will be
held at the Kingston Armory on January 31st to be followed by the
state team tournament on February 5th through the 7th at
the Hershey Giant Center. The District II Individual Championships will be
held on February 20th and 21st. The seeding meeting to
establish the brackets for that tournament will be held on February 18th.
Individual Regionals will follow on February 27th and 28th
and the State Individual Championships will be at the Hershey Giant Center on
March 5th through the 7th. .
·
Football (Mike Ognosky): The current standings are located on the
web page and are up to date through Week #8. The District II Football Committee
will be meeting on Sunday, November 2nd at 9 a.m. at the
Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technology Center to determine the final seedings
and develop the playoff brackets. That information will then be disseminated
to those schools who will be participating. All member schools have indicated
their desire to participate in this year’s playoffs – there were no opt outs
received.
ITEM 5 Al Holtzer, Athletic Director
Representative from the Lackawanna
League, explained that his group
has requested that the District II Committee consider a minimum winning
percentage for all schools
entering an open tournament.
Their suggestion was that in order to
qualify for a tournament a team
must win 30 % of their league games. Chairman Majikes explained that a number
of Districts in the state currently utilize a minimum winning percentage
criteria for entry into the tournament and this has been discussed previously
by our committee. The current open format will remain intact for this cycle
but consideration of this request will be discussed looking toward the next two
year cycle.
ITEM 6 Fred Barletta, Athletic Director
Representative from the WVC, had a
question on behalf of his group
regarding eligibility at the Junior High
level for a 7th, 8th,
or 9th grade student competing in Football on both the 7th
and 8th grade team and the Freshmen Team. After discussion,
Eligibility Chairman Mike Ognosky was asked to contact the state office for the
interpretation of this concern. Following a discussion with the state office
the following eligibility requirements are in place in this situation.
Following the process of declaring 9th graders for either the
Varsity or Junior High Level here is the process in all sports –
Junior High competition will
include 7th, 8th and 9th grade (excluding any
9th graders that have been moved up to JV/Varsity in that particular
sport). Think of the 9th grade (Freshmen) team as the Varsity team
and the 7th/8th grade team (if one team) or the 7th
and 8th grade teams (if two teams) as the Junior Varsity team to the
9th grade (Freshmen) team. Just as any JV player can move back and
forth to the Varsity during the season, and any Varsity player can move back
and forth to the JV team during the season, the same holds true at the Junior
High level. Any 9th grader can play “down” at the 7th
and 8th grade level, and any 7th or 8th grader
can play up at the 9th grade level. So, in the fall if you have a
Monday night Freshmen game and a Tuesday night 7th/8th
grade game any of those players can play in both games – so a 7th,8th
or 9th grade football player could possible play in a total of 20
football games per season. In the winter, if a school sponsors a 7th
grade, an 8th grade, and a 9th grade basketball team, any
7th-9th grader can participate at all three levels –
could possibly play in a total 66 games.
The only other exception to this
rule is an age rule. A 9th grade student who has attained the age
of 16 prior to July 1st of the upcoming school year is not allowed
to play “down” as an age limitation. The PIAA strongly encouraged schools to
play 9th graders who have that age limitation “up” at the JV/Varsity
level.
ITEM 7 Chairman Majikes informed the committee
that he has had discussions
with the PSBA Region 7
Representative and they are in the process of filling the current vacancy of a
school board member on the District II Committee. Hopefully, we will have a
new school board member on the committee at the November meeting.
ITEM 8 The
District II Committee acted upon the following eligibility requests presented
at this evening’s meeting:
·
A motion was made by Ron Collins, seconded by Eric Emmerich, to
approve the eligibility of Destiny Youmans, GAR to Wyoming Valley West, in
accordance with Article VI, Section 4, of the PIAA By-Laws, principal-to-principal
sign off, effective immediately. All Ayes
·
A motion was made by Fred Barletta, seconded by Chris Gegaris, to
approve the eligibility of Alexander Ruberto, Wallenpaupack to West Scranton,
in accordance with Article VI, Section 4, of the PIAA By-Laws,
principal-to-principal sign off, effective immediately. All Ayes
·
A motion was made by Pat Patte, seconded by Vito Quaglia, to
approve the eligibility of William Sawyer, Western Wayne to West Scranton, in
accordance with Article VI, Section 4, of the PIAA By-Laws,
principal-to-principal sign off, effective immediately. All Ayes
·
A motion was made by Al Holtzer, seconded by Bill King, to
approve the eligibility of Gabriella McMahon, Wyoming Valley West to Holy
Redeemer, in accordance with Article VI, Section 4, of the PIAA By-Laws,
principal-to-principal sign off, effective immediately. All Ayes
·
A motion was made by Pat Sheehan, seconded by Jay Starnes, to
approve the eligibility of Anthony Martinario, Wyoming Area to Tunkhannock, in
accordance with Article VI, Section 4, of the PIAA By-Laws,
principal-to-principal sign off, effective immediately. All Ayes
·
A motion was made by Maureen Williams, seconded by Fred Barletta,
to approve the eligibility of Jonathan Herrera, Scranton to Old Forge, in
accordance with Article VI, Section 4, of the PIAA By-Laws,
principal-to-principal sign off, effective immediately. All Ayes
·
A motion was made by Chris Gegaris, seconded by Chris Thomas, to
approve the eligibility of Cade Flanley, Scranton Prep to Holy Redeemer, in
accordance with Article VI, Section 4, of the PIAA By-Laws,
principal-to-principal sign off, effective immediately. All Ayes
·
A motion was made by Vito Quaglia, seconded by Pat Patte, to
approve the eligibility of Cole Rakauskas, Stockdale to West Scranton, in
accordance with Article VI, Section 4, of the PIAA By-Laws,
principal-to-principal sign off, effective immediately. All Ayes
·
A motion was made by Ron Collins, seconded by Eric Emmerich, to
approve the eligibility of Tracie Cistrunk, Wyoming Area to Wilkes-Barre
Meyers, in accordance with Article VI, Section 4, of the PIAA By-Laws,
principal-to-principal sign off, effective immediately. All Ayes
·
A motion was made by Chris Thomas, seconded by Pat Sheehan, to
approve the eligibility of Seth Callahan, Wyoming Seminary to GAR, in
accordance with Article VI, Section 4, of the PIAA By-Laws,
principal-to-principal sign off, effective immediately. All Ayes
ITEM 9 Chairman
Majikes provided each committee member with an updated directory and reviewed
the information with the group. There were a number of changes and they are
now available to all member schools on the “Committee” page on the District II
website, www.piaad2.org.
ITEM 10 Chairman
Majikes discussed with the committee the 100th Year PIAA Anniversary
Dinner that will be held in conjunction with the PIAA Football Championships on
Thursday, December 11th in Hershey. Each member district has been
asked to sponsor a table at the event. Proceeds from the dinner will be
utilized by the PIAA Foundation to provide scholarships to students at member
schools for attendance to leadership conferences. Following discussion, a
motion was made by Chris Thomas, seconded by Bill King. To approve the
sponsorship of a table at the dinner. All Ayes
ITEM 11 Chairman
Majikes reviewed the actions taken at the most recent PIAA State Board of
Directors’ Meeting of Wednesday, October 1, 2014. Minutes of that meeting can
be found on the District II Website.
ITEM 12 A
motion was made by Jay Starnes, seconded by Chris Thomas, to adjourn the
meeting. All Ayes
Meeting was adjourned at 6:02 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Mike
Ognosky
Mike Ognosky
District II Secretary
