MSHSCA Two-Class Proposal Vote Results

by Paula Anderson
November 21, 2006

The voting results from the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association (MSHSCA) two-class proposal are complete. 61 coaches voted out of a total of 90 coaches in the state. 60 schools were represented. Of the 61 coaches who voted, 4 coach one team (just boys or just girls) and so the total number of possible votes was 118 (57 x 2 + 4).

74 votes were no, 44 votes were yes. The voter demographics in regards to section and size of school are outlined below. At this point in time, the Advisory Committee will not be presenting this proposal to the MSHSL.

Voting results by section:

  • Section 1 - 10 yes, 10 no
  • Section 2 - 6 yes, 8 no
  • Section 3 - 8 yes, 6 no
  • Section 4 - 13 yes, 5 no
  • Section 5 - 4 yes, 8 no
  • Section 6 - 0 yes, 10 no
  • Section 7 - 4 yes, 16 no
  • Section 8 - 0 yes, 10 no

Voting results by school size:

  • Over 2,000 - 16 yes, 20 no
  • 1500-1999 - 8 yes, 15 no
  • 1000-1499 - 5 yes, 21 no
  • 500-999 - 4 yes, 10 no
  • less than 500 - 12 yes, 8 no
Here is a brief summary of coaches' opinions on this subject.
 
Coaches who voted for the proposal felt that: 
  1. Two classes would help to create fair competition between schools of similar size. 
  2. Participation in the sport would grow as more skiers would have an opportunity to be competitive within the sport. 
  3. By increasing the base the talent pool would widen which would eventually improve the level of quality at the top. 
  4. All sports in MN started as one class and eventually moved to two or more classes.
Coaches that opposed the proposal felt that:
  1. Going to two classes would bring the level of competition and prestige of the State Meet down. 
  2. Participation in a State Championship in any event, if the level is set low enough, does not ensure development. 
  3. Program size, not school size is more of a determinant of success at the State level.  There are a number of small rural schools that have large successful programs, and a number of large urban schools that have difficulties building sustainable programs due to socioeconomic and cultural factors. 
  4. Individually all skiers have equal opportunity for reaching the State Meet. A team needs only 4 strong skiers to make it to the State Meet. 
  5. We currently do not have the numbers to support this proposal.  Presently there are 93 boy's teams and 94 girl's teams in the state.  The MSHSL recommends 96 teams to consider a split into two classes.

I would like to thank all of the coaches for being so helpful throughout this process. I think that going through this process has forced us to examine what it is we want to accomplish for our kids and for this sport. This past year of discussion and debate has been important as it has promoted some very valuable dialogue. A big thank you to our webmaster, Rob Nielsen, for making the on-line voting possible.