ALLENTOWN — Everyone loves free stuff.
Through its partnership with the St. Luke’s University Health System, District 11 is set to hand out free items to participants in its championship events this school year.
The District 11 Committee and St. Luke’s University Health System detailed their continuing relationship during a luncheon and press conference with media members Thursday at St. Luke’s Sports and Human Performance Center.
Representatives from St. Luke’s discussed their sponsorship of District 11 championship events, the sports medicine, physical therapy and rehabilitation services they provide District 11 student-athletes and a new rehabilitation sciences program being offered through Moravian College.
As part of the sponsorship through St. Luke’s, District 11 will be handing out bag tags to all participants in individual championship events — tennis, cross country, golf, swimming and diving, wrestling and track and field.
District 11 will also be giving out championship T-shirts to all individual gold medalists and every member of a district team champion that feature the District 11 logo and the words “Champion” on the front and the phrase, “District 11 proud, St. Luke’s strong” on the back.
It’s a great way for District 11 and St. Luke’s to reward the athletes who put in the time and effort to achieve success, if you ask me.
The goal: Keeping
you informed
The majority of the media event was spent going over the details for the district playoffs and championships in each interscholastic sport.
The District 11 Committee used to hold an annual media dinner in October to discuss its championships, but ended those get-togethers a few years ago due to budget concerns.
Those media dinners provided key information that we were able to pass along to our readers, and gave members of the media a chance to meet the people who comprise the District 11 Committee face-to-face and develop relationships.
Kudos to District 11 chairman Bob Hartman, the athletic director at Whitehall, for rekindling these media events. It’s another great step by the District 11 Committee to make sure we, the media, are able to keep you, the readers, informed of what’s going on at the district level.
There are six Schuylkill League representatives on the 20-person District 11 Committee: Tamaqua Area assistant superintendent Ray Kinder, who is the district secretary; Pine Grove athletic director Scott Dimon; Minersville athletic director Rich Dry; Tri-Valley athletic director Bob Felty Jr.; Pottsville athletic director Eric Rismiller and Tamaqua Area High School principal and Schuylkill League president Steve Toth.
Breaking down
the sports
Hartman and Northwestern Lehigh athletic director Jason Zimmerman, the football chairman, spent a good amount of time discussing the proposed expansion to six classifications in football.
The PIAA Board of Directors will vote on that expansion proposal at its Oct. 7 meeting in Mechanicsburg. If passed, it will go into effect for the 2016-18 PIAA cycle.
If passed, it will be up to each individual league in District 11 to decide if it wants to use a 10-game schedule with one preseason scrimmage, or a nine-game schedule with two scrimmages.
Personally, a 10-game game schedule with one scrimmage and one “competitive practice” is the perfect solution. More on the changes in football as they develop.
Hartman also discussed his proposal to expand to six classes in basketball, baseball and softball. Hartman and Zimmerman both said it’s possible that there is expansion in all sports, not necessarily to six classes, but added classes in some other sports that have seen increased participation.
Some sport-specific information that was detailed at Thursday’s media luncheon:
• Cross Country — District 11 officials vowed to fix the problems that have turned recent District 11 Cross Country Championships at Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course into a fiasco.
This year’s event will be held Wednesday, Oct. 28. The start time has been moved up to 1 p.m., and 40 minutes will be allotted between races. This is an increase of 10 minutes, which allows coaches more time to get their runners ready in between races.
District 11 has also done away with the automatic timing company that has been used in previous years and will go with a more “caveman” approach to recording results. The award location will be moved closer to the finish line, and results will be made more readily available to the media and teams.
A championship tape emblazoned with the District 11 and St. Luke’s logos will be used and given to the winner of each race.
These are positive steps made by the district. Let’s hope they are executed well enough to improve the experience for everyone involved.
• Golf — The District 11 Qualifying Tournament will be held Monday, Oct. 5, at Locust Valley Country Club in Coopersburg. The top 50 percent of those competing will advance to the District 11 Golf Championships set for Monday, Oct. 12, at Schuylkill Country Club.
The District 11 Team Golf Championships will also be held Monday, Oct. 12, at Schuylkill Country Club. The top four rated Class AAA and AA teams qualify, with the league champions from the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, Colonial League and Schuylkill League earning automatic berths.
Heading into this weekend, Blue Mountain is third in Class AAA and Marian is fourth in Class AA. Pottsville could get in if the Crimson Tide win the league title.
The Schuylkill League Team Golf Championships, which feature Blue Mountain, Pottsville, Lourdes and Marian, will be held Wednesday, Sept. 28, at Mountain Valley Golf Course’s Mountain Course.
• Basketball — Kinder, the basketball chairman, said District 11 will consider using single sites for postseason games instead of continuing the practice of scheduling playoff doubleheaders.
This is mostly likely a direct response to last year’s mayhem at Blue Mountain when several fans wanting to attend the Pottsville-ACC contest never got in the door because the gym was full.
• Swimming and Diving — District 11 will be providing Hy-Tek software for all of its swimming and diving teams for use during the regular season. This should make getting results easier and quicker during dual meets, and ease seeding for postseason swimming and diving competitions.
The District 11 Diving Championships will be held Saturday, Feb. 20, at Emmaus High School, with the District 11 Swimming Championships set for Friday-Saturday, Feb. 26-27, at Parkland High School.
Note: District 11 will hold its winter championships in basketball, wrestling and swimming at the same time, Feb. 26-27, making for a chaotic weekend for participants, schools and the media. Hope we have enough space to bring all the action to you.
• Wrestling — The finals for the District 11 Wrestling Championships will start earlier, most likely at 4 p.m. or 4:30 p.m. Last year’s weather forced the finals to be started earlier, and coaches loved it.
The District 11 Class AA Wrestling Championships will be held at Bethlehem Freedom, with the Class AAA Tournament at Bethlehem Liberty. Saturday’s finals for both tournaments will be held at the same time at Bethlehem Liberty on adjoining mats.
• Baseball — The District 11 Baseball Committee won’t meet until next week, but expect the district to not utilize Coca-Cola Park for its championships in 2016.
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs have home games the entire week that District 11 holds its baseball championships, causing a scheduling conflict.
• Track and Field — The 2016 District 11 Track and Field Championships will be held May 17-18 at Whitehall High School’s Zephyr Sports Complex. The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference hosts this year’s event.
The Schuylkill League will host the 2017 district track championships.
(Boyer is sports editor)