NESSA Makes Big Changes to Team Racing Qualification System to Allow for More Sailing
By Airwaves Writer Maggie Lumkes
New England is testing out a new qualification system for High School Team Race Nationals this spring. NESSA has changed their qualification format a few times over the past decade in an effort to best serve its large constituency. The road to qualifying for nationals has always been tough and hard fought for kids from New England. That fact will not change, since there are only 2 berths allocated to NESSA teams for Team Racing Nationals. In New England, only making it to the qualifier is a challenge for most teams.
This fall, at the annual meeting, a proposal was made to do away with the Wild Card Weekend system, and only have the top 8 ranked teams compete for the Mark Trophy (New England Team Race Qualifier). Wild Card Weekend was considered to be the “last chance” regatta for teams to fill the last 4 berths for the Mark Trophy. This was voted down largely because people want more teams racing in high level races at the end of the season, not less. In addition, the Wild Card Weekend was a little “too wild” as one coach put it.
As a result, at that meeting, no decision was made to change the qualification system except to remove the highly controversial “Mallory Protection Clause.” The clause granted a berth to the New England Team Race Qualifier, to a team who qualified for the Fleet Race Nationals, the Mallory Trophy.
The idea behind the Mallory Protection Clause was originally to avoid forcing teams to choose between sailing Mallory Finals (fleet racing) or sail in the Baker Qualifier (team racing). In reality, some of the teams who qualified for Mallory did not have the depth in their team to be a true contender for team racing. As a result, they did poorly at the Team Race Qualifier, and bounced out other teams who may have had better success. The real reason for making a change this year is that since only 8 teams compete for the Mark Trophy at the New England TR Qualifier, the season is over for 90% of NESSA teams in mid May.
This spring, a meeting occurred with a few coaches from teams who are all over the map in terms of competitive ranking. It was decided that NESSA would adopt a new system for this season. At the end of the day, only 2 teams get to attend the Baker, but the big question was “how do we get more teams to sail at a high level at the end of the season?”
The proposed answer came from long-time Tabor Academy Waterfront Director and Head Coach Rob Hurd. In order to understand this system you first must know that NESSA has its own complicated ranking system for each eligible team in the district. The rankings are calculated by a computer formula and by a group of people called the Selection Committee. In this system the top 20 ranked teams will be able to sail in a championship level regatta, and that is certainly better than 8.
“Proposal: (Prep School Hockey Model): Replace the present Team Racing Format with the following:
Schools are ranked first through last using the following system. Rankings are posted on the NESSA standings site.
Computer Ranking: 50% of a school’s overall ranking will be tabulated by a computer program, plan L, tabulating points based upon three criteria.
i. One-third of the points are based upon winning percentage against NESSA schools
ii. One-third of the points are based upon winning percentage against this seasons “top 20” NESSA schools.
iii. One-third of the points are based upon a “strength of schedule” formula that takes into account your opponent’s record.
Selection Committee Rankings: 50% of a school’s overall ranking will be tabulated by the combined rankings of the Selection Committee, which is appointed by the NESSA president. Members of the selection committee will rank all the schools that properly register from first to last. If there is a tie in rankings, then the selection committee ranking will break the tie.
Schools ranked one through eight (1-8) receive automatic bids into the NESSA Open Team Racing Championship.
The next six (6) ranked public schools would receive bids to the NESSA Public Team Racing Championship and the next six (6) ranked independent schools would receive bids to the NESSA Independent Team Racing Championship
– The top two teams at the Open Championship would advance to represent NESSA at the ISSA Team Racing Championship (Baker Trophy).
– The school ranked third at the Open Championship would advance to represent NESSA at the National Invitation Tournament [formally the ACCs] (Founders Trophy)
– The school that wins the Public School Championship would advance to represent NESSA at the National Invitation Tournament [formally the ACCs] (Founders Trophy)
– The school that wins the Independent School Championship would advance to represent NESSA at the Atlantic Coast Challenge (Founders Trophy)”
After the season, I will report back on how the system worked, and again after the annual meeting in the fall to see what changes or improvements will be made.
To follow the action this spring you can check out the following links:
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