For invitational tournaments, individual and team awards are to be made at the discretion of the host school.
Traveling trophies will be given in all post-season events: girls' basketball; boys' basketball; wrestling; girls' volleyball and boys' and girls' track & field.
There will be no regular season conference championship awards in any activity of this association. Regular season records will determine post-season seeding in boys' and girls' basketball, and volleyball.
NMSAA member schools will only compete in 7th and 8th grade conference games. Sixth, fifth, & fourth graders, respectively, are allowed to participate only if needed to complete a roster.
Only enrolled students are eligible for participation.
Schools must be members of NMSAA to be included in conference games.
Any team formed after the scheduling meeting will play a non-conference schedule.
The Northern Middle School Athletic Association proudly follows the sportsmanship guidelines set forth by the MHSA. If a coach is ejected from a game, he/she will NOT participate for the remainder of that game and will be suspended for the next regularly scheduled game. If the team is scheduled to play another game on the day the coach was ejected, and the team does not have a certified school representative to take his/her place, the coach may participate in any additional games scheduled on that day but MUST remain seated throughout the contest for basketball, wrestling, and volleyball. He/she must then be suspended from coaching the next contest after the date of suspension.
The following guidelines will be in effect for both boys’ and girls’ basketball. Northern Middle School Athletic Association will follow all MHSA rules unless otherwise stated in the NMSAA constitution.
a) All teams in this division may play man-to-man or zone defense, in both full and half court situations. 7th & 8th grade NO PRESS is allowed once ahead by twenty (20) points.
Note: There will be one warning for an infraction of the above rule; a second infraction will result in a technical foul. Host schools are responsible for informing officials of NMSAA basketball rules.
b) A 30-point Mercy Rule will go into effect after halftime. The game will continue with a running clock except for time-outs and/or injury.
c) A Teams & B Teams will play seven (7) minute quarters. C Teams will play six (6) minute quarters. Overtime periods will be three (3) minutes in length for all levels.
7th grade games will be played first unless agreed upon by both schools prior to the day of the event.
d) “Fifth” quarters will be played upon agreement by both schools.
e) Girls’ participants will use the regulation “girls’” basketball in all contests.
f) Boys’ participants will use the regulation “boys’” basketball in all contests.
g) Schools are responsible to send a roster of players, with uniform colors and numbers, to each divisional school and NMSAA President or other designated officer by the Wednesday before the first weekend of play or the first game (or any game thereafter) would be forfeited until the roster has been turned in to the designated officer. A player may be listed on only one roster. Rosters may be amended due to injury, transfer, ineligibility, or by an appeal to league president for special circumstances. This roster must include both “dark” and “light” uniform numbers and grade of each participant. If schools do not have both “dark” and “light” uniforms, they are to designate this on their rosters. Players listed on the 8th grade roster may only play on the 8th grade team. No roster may be amended after the 21st day after the 1st day of official practice. Any team using an unofficial roster is subject to forfeiting their contest.
h) If a 7th grade team has to use one (1) eighth grader throughout the season, that eighth grader will be allowed to play on that 7th grade team in the 7th grade tournament. If a 7th grade team utilizes more than one (1) eighth grader on its team throughout the season, that team must play in the 8th grade tournament. Seventh graders may play on the 8th grade tournament team. Players listed on the 7th grade roster may only play on the 7th grade team. Teams may include 5th and 6th grade players on team rosters at the discretion of the individual school based upon student ability and school need. Exceptions to this rule may be made at the tournament seeding meeting. Students may play only on one tournament team.
i) All member teams will play each other at least once during the season. Each year home games will be rotated. The first scheduled game (against each opponent) will be counted as the conference game.
POST-SEASON TOURNAMENT:
Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball Divisional Tournament Seeding
The following guidelines will be in effect for the boys’ and girls’ divisional basketball tournament seeding:
Teams will be seeded at the pre-tournament meeting by virtue of the following, in this order:
1) Records of the first conference games played against each member school.
2) Head-to-head competition
3) Coin flip
PLAYOFFS/FINAL FOUR:
-All preliminary and “final four” tournament officials for basketball will be MOA officials.
-The playoffs will begin on a weekday prior to the Divisional “Final Four” scheduled for a Saturday.
-A team fee of $100.00 for the Final Four Tournament will be paid to the host school.
-Schools that host the preliminary and final four tournaments are responsible to provide all necessary personnel to run the tournament. These personnel must be experienced.
The following guidelines will be in effect for wrestling.
Northern Middle School Athletic Association will follow all MHSA rules unless otherwise stated in the NMSAA constitution
Member Schools: Browning, Choteau, Conrad, Cut Bank, De La Salle, East Glacier, Fairfield, Havre, Rocky Boy and Shelby.
Non Member Schools: Belt, Cascade, CJI, Fort Benton, Heart Butte, Simms, Stanford-Geyser, Townsend and Valier.
Divisional Tournament Name: Northern/Southern Middle Schools Athletic Association Divisional Wrestling Tournament.
Boys weight classes are as follows: 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 150, 165, 185, and 285.
Girls weight classes are as follows: 72, 80, 87, 95, 102, 117, 125, 135, 145, 165, 180, 200, HWT
Eligible wrestling participants: All 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade students.
Equipment: Appropriate shoes and no loose fitting t-shirts. Head gear and hair nets are required as per MHSA rules.
Bouts will consist of three (3) one and a half (1:30) minute periods. The overtime periods will be as follows: 1:00, :30, :30, and :30 (second sudden death).
Northern/Southern Divisional Tournament:
Wrestlers will be seeded at a seeding meeting using the following criteria. All criteria should be considered in seeding.
1. Head-to-Head
2. Record against common opponents
3. Record at Weight
4. Past Divisional Placing
5. Common Sense
A committee of 3 coaches not involved in the seeding will make the final decision if no decision is reached within 10 minutes.
The seeding meeting will be held Saturday morning at the tournament before wrestling commences.
Wrestlers will weigh-in on site of the divisional tournament and use their scratch weight.
The Northern/Southern Divisional Tournament will be hosted on a rotating basis. Beginning in 2000, the rotations will begin with the South. In the event a team cannot host, then it will be offered to another team in that division. The geographical divisions will be as follows: North – Browning, Chester, Conrad, Cut Bank, De La Salle, East Glacier, Heart Butte, Shelby and Valier. South – Belt, Cascade, Choteau, Fairfield, Fort Benton, Simms, Stanford-Geyser.
A Team may score any twenty (20) wrestlers for the team awards.
All wrestlers (Varsity and JV) will be eligible for individual placing and awards.
All other rules will follow the National Federation Wrestling rules.
Entry Fees for invitational meets will be $15.00. Schools that host an invitational meet will be exempt from paying any entry fees during the regular season. Entry fees for all teams of the Divisional meet will be $50.00.
8th grade will play the first game and 7th grade the second game.
Four 8 minute quarters, with regular clock, at a 30 point difference the clock will then be switched to running clock, stopping for time outs, injuries, and scores. The clock will restart at the snap of the ball or as soon as the first touch is made after the kick.
7th grade- line stunts will be allowed, must bring linebackers to the line of scrimmage if stunting.
8th grade- blitzing will be allowed.
The 25 second count will be enforced.
Point After Attempt (PAT) field goal kicks will be worth 2 points. Conversions ("two-point conversions") will be worth 1 point.
7th grade- no rushing the punter. Offense must declare if they are punting the ball. The two outside players may release at the snap of the ball.
8th grade- normal kicking game.
Normal kick-off opportunities.
Coaches may be on the field for the first game of the year.
Each team will be given 3 timeouts per half.
There will be a five minute halftime.
There will be ten minutes in between games.
Unless listed above, high school football rules will be followed.
The following guidelines will be in affect for girls’ volleyball:
Northern Middle School Athletic Association will follow all MHSA rules unless otherwise stated in the NMSAA constitution
I. Gameplay
a) Regular season play will consist of multi-team, round-robin jamborees at a host site with at least two (2) nets. Three (3) nets would recommended, not required, when C-Team (6th Grade) teams are participating. Conference games may be rescheduled only by mutual agreement of both teams.
b) Regular season matches will consist of two (2) games per match. The team listed first will have first serve and first warmup. Each game will be capped at 25 (not required to win by two (2) points). Additionally, each match will have a 45-minute time limit with one (1) minute between each game, and coaches will be allowed two (2) 30-second timeouts per game. A win/loss record will not be kept.
e) Warm-up time before all regular-season matches shall be 5 minutes: 2 min., 2 min., 1 min. (serve).
c) Each school is responsible for providing a line judge when playing both at home and away matches.
II. Serving
a) In A-Team play, all servers must serve behind the end-line and foot-faults will be called by officials at all times during the regular season and tournament play.
b) In B-Team play, foot faults wil not be called during the regular season, but will be called during final tournament play. Players must be in contact with the service line to serve, but may step over or in front of it. Coaches should set goal for B-Team servers to serve from behind the line by tournament play. Officials will call foot-faults during final tournament play.
c) In C-Team play, no foot-faults will be called understanding that players serve from where they need in order to be successful. C-Team servers will step back upon every service after that as they score or their team scores with play. Coaches should establish goal for C-Team players to be able to serve at or near the end-line by the conclusion of the season.
III. Tournaments
a) Divisional Volleyball matches will consist of the best 2 out of 3 games played to 25 (win by 2) with a cap of 27 (can win 27-26). The “if necessary” 3rd game will be played to 15 (win by 2) with a cap of 17 (can win 17-16).
b) Seeding for the tournament will be determined for each league (A, B, C) by a coaches' survey to be approved by NMSAA board members at the seeding meeting. All teams will participate in the final tournaments.
c) Schools are responsible to send a roster of players, with uniform colors and numbers, to each divisional school and the NMSAA President or other designated officer by the Wednesday before the first weekend of play or the first game (or any game thereafter) would be forfeited until the roster has been turned in to the designated officer. A player may be listed on only one (1) roster. Rosters may be amended due to injury, transfer, ineligibility, or by an appeal to league president for special circumstances. This roster must include grade of each participant. Member schools may include 5th and 6th grade players on team rosters at the individual school's discretion.
IV. Fees
a) Any MOA officials arranged through NMSAA shall be paid the subvaristy rate based on the current fee schedule set by the MHSA. An all day tournament (more than 3 matches) would be equal to the current subvarsity rate for an all day tournaments set forth by the MHSA. Mileage will be the going rate set forth by the MHSA for both driver & passenger.
h) Entry fees for invitational meets will be $15. Schools hosting an invitational meet during the season will be exempt from paying any entry fees for invitational meets. Entry fees for all participants at the Divisional meet will be $50.
i) All final tournament officials (umpires and referees) for volleyball must be MOA officials.
j) Schools hosting during the final tournament are responsible to provide all necessary personnel to run the tournament. These personnel must be experienced.
The following guidelines will be in affect for boys’ and girls’ track & field:
Northern Middle School Athletic Association will follow all MHSA rules unless otherwise stated in the NMSAA constitution.
a) Students eligible: 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students.
b) Equipment: Each participant must wear some type of tennis or track shoes. Spikes or cleats are allowed. Participants are not allowed to run in bare feet, stocking feet, or taped socks. Each team should wear a distinctive uniform.
c) Divisions: 8th Grade Boys and Girls.
7th Grade Boys and Girls.
*A 7th grade participant may be moved up to the 8th grade division. However, he or she must compete in that same division for the entire meet.
8th grade participants will not move down to the 7th grade division for any reason whatsoever.
d) Entries: Each participant may enter a maximum of five (5) events including any relays. This rule applies to all regular season and Divisional meets.
e) Events: The following are track events available for both boys and girls:
BOYS GIRLS
100 meter dash 100 meter dash
200 meter dash 200 meter dash
200 meter hurdles (all levels - bottom click) 200 meter hurdles (all levels - bottom click)
110 meter hurdles (8th - 3 clicks up, 7th 1 click up) 100 meter hurdles (8th - 1 click up, 7th - bottom click)
400 meter dash 400 meter dash
400 meter relay 400 meter relay
1600 meter relay 4x4 1600 meter relay 4x4
800 meter run 800 meter run
1600 meter run 1600 meter run
Long Jump Long Jump
Triple Jump Triple Jump
High Jump High Jump
Pole Vault Pole Vault
Shot Put (8 lbs.) Shot Put (8 lbs.)
Discus (HS girls’ discus) Discus (HS girls’ discus)
Mini-Javelin (450 gram Finn flier) Mini-Javelin (450 gram Finn flier)
f) The established opening heights have been:
A and B: Pole Vault - Boys & Girls = 5’0”
A: High Jump - Boys = 4’0” A: High Jump - Girls = 3’6”
B: High Jump - Boys = 3’6” B: High Jump - Girls = 3’6”
g) Divisional Meet Awards: Individual ribbons will be awarded to the first six (6) places in each event. Scoring for the divisional meet will be 10-8-6-4-2-1 for team scores. There will be a combined team traveling trophy given for both boys’ and girls’ team scores.
h) Entry fees for invitational track meets will be $15. Schools that host an invitational meet will be exempt from paying any entry fees for invitational meets. Entry fee for Divisional meet will be $50 for all participants.
Annual dues of $50.00 may be charged each school, as needed, to pay for officers and awards. Dues will be billed so payment can be received by the secretary-treasurer by June 1st of each year. Officers will be paid a stipend of $100.00 for the president and $100.00 for the secretary/treasurer each year at the spring meeting.
All admission charges will be the property of host schools.
Changes in the by-laws may be made by a two-thirds majority vote of the member schools.