The Controversy Over State Tournaments

Throughout the school year, we have made our way through several sports seasons successfully, with social distancing rules, set modifications, and quarantining when necessary. Right now, our Fall II Sports, including girls’ volleyball, football, indoor track, unified basketball, and dance have successfully begun their seasons and competitions. With Fall II just beginning, it may seem too early to make decisions on the spring season, which, beginning April 26th, is more than a month away. And, with the pace of vaccinations rapidly increasing across the state, middle schools set to go back completely in person by April 28th, and talk of bringing the high school back full time, it seems that life now and life on April 28th will look very different. So, it came as a surprise to senior Owen Fanning, captain of the boys’ volleyball team, as well as many other spring sport student-athletes, when the MIAA announced that they would be scheduling only sectional games for the season, without any statewide semi-finals or finals. The sectional games are the same sort of competitions that have taken place for a few sports over the last two seasons. However, during the fall and into the winter seasons, a vaccine had not yet been approved, or had just begun getting distributed. Now, looking into the spring, it seems that a large portion of our population has the prospect of being vaccinated before the school year is over, or by the end of the summer. Even looking just at the teachers at Needham High School, a large percent have already obtained one of both of their shots, and are on their way to being completely vaccinated. In short, the spring should look very different than how the rest of our year has gone, hence the confusion among many of our athletes as to why these decisions were being made so definitively and so early. 

After the tournament management committee of the MIAA made the decision to recommend to the board that they not schedule final and semi-final games, Fanning, as well as many of his teammates, began working together to advocate for the MIAA to reconsider this stance. These members of the boys’ volleyball team worked with student-athletes throughout the school and the state, particularly with the members of the Lincoln-Sudbury lacrosse team, who were helpful in spreading the message. When asked if he was advocating  for semi-final and final competitions to occur, or just for the decision to be reconsidered closer to the start date when there would be more information, Fanning said that he thinks the MIAA is kind of forced to make a decision by this Wednesday, and would not reconvene again to reassess, so he is presently advocating for these tournament games to occur. In his petition, he tells the committee:

During last year’s spring sports season, my fellow student-athletes and I shared in the heartbreak of the Class 2020. We watched helplessly as a pandemic out of anyone’s control took hold, slowly taking away our season in the process. Our only solace was the hope that we would see the fruits of our continued dedication realized this year during the competition for a Massachusetts State Title. Now, we are once again faced with the prospect of being denied the chance to compete; however, now it is clear that this situation is within the control of the MIAA. 

Throughout this past school year, the MIAA has worked to maximize the competition opportunities for Massachusetts student-athletes. Yet now, with new Covid-19 cases declining and effective safety protocols for sports already established, they have prematurely decided against the possibility of a state semi-final and final, citing other summer activities or sporting events as a barrier for finishing the season.

His petition was posted just under two weeks ago, and has since gained significant traction. To further his work with the petition, Fanning also attended and presented at the MIAA Board of Directors meeting this past Friday, March 12th. In order to present at the meeting, he had to email ahead of time and ask for a three-minute slot to speak. He and his coach, Coach Powell, were the only outside speakers to present; however, they seem to have gotten their point across. In his three minutes, Owen emphasized the support for a state tournament throughout the state, telling the board, “It is my sincere hope that the MIAA will approach potential logistics issues that come with a full bracket as obstacles to overcome, rather than barriers to limit competition. I respectfully request that the board consider reinstating the full state finals tournament and let the athletes play it out!” While the board did not reinstate full-state tournaments on the spot, they have sent out an email to school administrators so that they may get a better sense of how the state is leaning. 

Fanning summarized his thoughts on the meeting into eight key points, which he later posted on his Instagram, and was later reposted by many students at Needham High. These were that: 1) the decision negatively impacts many students state-wide; 2) they are not considering student-athletes’ actual opinions; 3) other states nearby are having state tournaments; 4) teams and school districts will be given the option to opt in or out; 5) these would only add two additional games; 6) there is a feasible timeline to finish the season by July 1st, removing some doubts about students not wanting to compete so far into the summer; 7) the voices of many advocating for state tournaments are not being considered; and lastly, 8) there will be fewer COVID-19 cases and more vaccinated individuals, meaning that players would most likely be competing in a safe environment. 

As Fanning says on his recent Instagram post, “This is not just affecting the winners of each division. This is affecting every student-athlete with the goal of winning a state title.” And his petition has shown that feelings about spring competitions are strong not just in Needham, but throughout the state. Many petition signers have listed their reasons for signing, citing themselves, peers, or children who compete in these seasons and who would like to have a chance at the title. Luke Wiese, one of these petition signers, stated, “I am a captain of the Dover-Sherborn varsity lacrosse team and would love a championship.” The Hilltopper reached out to him to follow up on his feelings about the matter, and how the petition was circulating through his town. He told us that Dover-Sherborn has drafted its own version of a letter to the MIAA, which you can read here. Wiese thinks that “what he [Fanning] started is amazing and he has the whole school of Dover-Sherborn behind the cause”. Just like many spring sport athletes in Needham, Wiese also has a link to Fanning’s petition in his Instagram bio. Wiese, and the town of Dover-Sherborn, is just one example of the many supports statewide that Fanning’s petition has garnered, and the many supporters who have been advocating to the MIAA for the same cause as Fanning.

The support for the petition has spread like wildfire, with parents and students alike signing and commenting state-wide, resulting in 4772 signatures of support, 54 members in the Facebook group entitled “Massachusetts Spring Student-Athletes Group for a Full State Tournament” and numerous students reposting and retweeting both his petition and recent Instagram post. Fanning was a little surprised by the amount of support for his petition. In the first several days, he says, support was mostly within Needham. However, support soon spread throughout Massachusetts, especially thanks to Lincoln-Sudbury’s lacrosse team, who were the first outside of Needham to make a big impact on spreading the petition. For Fanning, this was “reassuring to see,” as it confirmed his belief that many student athletes wanted the chance to compete for a state title. It seems as though Fanning has become an advocate for a cause close to the hearts of many, or a cause with which many empathize, especially when spring season athletes missed the entirety of last year's season. Henry Powers,  a senior and distance runner for Needham, stated, “Let the boys play,” and this sentiment was overwhelmingly repeated by other petition-signers in the “Reasons for Signing” section of the Change.org page. Other signers added on, citing various scientific studies, their own thoughts and feelings, or hope that the spring season will be held in a different environment. Olivia Kierstead, member of Needham’s class of 2020 and captain of the 2019 girls volleyball state championship winning team, said, “My state championship game was one of the best moments of my high school career, and these amazing players deserve to have a shot at getting theirs,” a statement which Fanning, as well as many others, whole-heartedly agree with.

As of right now, baseball, golf, lacrosse, tennis, rugby, softball, track and field, unified track and field, and boys’ volleyball have been approved to run in the spring season, which will occur from April 26th - July 3rd, with wrestling still awaiting approval. Hopefully, by April 26th, conditions will be looking different, and these athletes will have the chance to compete for a state semi-final or final championship title. As of Monday, March 15th, school administrators are being surveyed to “gather feedback on potential tournament expansion to state semi-final and final rounds,” according to the MIAA’s recent announcement. The students of the nine approved spring sports await the decision on their tournaments, which is set to be made this coming Wednesday, the 17th. After that, Fanning says that if the decision does not go the way they hope, they will continue to advocate and make their voices heard, though he acknowledges that a decision against having state-tournaments would be a “pretty negative step” for their mission.