HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL GETS UNDERWAY

The 2021 Minnesota State High School basketball season is underway. With the current Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic going on schools are rethinking their media and fan policies.

It is up to each school conference on who they will allow into the game to cover, watch the games.

All teams are playing a reduced schedule this year because of the pandemic. Also, all players, coaches and officials are required to wear face masks while playing.

LONG TIME BASKETBALL REFEREE JIMMY ROBINSON HAS PASSED AWAY

Jimmy Robinson who was a basketball referee passed away on Monday Nov. 30, 2020. Robinson was 88 years old.

Robinson was a native of St. Paul, MN he graduated from Mechanic Arts High School in 1951. He was one of the first black basketball officials from Minnesota.

Robinson was the state coordinator of basketball officials since 1991. He was also a board member of the MSHSL from 1988 through 1992.

MINNESOTA HAS MOVED SOME FALL SPORTS TO THE SPRING DUE TO COVID-19

One Aug. 4, the Minnesota State High School League announced that high school football and volleyball have been moved to the spring due to Covid-19. 

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune: Starting Aug 17, is the first day of practice for boys’ and girls’ soccer and cross-country, girls’ tennis and girls’ swimming and giving, with 20 percent shorter in duration and with 30 percent fewer competitions, limited to one or two per week. Postseason plans to be determined later. Cross-country meets cannot exceed three teams; tennis and swimming can only hold dual competitions.”

Starting in mid-March: Football season of six-regular season games, no scrimmages. Volleyball season will be reduced by 20 percent in length and with 30 percent fewer games, no multiteam invitationals. For both sports, fall practice permitted, postseason plans are to be determined.” 

SPORTING EVENTS COME TO A STOP DUE TO COVID-19

The current sports world as we know it now is up in the air. There is a new virus going around the world -- COVID-19. Effects of COVID-19 virus has had to take a toll on different people that are affected, not only as a health concern but to the way and events that have been postponed or canceled because of the new virus. 

In Minnesota and around the country On Wednesday, March 11, sporting events started postponing or canceling their seasons and post-season tournaments.

COVID-19 is a new illness that can affect your lungs and airways. It's caused by a virus called coronavirus.

Symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are a cough, high temperature and shortness of breath. Simple measures like washing your hands often with soap and water can help stop viruses like coronavirus (COVID-19) spreading. There’s no specific treatment for coronavirus (COVID-19). Treatment aims to relieve the symptoms until you recover. It's not known exactly how coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads from person to person, but similar viruses are spread in cough droplets.”

Here is a growing list of sporting events around the United States and in Minnesota have been canceled because of COVID-19. 

According to Michelle Griffith of the Minneapolis Star Tribune,“NBA postponed its season, effectively canceling all Minnesota Timberwolves games at Target Center indefinitely.

NHL postponed its season, which renders the Minnesota Wild inactive.

The NCAA canceled men's and women's basketball championships (March Madness), along with all remaining winter and spring sports championships.

U.S. Bank Stadium was scheduled to host the NCAA Wrestling Championship, but the event, which was expected to draw 45,000 attendees per session, is canceled.

The Big Ten Conference announced delays in "all on- and off-campus recruiting activities for the foreseeable future."

The Boys Grade State Basketball Championship, which would have had 873 teams playing in 22 locations across the state on March 14 and 15, is postponed.

The Minnesota State High School League canceled all prep tournaments, which includes the girl’s state basketball tournament.”

Also, the MSHSL Boys’ State Basketball Tournament which was scheduled to be played March 18-21 has also been canceled. 

2013 MINNESOTA STATE F.I.R.S.T. ROBOTICS TOURNAMENT

Williams Arena was the site of the 2013 Minnesota F.I.R.S.T. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) State Robotics Tournament. 

According to the U.S. F.I.R.S.T. Web site: “FIRST was founded in 1989 to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology.” Based in Manchester, NH, the 501c not-for-profit public charity designs accessible, innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math, while building self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills.”

This year 30 teams from all across the state will gather at the University of Minnesota for the tournament. This year flying discs, pyramid climbing focus of challenge.  

According to Wikipedia: “Ultimate Ascent is played with two alliances, one red and one blue. Each alliance has three teams. During the qualification rounds at competition the matches are generated such that teams do not play two matches too quickly or compete with or against another team too often. Elimination alliances are then selected in a two-round serpentine draft by the top eight seeded teams before the elimination rounds. Each team's robot can be identified by its bumpers which must have the team's number visible from any side of the robot. The bumpers are also colored to match the alliance that the robot is on. The winning alliance is determined by the team with the most points at the conclusion of the match.”

Teams were split up into two different alliances. There were three different teams in one alliance. So six different robots were on the floor at one time. In the qualifying rounds teams looked to throw Frisbees into a goal. As each teams competed against each other they were awarded points based on how many Frisbees they were able to score.

Inside the arena there was a pyramid that the robots could climb up and get to the top of it.  

I thought that all of the robots were very cool. It takes a lot of time and energy for students to build and test and maintain their robots throughout the year.  

I thought that the fans that showed up really had fun. They cheered for their alliances.

Throughout the day I was able to meet and talk to some of the students that participate in the Robotic tournament.  

Digi-Key brought out its King Robota robot as it danced to music that entertained the fans.  

Then it was back to more matches.  

There was a one-hour lunch break where teams and the media spread out across campus to eat lunch at any one of the numerous restaurants around the area it was back for more competition.

After the lunch break they finished the last few rounds of the qualification round.  

The students and the fans all seemed to enjoy themselves throughout the day. There was music playing consistently throughout the event.

Teams would be able to get points if the were also able to climb the pyramid on each end of the arena.

There was an Alliance Selection for the championship rounds. According to the State Robotics  Program, “The top four teams will be selected based on win-loss record and game point totals during the preliminary rounds. The top four teams will then select alliance partners for the semifinals and championship. Semifinal and championship rounds will be best two-out-of-three.”

In the semifinals both teams continued to score baskets as they did in the earlier rounds.

In the first round of the finals both teams continued to score points by climbing and throwing disks in the goal.

Before the championship match each team inspected their own robot with the head official to go over their robot.

Then it was time for the final match.

The teams that took second place were from Nevis 3102, Prior Lake 2169 and New London-Spicer 3276.

The first place alliance was Irondale 2052, Math and Science Academy 2175, and Becker 4607.

I had fun at my fist US FIRST Robotic State Tournament.   

MINNESOTA STATE ROBOTICS PRESS RELEASE

By Howard W. Voigt:

State Robotics Tournament

Flying discs, pyramid climbing focus of challenge; King Robota is coming
 
Plastic discs will be flying and pyramids will be climbed at Williams Arena on Saturday, May 18, with
the action undertaken by robots designed, built and controlled by 30 teams of Minnesota high school students.
 
The Minnesota State Robotics Tournament is in its second year and was the first of its kind in the nation
sponsored by a high school activities association. It will be conducted on the famous raised floor of “The Barn.”

Students on 30 teams throughout Minnesota will compete to claim the state championship.
 
Ultimate Ascent is the name of the game, the same game that robotics teams throughout the country
played this year. Designed and managed by FIRST®, — For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and
Technology — the game involves two competing alliances of three teams attempting to score as many discs into their goals as possible in a two minute and 15 second match using their remote-controlled robots they designed and built.
 
The game is played on a level, enclosed area 27-by-54 feet in dimension. The matches begin with a 15-
second autonomous period in which the robots operate independently of drivers. Discs scored during this period are worth extra points. The goals are placed at different heights and the higher the goal, the higher the score.
 
The matches conclude with student drivers attempting to guide their robots up pyramids placed on each
half of the competition area. The higher a robot climbs, the more points are earned.
 
The qualified teams represent the top 30 Minnesota teams from various FIRST® regional competitions.
 
Minnesota has the third largest FIRST® Robotics Competition state contingent in the nation with 180 teams,
surpassing even Texas which currently ranks fourth. Minnesota has the most teams per capita of any state in the nation. There are more FIRST® Robotics teams in Minnesota than boys’ hockey teams (155).
 
Here is an alphabetic list of the 30 qualified teams, preceded by each team’s FIRST®-designated
number: 3313 Alexandria, 4607 Becker, 2225 Champlin Park/Anoka STEP, 2531 Chaska, 3056
Crookston, 2512 Duluth East, 2220 Eagan, 3130 East Ridge of Woodbury, 2502 Eden Prairie, 1816 Edina,
4539 Frazee, 2705 The International School of Minnesota of Eden Prairie, 2052 Irondale of New Brighton,
2977 La Crescent-Hokah, 2526 Maple Grove, 2175 Math & Science Academy of Woodbury, 2538 Morris Area, 3102 Nevis, 3276 New London-Spicer, 2501 North of North St. Paul, 3038 North Branch/Chisago Lakes Area, 4624 Owatonna, 2169 Prior Lake, 3747 RiverBend Academy/Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial, 3244 St. Cloud Schools, 2518 Simley of Inver Grove Heights, 3007 Tartan of Oakdale, 3277 Thief River Falls, 4656 Two Harbors, and 2177 Visitation of Mendota Heights.
 
Admission to the tournament is free. The schedule: Opening Ceremonies at 8:30 a.m.; Preliminary
Rounds involving randomly drawn alliances from 8:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 2:45 p.m.; Semifinal
Rounds in best 2-out-of-3 competition involving the top four teams after choosing their own alliance partners
begins at 3:15 p.m.; the Championship, also best 2-out-of-3, follows the semifinals after a short break; Awards will be presented at about 4:30 p.m.
 
The inaugural 2012 State Robotics Tournament was won by the three-team alliance led by Park of
Cottage Grove with the Prior Lake and Stillwater Area teams as alliance partners. The 2012 challenge was
Rebound RumbleSM and involved the robots shooting mini basketballs and attempting to balance robots on
pivoting bridges.
 
Additional fun facts about Minnesota robotics:
 
• The growth of robotics programs in the state has been exponential. In 2006 there were only two
teams; 16 in 2007; 54 in 2008; 81 in 2009; 105 in 2010; 131 in 2011; 153 in 2012; and 180 in 2013,
a 15 percent increase over the year before.
 
• Roughly half of Minnesota’s teams are located outside of the Twin Cities metropolitan area and 56
percent of Minnesota’s high school students have access to a FIRST® Robotics team at their school
or at a partnering school.
 
• The 10,000 Lakes/North Star Double-Regional is one of the largest FIRST® Robotics events outside
of the World Championship, with a combined total of 123 teams that competed March 28-30 this
year at Williams and Mariucci arenas. Ninety-seven teams competed at the combined Lake
Superior/North Star Double Regional March 7-9 this year at the DECC in Duluth.
 
• Edina is in its eighth year of competition, the longest running robotics program in the state. The
program was initiated by a junior who built the robot in his dad’s kitchen. Eighty percent of Edina’s
robotics team graduates pursue higher education in either engineering or science.
 
• Event sponsor, Digi-Key Corporation, based out of Thief River Falls, Minn., is the global leader in
electronic component selection, availability and delivery with more than 3 million products from
over 650 quality name-brand manufacturers at http://www.digikey.com. Digi-Key’s special guest,
King Robota (www.kingrobota.com), an 8-foot tall robot that interacts with humans, is also making
an appearance at this year’s event. Digi-Key is also sponsoring the Innovator of the Year awards and
souvenir programs for all participants.
 
• League staff conducted a workshop about Minnesota’s inaugural state tournament at the 2012 annual
summer conference of the National Federation of State High School Associations. Several states
have followed up with inquiries and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletics Conference (League
counterpart) became the second state association in the country to sponsor a state tournament. It was
held May 11 in Hartford and involved 41 teams. At least five other state associations are at various
stages of consideration of similar events.
 
— 30 —

Prairie Seeds initiates corrective plan, cancels basketball season

By JASON GONZALEZ, Star Tribune

 Academic concerns led to the decision, and the charter school seeks a new AD to revamp its programs.

Prairie Seeds Academy's principal canceled its varsity boys' basketball season and is looking for a new athletic director in the wake of last fall's disqualification of the charter school's soccer team from the state tournament.

"I can't go back and redo things. But going forward I have to double-check stuff," said Principal Choua Yang, who is also the acting athletic director. "I've learned that with athletics stuff, you can't make an error. You can't take chances. I've learned a lot and I've grown a lot."

Yang's restructuring has entailed removing former athletic director Youssef Darbaki, who remains as the boys' soccer coach; cancelling the varsity boys' basketball season because of academic concerns; re-evaluating all roles on the athletic staff; hiring a full-time athletic coordinator, Marcia Abbott, to help oversee paperwork and planning, and building a corrective plan of action that she said was submitted to an attorney for the Minnesota State High School League.

Darbaki, who coached the soccer team since it began varsity play in 2010, could not be reached for comment. The team won the state Class 1A title in 2010 and finished as runner-up in 2011.

The changes stem from the aftermath of a fight that broke out during a section final soccer match between Prairie Seeds and Totino-Grace last October.

Despite winning the game, Prairie Seeds lost its spot in the state tournament when the MSHSL investigated the fight and found the team had been playing with an ineligible player.

It marked the third time Prairie Seeds boys' soccer had tangled with the league over player eligibility.

The Brooklyn Park-based school was the subject of a closed-door session during the high school league's Dec. 6 board meeting. Lawyers from the MSHSL and Prairie Seeds convened after the meeting and Yang got the message the school needed to improve its standing or lose membership.

Yang said her desire to be in good standing with the league prompted her to cancel the boys' basketball season. Her new role in athletics found that the team was academically underachieving, so she pulled the plug with hopes of improving the players' efforts in the classroom.

"We're taking this route and doing this process because we want the kids to be able to compete in the future," Yang said. "The most legitimate thing for me to do is to show how we can improve as a program."

Dave Stead, the executive director of the MSHSL, said he was encouraged to learn Prairie Seeds is taking action to right its wrongs. Stead, who was part of a closed-door meeting, said some action has been taken since the meeting.

"Some things need to be addressed and they need to do that," Stead said. "I'm happy they are taking a good strong look at their program."

Basketball tournaments formats, locations modified for 2014 and beyond

Basketball tournaments formats, locations modified for 2014 and beyond

Beginning in 2014 and for three years, the boys’ basketball tournament will be played one week before the girls’ basketball tournament, and the girls will play a Tuesday through Saturday schedule. During those same years the boys will play a familiar Wednesday through Saturday schedule.

 

In addition to the flip-flop of weeks, the use of Mariucci Arena for both tournaments will come into play. In 2017 and 2018 the formats will revert to the traditional schedule of playing the girls’ tournament first and then the boys’ tournament.

 

The Minnesota State High School League Board of Directors approved the modifications to the tournaments at its meeting today. The modifications became necessary when Target Center entered into an agreement to host a new collegiate hockey conference tournament during the traditional week of the boys’ basketball tournament. Target Center has served as the primary host for the boys’ tournaments since 2003 and for the girls’ tournament since 2004.

 

Beginning in 2014, Target Center will host the Division I National Collegiate Hockey Conference tournament through 2018. The dates of that tournament fall in either the second or third full week of March.

 

An additional complicating factor involved the availability of Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota which has served as host of 10 quarterfinal games on Wednesday and Thursday for both tournaments since the semifinals and championship games have been played at Target Center. University officials have elected to reserve some dates at Williams Arena in future years to potentially host early-round games in either the NCAA or NIT tournaments for its women’s and men’s basketball teams.

The Board accepted the favored staff recommendation of switching the order of the two basketball tournaments for three years (2014-16) and then reverting to the traditional girls first-boys second format for the following two years (2017-18). The decision also allows eight teams from four classes to come to Minneapolis for the tournaments, the option preferred by both the Board and coaches associations over playing quarterfinal games at various Minnesota sites and then bringing only four teams in each class to Minneapolis for semifinals and championships.

 

From 2014 through 2016, the proposal accepted by the Board will allow the boys to utilize both Williams Arena and Target Center Wednesday through Saturday. The following week, when the new collegiate hockey tournament will be played at Target Center, the girls will primarily utilize Williams Arena and Mariucci Arena on the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota. Target Center will be utilized for some quarterfinal games on Tuesday of that week.

 

For 2017 and 2018, the girls’ tournament will be played first, using the same venues and schedule during the week that Target Center hosts the hockey tournament. The boys’ tournament will be played Wednesday through Saturday the following week.

 

Contractual arrangements with the venues must still be worked out, and staff will need to complete the details of which classes will play when and where.

“This solution is not ideal, but it is the least complicated to implement and meets the preference of the Board and the basketball coaches associations to maintain an eight-team Twin Cities tournament for all classes,” explained Associate Director Kevin Merkle who oversees boys’ basketball.

“We worked diligently with officials at both Target Center and the university to secure dates, then developed and shared various scenarios with a core group of coaches, region secretaries and athletic directors,” added Associate Director Lisa Lissimore who oversees girls’ basketball.

“League staff spent weeks working on this issue and presented the Board with two options,” said executive Director Dave Stead. “The other option was to combine genders and play the tournaments over that same two-week period, but that would have still necessitated the requirement of using Tuesdays and Mariucci Arena.”

NEW RULES REGARDING HEAD INJURIES FOR HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES

According to the Minnesota State High School League there are going to be new rules and regulations regarding head injuries. Last year too many student athletes were getting head injuries.

The Minnesota State High School League will come out with the new rules and regulations that each coach and Athletic Director will have to go through after a student has received a head injury.

MINNESOTA STATE OFFICIALS LOOKING AT TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR STREAKING

Streaking at high school football games this season is on the rise across Minnesota. There is concern among high school administrators and local law enforcement officials that this problem is getting out of hand.

They want tougher penalties for people who are found streaking at high school contests. At St. Francis High School this has become such a problem the district has pressed criminal charges against people who are found streaking at high school games.

FOUR TEAMS HAVE FOUND NEW HOMES

from JOHN MILLEA OF THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

The Minnesota State High School League has placed Edina, Hopkins, Minnetonka and Wayzata into the Lake Conference, effective with the 2010-11 school year. Those four schools currently belong to the Classic Lake, which will dissolve at the end of 2009-10.

The Lake Conference will become a 12-team league this fall when the new Chanhassen High School opens. But Chanhassen and Chaska, sister schools in District 112, have applied for membership in the Missota Conference for 2010-11.

During a meeting last week with the MSHSL placement committee, Lake officials said they were willing to accept two Classic Lake schools as new members. All four Classic Lake schools had earlier applied for membership in the Lake as well as the Northwest Suburban Conference; both leagues denied those requests by all four schools. The Northwest Suburban has accepted Armstrong from the Classic Lake for membership in 2010-11.