MIAA Cancels Super 8 Tournament
For years now, parents, coaches, athletes, and even high schools have been in a constant battle against the “participation trophy” crowd. Granted, the parents being in this conversation is a little awkward since they also lead the participation trophy crowd. That being said, there are still level-headed parents out there that know it is so wrong and sends the wrong message to the kids if we continue down this path. Well, we level-headed people just suffered another big L, and it is not looking too great. I mean that the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) just agreed to stop the Super 8 tournament for the next 4 years.
What Is The Super 8?
The Super 8 is the State Tournament in Massachusetts for baseball and hockey. No, they aren’t doing away with playoffs and will still have some type of tournament, just not nearly to the scale the Super 8 was. What was so great about the Super 8 was that it didn’t matter if you were a public or private high school; the best teams in the state played each other in this tournament to determine exactly what team was the best. It has been a tournament format for Boys hockey for over 30 years now and was introduced to the Baseball world about 8 years ago.
Why Is It Canceled?
This is the million-dollar question. When I first heard about it, I initially thought it was due to Covid. It makes sense. Four years is probably 3 years too long but alright not going to argue that. NOPE! I was wrong. Covid had absolutely nothing to do with this decision. According to Patriot Ledger’s Eric McHugh, the reason behind the decision is that it in part creates an “Elitest Mantality.”
Take Away
This is just insane. The MIAA Super 8 tournament has been a thing of beauty since its existence. I love it. As a former student-athlete and now High school coach, that tournament holds so much value for the student-athletes. Every winter and spring, stride to make it in and hopefully win the state title. Coming from a public school brings so much pride and bragging rights to all your friends that may be going to private schools for better education and athletics if you go on and win that tournament.
That said, it’s not perfect, nothing in this world is, and I fully understand that. At the moment, it’s only a tournament for Boy’s hockey and baseball. Before this, there were reports out that there was going to be a push for a girl’s Super 8 tournament, but with the recent news that is going by the wayside. As I said, nothing is perfect, and changes need to be made, but canceling it for 4 years doesn’t solve anything. In fact, it only makes it worse. Nice job cancel culture and the MIAA; you screwed it up once again.
-Kevin Perdios (@Perdios95)