Montpelier
Vermont Principals Association Associate Executive Director Bob Johnson, speaking at the association’s media day on Thursday, said the VPA’s Activity Standards Committee took a supportive view of a proposal forwarded by golf committee co-chairmen Pat Merriam and Paul Wheeler and teaching professional Dave Jankowski earlier this month. The ASC sent the proposal to the Vermont State Athletic Directors Association, which will vote on it in September.
If the VSADA approves, Activity Standards will make the changes official in November. Spring golf would go as planned in 2017, with the first Vermont fall high school golf matches set for later for the start of the 2017-18 school year.
“I think the level of play would be better,” Johnson said. “There is some concern from kids playing a fall sport that they’d have to choose, but they have to choose in the spring, too, and we allow you to have dual sports. If you have a kid who’s a football player and he wants to go and be on the golf team, you work it out.
“I think there are less conflicts than in the spring, because we have more activities in the spring. Let’s see how it works out.”
Merriam, the athletic director at Barre’s Spaulding High and the former AD at South Royalton, said in a phone interview that the biggest challenge has been getting the state’s courses to go along.
That began to change with the input of Jankowski, a teaching pro at St. Johnsbury Country Club and a former assistant golf coach at North Country Union High School. Jankowski persuaded many Vermont courses that host high school squads that a fall season could benefit both team and track. Now, an idea that Merriam’s been discussing for years may finally be ready to move forward.
“This year, any course that hosts an event, (Jankowski) was able to reach and get feedback from,” Merriam said. “Now, more and more, the courses want to cater to members. Membership is down; course members want to be out in the spring and less now. People are heading out to Florida or thinking more about work and less about golf. And courses are accessible this time of year.
“From a course perspective, on the business side, they can have kids playing golf all summer. They can do clinics, can do different things to get them ready for the fall season.”
In a phone interview on Thursday, Jankowski said golf relies upon the quality of its playing surface — the grass of the course — more than any other sport. Springtime conditions in Vermont can’t match those of autumn. Golf course professionals also have many things pulling at them come spring, from setting up their shops and reconnecting with members to getting the course up to snuff, and high school golf sometimes loses as a result.
“I want to be really clear that this change is not about the best and highest caliber of high school players; they’re going to find a way to prepare and get ready,” Jankowski said. “This is really about kids that maybe don’t play a sport or want to give golf a chance, but aren’t avid golfers and don’t have much access. This is an opportunity for these kids to get involved. …
“I’ve had experiences in the spring with kids who decide to come out. It’s cold, it’s windy, it’s rainy and they have no time to practice. The golf course pros are busy. They give it a shot, they have a less-than-pleasant experience and they throw the clubs in the closet and that’s the end of it.”
If Vermont follows through on a move, it would join New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine as New England states with fall high school golf seasons. Connecticut and Rhode Island play spring golf, but Connecticut is reviewing a potential switch of its own. Johnson said the New England Council, which oversees regional championships in several sports, including golf, is also leaning toward moving its tournament to the fall.
In other developments from the VPA’s media gathering:
As of July 1, the association required all high school coaches to have training in cardio pulmonary resuscitation, the use of automated external defibrillators and the creation of emergency action plans. In the same vein, the state’s football coaches must now complete training in USA Football’s Heads Up Football program focusing upon player safety before beginning their seasons.
“This started this year, and it’s all developed toward the safety of student-athletes,” Johnson said.
The VPA is continuing efforts to play all of its soccer championships on turf fields, but it may again fail this season. Johnson said Burlington High has made its surface available, and the association is talking with South Burlington High as well, but most of the state’s colleges with artificial fields can’t commit to the VPA’s Nov. 5 finals date.
Division III played out at Bellows Falls Union High last year, while Whitcomb hosted D-IV. Both drew good reviews for 2015 and could end up hosting again.
“For us, it’s very important that Divisions I and II go on turf, but III and IV prefer not; they want to play on grass,” Johnson said. “A lot of that is because they don’t play on turf during the regular year, although I’ve been telling them that their teams would adjust quickly. And, very honestly, there’s no advantage because both teams haven’t played on it.”
Johnson said field hockey will hold its three title games on Nov. 5 at the University of Vermont, and football will stage its trio of championships at Rutland High School on Nov. 12. Volleyball, which becomes an official varsity sport this year, will hold its final at St. Michael’s College on Nov. 5.
The National Federation of High Schools is on the verge of adopting pitch limits for high school baseball at the national level, something Vermont has done longer than any other state, according to Johnson.
VPA rules, adopted in 2007, call for a varsity limit of 120 pitches a day and a minimum of three days’ rest after throwing at least 76 pitches. NFHS rules would be a bit stricter, Johnson noted, with a 105-pitch limit for 17- and 18-year-olds, lower limits for younger ages and four days’ rest after 76 pitches at the varsity level.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.