TRC Revamps Basketball Schedules
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
When it comes to gender equity, the Three Rivers Conference means business.
In an attempt to equal things up between boys and girls sports, the TRC has unveiled a new plan to redo its boys and girls basketball schedules, beginning in the 2000-2001 school year. Tippecanoe Valley, Manchester, Whitko, Northfield, Oak Hill, Rochester, North Miami and Southwood all compete in the TRC.
The plan, modeled after one that the Northeast Hoosier Conference (Columbia City, etc.) will implement next season, will have boys and girls alternating playing on Friday and Saturday nights. Currently, the boys play on Friday and Saturday nights, while the girls are playing during the week and on Saturday mornings and afternoons.
One week may see the boys playing on Tuesday and Saturday, while the girls play on Friday. The two would then switch the following week.
Other conferences, such as the Northern Lakes Conference, Allen County Athletic Conference, the Summit Athletic Conference, the Northeast Corner Conference, the Northern Indiana Conference and the Duneland Conference are in the midst of setting up a similar schedule to comply with Title IX regulations.
"It is the movement in the northern part of the state," Tippecanoe Valley athletic director Duane Burkhart said. "The TRC figured we better approve it now and not be on the outside looking in."
Burkhart said the new plan will provide difficulty with scheduling, but the Viking programs might be better off than most schools, having gone this way already.
"It can present a scheduling problem with our boys games," Burkhart said. "It could also have a trickle down effect with freshman basketball, swimming and wrestling. We will have to find days for those sports.
"We already have nine girls games on Fridays and Saturdays," he said. "Some had zilch. We had slowly made the move that way anyway."
Manchester athletic director Steve Shumaker sees an easier job ahead as far as scheduling is concerned. Of the Squires 11 non-conference games in basketball, seven are against teams in conferences that are adopting this type of schedule. To not make the change would cause bigger problems.
"I've already got five of my boys games tentatively scheduled," Schumaker said. "Particularly from the Northeast Hoosier Conference. Some of those had to go to Tuesday nights."
Shumaker also has a unique situation as far as scheduling is concerned.
"We're the only team in the conference that has gymnastics," he said. "That's an extra sport that takes the gym floor. Then, some of us have swimming. Do we try to schedule everything else on Mondays and Thursdays and the occasional Wednesday?"
One of the big question marks is can Friday night girls games bring in the same type of money as Friday night boys games? Also, will Tuesday night boys games bring in the same type of money that weekend boys games provide?
Shumaker talked a bit about what the changes could mean for revenue.
"It's such an unknown since we've never done it before. There's potential for impact in moving the boys games to Tuesday nights. But we feel it's the right thing to do and if it costs us a little bit, that's the way it is. If we made every decision based on revenue, there would be a lot of things we wouldn't do."
Whitko High School has an interesting situation quite different from most other schools. Athletic director John Mohr was a girls coach at Whitko in the past, and boys basketball coach Fred Fields came from a girls basketball coaching job.
"It's long overdue," Mohr said. "Whitko is very anxious to make this change. Fred Fields is behind it 100 percent, so we're looking forward to the change. Mr. Fields says that we'll never get any argument from him about the change."
This proposal seems to be much like a snowball rolling down a hill. It keeps getting larger and larger and picking up speed. It will be difficult for even the staunchest critics to sidestep the snowball as conferences continue to be swallowed up by the changes. [[In-content Ad]]
When it comes to gender equity, the Three Rivers Conference means business.
In an attempt to equal things up between boys and girls sports, the TRC has unveiled a new plan to redo its boys and girls basketball schedules, beginning in the 2000-2001 school year. Tippecanoe Valley, Manchester, Whitko, Northfield, Oak Hill, Rochester, North Miami and Southwood all compete in the TRC.
The plan, modeled after one that the Northeast Hoosier Conference (Columbia City, etc.) will implement next season, will have boys and girls alternating playing on Friday and Saturday nights. Currently, the boys play on Friday and Saturday nights, while the girls are playing during the week and on Saturday mornings and afternoons.
One week may see the boys playing on Tuesday and Saturday, while the girls play on Friday. The two would then switch the following week.
Other conferences, such as the Northern Lakes Conference, Allen County Athletic Conference, the Summit Athletic Conference, the Northeast Corner Conference, the Northern Indiana Conference and the Duneland Conference are in the midst of setting up a similar schedule to comply with Title IX regulations.
"It is the movement in the northern part of the state," Tippecanoe Valley athletic director Duane Burkhart said. "The TRC figured we better approve it now and not be on the outside looking in."
Burkhart said the new plan will provide difficulty with scheduling, but the Viking programs might be better off than most schools, having gone this way already.
"It can present a scheduling problem with our boys games," Burkhart said. "It could also have a trickle down effect with freshman basketball, swimming and wrestling. We will have to find days for those sports.
"We already have nine girls games on Fridays and Saturdays," he said. "Some had zilch. We had slowly made the move that way anyway."
Manchester athletic director Steve Shumaker sees an easier job ahead as far as scheduling is concerned. Of the Squires 11 non-conference games in basketball, seven are against teams in conferences that are adopting this type of schedule. To not make the change would cause bigger problems.
"I've already got five of my boys games tentatively scheduled," Schumaker said. "Particularly from the Northeast Hoosier Conference. Some of those had to go to Tuesday nights."
Shumaker also has a unique situation as far as scheduling is concerned.
"We're the only team in the conference that has gymnastics," he said. "That's an extra sport that takes the gym floor. Then, some of us have swimming. Do we try to schedule everything else on Mondays and Thursdays and the occasional Wednesday?"
One of the big question marks is can Friday night girls games bring in the same type of money as Friday night boys games? Also, will Tuesday night boys games bring in the same type of money that weekend boys games provide?
Shumaker talked a bit about what the changes could mean for revenue.
"It's such an unknown since we've never done it before. There's potential for impact in moving the boys games to Tuesday nights. But we feel it's the right thing to do and if it costs us a little bit, that's the way it is. If we made every decision based on revenue, there would be a lot of things we wouldn't do."
Whitko High School has an interesting situation quite different from most other schools. Athletic director John Mohr was a girls coach at Whitko in the past, and boys basketball coach Fred Fields came from a girls basketball coaching job.
"It's long overdue," Mohr said. "Whitko is very anxious to make this change. Fred Fields is behind it 100 percent, so we're looking forward to the change. Mr. Fields says that we'll never get any argument from him about the change."
This proposal seems to be much like a snowball rolling down a hill. It keeps getting larger and larger and picking up speed. It will be difficult for even the staunchest critics to sidestep the snowball as conferences continue to be swallowed up by the changes. [[In-content Ad]]