New Jersey High School Coaches Write Letter Protesting Elimination of Consolation Finals at Meet of Champions
Last week, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) voted to eliminate consolation finals from its end-of-season swimming championship meet. That means that only eight swimmers will return for finals in each individual event (and eight teams for relays), eliminating a host of opportunities for racing in a high-profile environment.
Unsurprisingly, the state’s high school swim coaches were angered by the decision, and they expressed their displeasure in a letter to NJSIAA. The 76 coaches who signed the document said they felt “bewilderment and disappointment” at the format changes that would move New Jersey away from typical national practices for such a meet. They claimed the decision was “arbitrary” but that it would “diminish the student-athletes’ experiences.”
The letter was sent Monday, and as of Friday midday, the coaches have yet to receive a response. The introduction to the letter said:
“We, the undersigned New Jersey high school swim coaches, write to express our shared bewilderment and disappointment at the recently approved changes to the NJSIAA Swimming Championship formats, including and especially the elimination of the Meet of Champions consolation finals.
“We have to believe the NJSIAA would never intentionally diminish the student-athletes’ experience, but that is exactly what this will do. Regardless of what the NJSIAA hopes to accomplish with this arbitrary decision, we are quite certain it will be a detriment to New Jersey’s high school swimmers and fear it will ruin the most highly anticipated event of the season. What gain could possibly be worth that cost?
“It must be more than wanting to make the Meet of Champions ‘a really class event,’ as NJ.com reported June 7. The Meet of Champions already is a high-level meet that has consistently produced exciting races and fast swimming in both Championship and Consolation Finals. Eliminating the consolation finals is more likely to detract from the meet’s allure than it is to enhance anything.
“And it must be more than a simple desire to apply the same format to all sports. Different sports have different championship formats for the very reason that they are different sports. A prelim/final format with at least two finals heats (‘A/B,’ ‘Championship/Consolation,’ etc.) is Swimming’s championship meet ‘industry standard” for secondary-aged athletes and older. This is true for competitions sponsored by USA Swimming, the NCAA, FINA and the IOC. Change for the sake of conformity among unique sports seems misguided.”
Later on, the letter presents evidence that the elimination of consolation finals will hurt participation in the Meet of Champions, that swimmers will lose out on important opportunities for development in their careers and that the decision will disproportionately affect non-year-round swimmers who only compete during the high school season.
It’s worth noting that New Jersey does not determine its high school team titles at the Meet of Champions, instead awarding the honor based on dual meet results, but the meet still represents the all-important culmination of the season.
The full text of the letter sent to NJSIAA is available here.
Bravo coaches! Continue to fight for your swimmers and don’t let NJSIAA take this away from them.