The Competitive Equity Modifier used by the MIAA to help establish divisional alignments isn’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea.

That was certainly evident at Tuesday morning’s MIAA Tournament Management Committee meeting.

TMC chairman Shaun Hart spoke of the possibility of changing the way the CEM number would be attained. He mentioned using statistics from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) as a starting point rather than participation numbers as a base.

“Those numbers are not subjective,” Hart explained. “Those are actual numbers that have to be reported to them.”

Not everyone on the committee was receptive to the CEM component playing a large role in alignments. Wellesley athletic director John Brown says there are teams in his league who have little chance of competing due to this, something New Bedford AD Tom Tarpey doubled down on.

“Schools like us have little chance of being moved down,” said Tarpey, whose school enrollment according to CEM numbers put them among the top 15 in the state. “I know in our league Brockton is going through the same problems that we are.”

Hart understood their situation but was quick to add that those schools have the option to appeal down. He went on to say that schools who have successfully appealed their placement in recent years would likely be allowed to stay where they were rather than go through an appeals process.

In other news, the TMC unanimously approved fall formats for soccer, golf, football, cross-country and field hockey. Swimming and volleyball were meeting in the upcoming weeks to finalize their formats for TMC approval.