The MIAA Board of Directors spent nearly two hours on a frigid Wednesday morning sifting through 26 potential rule change proposals.

When the smoke cleared, the board agreed on 13 of the proposals.

Among the more pressing rule changes was a 22-1 vote to limit girls lacrosse seasons from 20 games to 18. The rationale was that it was consistent with boys lacrosse and also made it easier to get officials to cover a lesser amount of games.

The board voted unanimously to allow schools to schedule a maximum of four girls-only wrestling competition dates that do not count towards their seasonal limitation of 20 competition dates per season.

Another wrestling-based vote which passed allows an athletic director the ability to schedule a double dual, tri-meet or quad on a school night. Under the current rule, a double dual, triangular, quadrangular or tournament meet must be scheduled on a day preceding a non-school day (Friday, Saturday, the day before a vacation or holiday, or during school vacation periods).

The sportsmanship agenda was addressed as well. Now teams in any sports whose players/coaches receive collectively a total of more than four disqualifications during the regular season shall not qualify for the MIAA tournament. An appeal to enter the tournament can be made to a subcommittee of the MIAA Sportsmanship Committee.

On the same subject, the board agreed by a 17-6 vote to change the wording on the current MIAA Student Contest Disqualification form to read as follows: Was the violation for physically assaulting an official? (Rule 49.3.8 – Recommended One Year Suspension. Was the violation for willfully, flagrantly, or maliciously attempting to injure an opponent? (Rule 49.3.9 – Recommended One Year Suspension). If the official ‘recommends’ a One-Year Suspension, it will automatically trigger an Eligibility Appeal Board hearing to review the incident and make a final decision on suspension length.

The board agreed to make minor adjustments in terms of pitch counts. Now it goes as follows at the varsity level: 1‐24 pitches, no days rest, 25‐42 pitches, one day rest, 43‐60 pitches, 61‐78 pitches, three days rest, 79‐115 pitches, four days rest. If a pitcher throws between 79‐95 on the day he last pitched, on his fourth day of rest, he would be eligible to throw a maximum of 25 pitches.

They also removed the rule from the MIAA Handbook which stated that there would be running time after the third quarter if a team has a 12-goal lead. In tennis, 81.1.1 was clarified in that all matches are to be decided on the basis of the best of three sets with a seven-point tiebreaker for any set that goes to 6-6. No longer is there language which dictated that local conditions may cause an adjustment of this rule by prior mutual consent).

The board voted against a quartet of new sports. Cheerleading as a fall sport was denied by a 21-1 vote, girls flag football was 16-6 against, ultimate frisbee lost by a 14-8 vote and orienteering was defeated 18-3-1.

According to the MIAA, orienteering is an individual cross-country running sport with an added component of map navigation. Competitors visit checkpoints shown on a map, in order and the competitor with the fastest time wins.

Orienteering provides a means of engaging more students bringing them into athletics. The sport is said to develop not only map navigation and physical fitness, but also teaches useful life skills relating to identifying goals, planning alternate routes, and recovering from errors.