Volleyball State Tournament to Move to Garland
By Peter Contreras, Assistant Athletic Director | Monday, August 27, 2012 3:23 PM
Wow. Where did the summer go?
Talk about days and months running together. If parents and the public really knew how much work is done during the summer in preparation for each upcoming school year, I think they just might be amazed.
Like you, August arrived sooner than I wanted and since no one bothered to ask if I was ready, forward is the only direction acceptable. For the 2012-13 school year, I have key changes to highlight in the sports where I serve as your UIL director. Here are few of those changes.
Volleyball
For the first time in the history of UIL volleyball, the state tournament will not be played in the Austin area.
The F-1 races in Austin are scheduled for the same week as the state volleyball tournament, Nov. 15-17. Knowing that and the amount of people expected to come to Austin for the F-1 races, the UIL staff determined a move outside of the area would serve our schools and players better.
Hotel rooms were the big issues that weekend. A change of venue ensures that the UIL can now secure adequate accommodations for our schools. And spectators also will be able to reserve rooms.
The state tournament will be moved to the Curtis Culwell Center in. The Garland ISD facility will be a great venue and will continue to offer our schools and athletes a top-notch arena to showcase their talents.
The tournament schedule remains the same as last year.
Conference 2A and 4A will play on Thursday. Game times will be 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. for Conference 2A and 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. for Conference 4A.
The remaining three conferences will play on Friday. Conference 1A will play at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., Conference 3A at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., and Conference 5A at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Finals on Saturday will feature 1A at 9 a.m., 2A at 11:30 a.m., 3A at 2 p.m., 4A at 4:30 p.m. and 5A at 7 p.m.
Wrestling
This year will be a historic one for Texas high school wrestling, with the addition of Conference 4A.
The change has added four additional regional sites. To date, all regional sites have been confirmed with the exception of Region III in Conference 4A and 5A. I hope to have that finalized in the next week or so. All information will be posted on the UIL wrestling page - http://www.uiltexas.org/wrestling.
With this change also comes a format change at the state meet in February. The 2013 State Wrestling Championships are scheduled for February 21-23 in Austin at Austin ISD facilities.
The UIL staff visited several other venues to see about the possibility of hosting the state tournament, but a couple of factors made a change not very feasible at this time. The UIL staff will continue to explore those options and opportunities as the sport continues to grow.
Golf
Two rule changes come into play for this school year.
The first allows rangefinders to measure yardage or distance. Devices that offer other services (i.e. slope) are not allowed during district, regional or state tournaments. Invitational tournaments may allow them if desired.
The following language will appear in the 2012-2013 UIL Golf Coaches Manual: “Rangefinders that measure distance only may be used during practice and competitive rounds. Rangefinders that offer functions in addition to distance measurement are illegal, even if a player disables the other functions. A player using such device in competition rounds will be first given a warning and a second offense would merit the player being disqualified.”
Hopefully a by-product of this rule change will be that the pace of play improves as well.
The second rule change pertains to the state tournament. The top three teams and top three individuals will now advance from regionals to state. There is no change in the number of teams or medalist qualifiers from district to regional.
This change increases the playing field from 48 golfers to 72 per division.
Like August, the 2012-13 school year will probably be a blur as well. And believe it or not, work has already begun on changes for the 2013-14 school year.
A proposal was made this past summer to add 3A soccer, and another proposal was made in golf to allow coaches more freedom in coaching their players during tournament play.
Does the phrase “no rest for the weary,” come to mind? Good luck and best wishes for a great school year in the classroom and athletic arena.