A group of people skating on ice in the snow.

A proposal for the Indoor State Meet


With PG being out of the equation, and with the Armory also being a vaccination site at the moment, it appears there are no other options for indoor venues to host any post-season meets.

While some people may think the following is a stupid idea,

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Proposal:

Have the indoor state meet outdoors over the period of several weeks.

Is this optimal?  Of course not

Is this a ridiculous idea?  Yes

Does anyone else have any ideas?  Maybe, but

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The weather fluctuates quite a bit in Maryland, but there are enough random days to take a shot at this (keep in mind that any track meet in Maryland in March and April are usually awful, so this is not something unique).

Have regionals somewhere between the dates of Jan 24 and Feb 5.  Each school gets 3 entries. No qualifying marks because it is too late at this point.  NT, unless there is an existing Indoor mark.

Regionals may need to take place over 2 days, but if you start at 2 p.m., you have 3 hours of good daylight.  Timers and officials may be a concern, but keep in mind there are 12 regionals in indoor track as opposed to 16 outdoors, and you can probably combine 1A and 2A and their respective counterparts of east/west/central to reduce it to 9 locations.

For the state meet, set aside the dates of Feb 12 through Feb 26.  Each classification takes place at a separate school.  1A meet is at a 1A school, etc…

Long range planning.  If X date is 45-65 degrees and no wind, go for it and have every event, including long and triple.  If the weather is terrible, then like NASA, delay the launch.

If necessary, you forecast ahead and maybe split up the dates.  If Feb 12, for example, is ok, have a select number of events to get them out of the way.  Then this opens the possibility of completing the meet during the week if the 19th is not a great day (this too is precedented-the outdoor meet takes place over 2 days).

I know some people do not like polar bear meets, but

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There are worse things in life than running a slow 2 mile in the cold.  Kids need an opportunity to compete and something to remember.

It is so ordered.