WHO IS THE MIAA?

Click here for a chart of the
Association's governance structure

Click here for descriptions of each
committee's jurisdiction and responsibilities

"Why Educational Athletics?"

MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association is to serve member schools and the maximum number of their students by providing leadership and support for the conduct of interscholastic athletics which will enrich the educational experiences of all participants.  The MIAA will promote interschool athletics that provide lifelong and life-quality learning experiences to students while enhancing their achievement of educational goals.

A PERSPECTIVE
In the United States there are 7 million young men and women who participate annually in interscholastic athletics. For these 7 million students, high school sports is a privilege unique to American education.  Only in America is this after-school activity so tightly entwined with a school’s mission - educating boys and girls to become productive members of society and, "Building the Future through Athletics".

However, in our sport-crazed society, some people expect successful educational athletics to be defined by the goals or mission of collegiate and professional sports. Such is not the focus of high school sport.  The opportunities to play organized athletics beyond high school come only to a select few. The samples offered below demonstrate the percent (by sport) of student-athletes who rise to higher athletic levels.

COOPERATIVE TEAM UPDATE posted 3/7/08

Resources for Communicable Skin Conditions   posted 10/25/07

STUDENT SERVICES INITIATIVES

Click here for more information
about MIAA Student Services Programs

Click below for a calendar of:
MIAA Programs/Conferences or
MIAA Partners in Prevention Events

Click here for the MIAA
Student Services Newsletter

The Case for Sportsmanship

EDUCATIONAL ATHLETICS
School activities provide "the other half of education" as an extension of the classroom. Contests won or lost are not nearly as important as the life lessons learned by the student participants within every high school athletic program.  Clearly from the statistics provided above, if the mission of educational athletics was to advance athletes to the "next level", then we would focus on the elite few.  Similarly, if the success of any high school athletic program was measured by an undefeated season, then 99% of the thousands of high school teams which participate annually in Massachusetts have failed.

Our mission is to attract many participants so that they learn the values associated with discipline, performing under stress, teamwork, sacrifice, commitment, effort, accountability, citizenship, sportsmanship, confidence, leadership and organizational skills, participating within rules, physical well-being and healthy lifestyles, striving towards excellence, and many other characteristics.   Values such as these must be the priorities of every program.

STUDENT SERVICES
The emphasis of learning life lessons is reinforced through the Association's Student Services Programs.  The five pillars of the MIAA Student Services Initiative are listed below.

One example of the programming associated with the "Sportsmanship" pillar is the annual Student Sportsmanship Essay Contest.   Click here for a complete list of the finalist and honorable mention entries submitted by students for this contest during the past five years.

Information relative to the "Wellness" pillar is regularly updated and posted on the website.  For example, click here for see the "Point of Emphasis - Concussions" updated from the NFHS.

Click here to follow the
MIAA tournaments online

Click here for directions to
MIAA Tournament sites

Click here for a list of
MIAA member schools including:
directions to fields and school websites

Why does MIAA need to sell
tournament tickets?

INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETICS
MIAA is the amateur sports leader in Massachusetts.  The Association supports 33 different sports for boys and girls, involving approximately 200,000 student-athletes who participate in over 100,000 high school competitions annually.  These tournaments are conducted for the 365 member schools that make up the MIAA.

MIAA SPONSORED TOURNAMENTS
MIAA sponsors tournaments in the following sports for boys and girls:

RULES/REGULATIONS

Click here for the complete
MIAA Handbook

Herpes Gladiatorum

MRSA in Sports Participation

Click here for current information from
MIAA Executive Director
Richard Neal

Who's Killing Kids' Sports
An article from the August 7, 2005 Parade Magazine

"Why Educational Athletics?"

Free SAT Prep Website

• The MIAA is an organization of public and private high schools.
• MIAA approves and sponsors athletic activities in 33 sports, involving more than 200,000 young men and women who compete in approximately 100,000 competitions annually.
• Governance and administration of MIAA is shared among members of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC), Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (MASS), high school administrators, athletic directors, coaches, game officials, and physicians; all of whom serve without compensation on more than thirty-five MIAA standing committees.
• MIAA student programs are at the cutting edge of national efforts in these critically important areas to young people.
• High school activity programs are an integral part of the total education process.  Successful interscholastic athletic programs teach young people values such as those listed in the student services section above.
• Grade point averages (GPA) of students improve during seasons in which they are participating in athletics.
• Approximately 65% of all students are participants in MIAA interscholastic athletic programs.
• Student-athletes have higher attendance and graduation rates than non-athletes.
• 95% of corporate officers report that they had participated in high school athletics.
• High school athletic programs are cost effective.  They typically make up one to three percent of the local school budget.
• High school activity programs often represent the best drop-out prevention, crisis intervention, day care, and drug prevention programs which a community can offer, and the cost per student is minimal.
• Students participate in high school athletics because they want to!  This motivation should be utilized to teach "life lessons."
• School activities are "the other half of education" and "an extension of the classroom."  Athletic programs have no justification within a school if the young people participating  are not learning how to "win in life."  Contests won or lost are not nearly as important as the life lessons learned by the student participants.

COMMUNICATION
Why - when I call or e-mail
the MIAA - do I not receive
a direct or immediate response?

Annually, approximately 400,000 parents have children who are participating in MIAA member school athletic programs. Although it is impractical for a staff member to speak to any parent who calls, the staff responds directly to your school principal or athletic director whenever they may wish to address your subject with the Association.

MIAA is an Association of educational institutions (i.e. high schools), and not of individual people. Member institutions are represented by their principals and athletic directors. These school leaders also represent the MIAA locally. Communication about local matters (e.g. a student's eligibility, a dispute or criticism) should occur between the Association and the school principal or athletic director.

Time, and practicality preclude the Association from communicating directly with anyone other than a member school representative. Parents or other community members with concerns related to the Association should address those with the local school principal or athletic director, who in turn will communicate with the Association when necessary. The Association does not have the resources to be available to respond to hundreds of thousands of people whenever they might be moved to call or e-mail the Association. The protocol in place seems to be efficient and effective, and satisfactory to our membership.

So, please know that our inability to respond to parents' telephone calls and e-mails is not a sign of rudeness or indifference, but rather ensures the communication quality required by your member school leaders.

We however remain committed to provide accurate and timely information on www.miaa.net, which parents can access 24/7!