Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - BrentwoodPress_08.22.08 - Index

august 22, 2008 sports brentwoodpress.com | 5B
Press Box from page 4B
its five league opponents three times over the
course of the season.
“I’m really not sure how this is all going
to play out,” said Cruickshank, who is also
the school’s head boys basketball coach. “I’ve
never seen a league that’s had a triple-roundrobin
format. I’m optimistic, but we have to
get through this first year and see how this
system is going to work out.
“Getting to play more games here in
town is definitely exciting,” he added.
The primary concern with the tripleround-robin
format, as expressed by both
Amaro and Cruickshank, is the impact
that the greater sense of familiarity among
the BVAL’s teams will have on the league’s
competitive balance. The fact that each school
will see its league opponents three times each
season rather than two means that players
and coaches will have a greater opportunity to
familiarize themselves with their foes’ tactics
and scheme to stop specific plays and players.
There is no doubt that competing against
every league opponent one additional time
each season will put added pressure on teams’
players and coaches to learn the tendencies of
their competition, but that can only be good
for the overall level of play in the league.
However, it also means that coaches and
players must work harder to excel in executing
the fundamental skills of their sport as well
as add new wrinkles to their schemes if they
hope to keep the opposition on its toes.
A trick play or gimmicky scheme might
catch the opposition off balance the first time
around, but it’s unlikely that same tactic will
work a second and third time around.
Whether the triple-round-robin format
will stick or not remains to be seen, but one
thing is certain: The reformation of the
BVAL has local athletic directors, coaches
and athletes excited and optimistic that they’ll
have a legitimate chance to compete against a
level, local playing field every season for years
to come.
“I think among the student population,
there’s a sense of optimism that anything can
happen. And I think that’s a feeling that hasn’t
existed in the BVAL for a long time,” said
Amaro. “The majority of students are very
welcome to the new level of rivalry that could
form. They enjoy competing against their
friends and building those friendships and
rivalries with one another. Those friendships
and rivalries are what the kids will take with
them and remember for the rest of their lives.”
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