By Matt Parker
Concord Monitor
The New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association plans to open up the 2021 athletic year with a sense of normalcy.
Aside from the hands-off approach toward COVID practices and guidelines, executive director Jeff Collins was happy to announce Thursday that the changes being made for this coming school year, really aren’t changes at all.
“Last fall was awful,” he said during the organization’s annual media day. “I can’t wait to be out at the games and see what the kids are doing and to celebrate them.”
The main return to normalcy is the regular division schedules and postseason operations that are based on school sizes. Last season, teams played a regionally-based schedule instead of playing within their own divisions. With the regular season schedule divisional-based and not regionally, the postseason seeding will be determined by its traditionally used method of regular season outcomes.
State finals will remain at neutral high school turf sites – a decision that was made last fall – for football. All playoff games leading up to the championship will be at the higher-seeded team’s location.
There are still conversations between the NHIAA and Southern New Hampshire University about the college hosting the state finals at Penmen Stadium in Hooksett. Last season, soccer championship events were held at randomly drawn neutral sites.
All other fall sports will return to their normal set of schedules and playoff structures.
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