Reverting back

NSSAFFL goes back to alignment structure from two years ago

For the 2013 football season, the Nova Scotia Student Athletic Federation Football League (NSSAFFL) has reverted back to the tier system that was used two years ago.

“The two divisions will be based on a five year historical finish rating system,” commented NSSAFFL League Commissioner Steve Miller.  “Keeping in mind Turkey Bowl rivalries and other special requests, this provides us with an opportunity to distribute the traditionally strong teams and allows the younger teams to have a positive start to the league.”

Regardless of the division the team was in, teams were categorized based on their annual season record.  Going back to the past five years, the team with the best record in one year was given one point, the team with the second best record was given two points and it goes on a similar pattern for all teams.

Therefore, the 2013 team rankings were based on the team’s average for the past five seasons.

There is another important thing to note with this system.  Once the points were distributed the odd ranked teams would then have fallen into one tier while the even ranked teams would go into the other tier.  However, Turkey Bowl matchups had to be considered as opponents in these games (Ie Citadel and Cobequid) have to be in opposite divisions.

How did the two new teams – Sydney Academy Wildcats and West Kings Wolverines factor into the new tiers?  The Wolverines have taken the 18^th spot while the Wildcats will play as independent.

Therefore, these are the tier alignments for the 2013 NSSAFFL season:

NOVA DIVISION:
Citadel Phoenix
Dartmouth High Spartans
Charles P Allen Cheetahs
Halifax West Warriors
Cole Harbour Cavaliers
Central Kings Gators
Prince Andrew Panthers
Northeast Kings Titans
Avon View Avalanche

SCOTIA DIVISION:
Sir John A MacDonald Flames
Sackville High Kingfishers
Lockview Dragons
Cobequid Educational Centre Cougars
Horton Griffins
JL Ilsley Judges
John Hugh Gillis Royals
Auburn Drive Eagles
West Kings Wolverines

(INDEPENDENT:  Sydney Academy Wolverines)

For the defending provincial champions, Citadel Phoenix, the team was content with the system used for the 2012 season as there were many positives that resulted from it.

“The league held a meeting back in February and voted by a slim margin to return to the system used the previous season,” commented Phoenix Co-Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator Jeff Lawley.  “Citadel did not vote in favour of this move as we felt the two Tiered system used last fall resulted in better competition and closer scoring games. “

“It was not perfect but a close examination of all scores indicates there were very few blow outs under the two tiered system.”

However, Halifax West Warriors Head Coach Dave Kelly is pleased the league has decided to revert back to the old alignment structure.

“I think it is great that the league has gone back to the old system,” said Kelly.  “It allows teams the chance to be able to play for a Tier 1 championship.”

“A lot of teams really don’t know how good they will be until late august.  In high school, you may have a group of kids show up that you didn’t know about and this maybe it differs in your seasons. It allows the cream to rise to the top. “

Prince Andrew Panthers Head Coach Joe Flemming says it doesn’t matter which system is used as long as it promotes fairness.

“I find the teams fluctuate so much from year to year, that it almost doesn’t matter what structure we use. I’m just happy as long as the schedule is balanced and fair,” commented Flemming.  “Most times it is.”

“Sometimes you’re in a battle, sometimes you’re really serving it up to someone, and sometimes you’re wishing you could hide in a hole, or just run away with your tail between your legs. It’s all part of it and your team learns something in each case. The key is not to always be on one end of it, although always being on the winning end can probably be tolerated. Otherwise, it’s not fun anymore. Everyone wants to feel they can compete and be in the mix.”

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