Monday Morning News – December 6, 2021
UPCOMING EVENTS:
December 7 – Hardship Review
December 9 – NMAA Board of Directors
December 20-January 3 – NMAA Office Closed
IN THE NEWS:
POWERLIFTING RULES CLINIC
Reminder that the 2022 Powerlifting Rules Clinic will take place via Zoom on Tuesday, December 7th at 6 p.m. All head powerlifting coaches are required to attend. Please contact Dillon Metzgar at dillon@nmact.org or 505-923-3286 for meeting information.
NMAA FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
NMAA Foundation Scholarships are awarded to students from NMAA member schools who, through the application/nomination process, demonstrate excellence in athletics, activities, academics, and character. The deadline to submit applications is Tuesday, February 1, 2022. For more information, please contact Chris Kedge at 505-923-3276. Click here for information regarding NMAA Foundation Scholarships.
BECOME AN OFFICIALS
The New Mexico Officials Association is looking for enthusiastic people that want to make an impact on the high school and middle school youth in our State by becoming a sports official. If you are interested in becoming an official, please contact Zac Stevenson at zac@nmact.or or Dillon Metzgar at dillon@nmact.org or call 505-923-3277.
2022 FOOTBALL CALENDAR
We have received several questions regarding the calendar for the sport of Football for 2022. The biggest change is for Class 2A as their regular season will now completely mirror that of Class 3A-6A. This means that Class 2A will have 11 weeks to schedule 10 games and there will no longer be an open/bye week for all schools to end the regular season before the state tournament bracket is released. I know many of you are eager to start scheduling, but please remember that the NMAA Board of Directors will be hearing appeals next week so Classifications/Districts will not be completely finalized until December 9th.
ESPORTS STARTING IN JANUARY
The 2022 NMAA Spring Esports Season is fast approaching. The official start date for Esports is Tuesday, January 18th with regular season matches set to begin January 24th. Schools will need to enroll with PlayVS by December 17th, however, so that the NMAA and PlayVS can begin to work on classification breakdowns and schedules for the regular season. If enough schools sign up, New Mexico will have its own state specific leagues for Mario Kart 8 and Madden NFL to go along with League of Legends, Rocket League, and Super Smash Bros. The NMAA is still working on options for SMITE and hopes to offer some sort of season and/or tournament for interested schools. Now that in-person schooling is back to somewhat normal, students must participate with their Esports program and not from home. Schools will again be able to offer multiple teams in each game title, but only one can be designated as Varsity and eligible for the state tournament.
SAVE THE DATE – 13TH ANNUAL NMAA FOUNDATION BOWL-A-THON
The NMAA Foundation will be holding its 13th Annual Bowl-A-Thon fundraiser on Sunday February 6th, 2022, at 1pm at Ten Pins & More in Rio Rancho, NM. The cost for a team of four (4) bowlers is $275. All proceeds from the event will again be used to benefit the youth of New Mexico through student scholarships and athletic/activity program grants/support. If you have questions about the 2022 Bowl-A-Thon, please contact Tammy Richards at tammy@nmact.org or (575) 740-0409.
NMAA FOUNDATION GRANT/SUPPORT PROGRAM
The NMAA Foundation was established in 2007 to serve the schools and students of New Mexico in various ways. Most notably, this has been done through the many scholarships that the Foundation offers each year to students across the state. Another part of the NMAA Foundation’s mission is to assist schools through the awarding of financial grants/support. In the past, these funds have been used to help with costs of starting a new sport or activity, purchasing essential equipment, and helping schools in emergency situations.
Please note that although this program is still available for our schools, the application process has changed. There are now three categories for which a school can apply for funding. These are Program Start-Up, General Operating Support, and Emergency Use. Schools applying through the Emergency Use category can submit applications at any time. There are two deadlines during the school year for funding requests made via the Program Start-up and General Operating Support categories, however. The second deadline is also around the corner – December 20th, 2021. The week after this deadline, the NMAA Foundation Board of Directors will review all applications and consider awards from there.
If you are interested in making a funding request, the school grant/support application can be accessed from the following link: https://www.nmact.org/file/NMAA_Foundation_Support_Grant_Application.pdf
The NMAA Foundation has allocated $15,000 for this program in 2021-2022, and awards typically range from $250-$1,500. Feel free to contact either myself or Tammy Richards (tammy@nmact.org; 505-923-3278) with questions.
REMINDER TO CHECK THE ARBITER
Athletic Directors please make sure you double, and triple check the Arbiter and make sure that all your games are in there correctly. That includes the game times. We owe it to the kids to make sure we have done the administrative side correctly, so that when they put on their uniform officials are there so teams can play.
COMPETE WITH CLASS SCHOLARSHIP
The New Mexico Activities Association, in conjunction with the NMAA Foundation, will be awarding a maximum of eight (8) $1,000 Compete with Class scholarships during the 2021-2022 school year. Awards will be given to students that best exemplify the three pillars of the Compete with Class sportsmanship initiative – Respect, Integrity, and Responsibility. Recipients will be selected by the NMAA Foundation Board of Directors based on recommendations from the NMAA and its member schools.
