MSL realigning divisions next year based on teams’ success

The Mid-Suburban League is headed in a new direction.

Unlike nearly every conference in the state, the MSL is not adding or subtracting teams. The conference, which has not been realigned since 1998-99 when their conference format went from North-South to East-West, has come up with a new version.

It is basically relegation.

The new divisions will be broken down with each sport most likely having its own divisions based upon a three-year success formula. Every sport, boys and girls, will be subjected to the new format. The only sport that will have an exemption will be football, which will remain in the traditional East-West format.

The new format, which was voted upon by athletic directors and the school principals, will begin next season.

“We are moving to what we're calling a bi-divisional scheduling model,” Schaumburg athletic director Marty Manning explained. “It is a two-year trial run that was approved by the athletic directors and principals. What we are doing is looking at the success of each school in each sport and putting them in an appropriate division so that it is more competitive for the teams that are playing in those games.”

Teams will be graded by their record for the past three seasons with a weighted system. Teams will have 60% of the weight based on this season’s conference records, 30% on last season and 10% on 2022.

“We get some pretty lopsided games and contests in our conference right now, because that's just the way we have always done it,” Manning said. “We wanted to take a kind of a fresh outlook at and say, ‘What's best for our kids and what’s best for the student-athletes in our conference?’ And that is trying to create competitive matchups every single time they go out and compete.”

After calculations are made the top six programs in each sport will be divided into two divisions. Although the names East and West will still be used, one will be a premier division and the other will be a growth division.

“We are sticking with the names we have because it's a trial run right now,” Manning said. “If there's more East schools than West schools, like in the I guess you could call it the more successful division, then we're going to call it the MSL East and the other one MSL West. But if there's more successful schools from the West Division, then we're going to call that one the MSL West.”

The MSL title game featuring the division champions from the East and West will continue. But critics argue that these titles could be watered-down.

“We still will be having MSL championship games in all the sports,” Manning said. “We are still going to have a champion determined. And in team sports, golf, tennis, swimming, wrestling, sports like that, where we have conference tournaments, they will be done the exact same way.”

Manning said there has been discussions for years on how to change the alignment in the MSL.

There were even invitations to schools that are geographically close to the current MSL schools and with the same type of enrollments as well as the number of sports. But all those overtures bore no fruit.

“In our constitution, it says we're supposed to look at the division alignment every two years,” Manning said. “We have had discussions about expansion, realignment and all that, probably every year since I've been here. In truth, it probably hasn't been looked at in 25 years really closely. “

The realignment by sport will be put into place next season. However, it appears many of the coaches are not 100% on board with the new process.

As one coach put it, "It will be like playing someone else's bar tab."

Kevin Katovich, who both played in the MSL and has been the head boys basketball coach at Rolling Meadows for 23 years, said one of the concerns will be the loss of the history of the MSL.

“I have mixed feelings,” Katovich said. “On one hand I completely understand the desire to make things more equitable for schools and programs in the conference. But on the other hand, I have been a player or coach in the MSL for over 36 years and I hate to see the great traditions of our conference go away. We are one of the few conferences that do things the way we historically have.”

Katovich is also concerned about the conference title games and the loss of natural rivalries.

“The conference championship game is a truly special event,” said Katovich, whose teams have played in the MSL title games for the past four years.

“Also, playing your rivals twice a year is a highlight for the kids. Those rivalries will now go away because divisions can change every year. In the past 54 years there have only been two realignments in the MSL and now it could happen every year. So, from that standpoint, it is kind of sad.”

Manning, who also played in the MSL when he was growing up and was head coach of the Schaumburg boys basketball team, understands those feelings.

“I was also say that there are some coaches that are really happy about it,” Manning said. “If they are not super happy about it, they understand. Coaches who been involved in youth sports get what we are trying to do.”