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When you discuss CWOSSA basketball with coaches, players, fans and parents, one thing that always seems to draw some discussion on a yearly basis is the CWOSSA format, particularly at the "AAAA" level where it revolves around pool-play.
I'll be honest, I've always been a big fan of the "8 team one-and-done" tournament, so I'll get that bias out of the way early.
That being said, according to the CWOSSA regulations, this isn't a possibility right now at AAAA. There are currently only 17 "AAAA" schools, and 18 are required to have an 8-team tournament. Of course, there's a couple schools with budding populations who may soon make the jump to Quad-A, but let's go with what we know for now as the 6-team CWOSSA tourney.
The six-team tournament first started in the 2006-07 season, as a result of the changing structure (read: fewer teams) in AAAA (for instance, KCI dropping down to "AAA" due to a population shift with many students in the Westvale area now attending SJAM). Up until this point, there was an 8-team tournament with 6 "set teams" and two wild-card entries.
Nowadays, with the 6-team tournament, it's only "set teams" --- 2 from D10, 2 from WCSSAA, 1 from D8 and 1 from the D5 league that form two three-team pools. In my opinion, this is the first weakness of the pool system.
As we know, high school basketball is cyclical and certain leagues in certain years will be stronger than others. I think it's fair to say that the senior St. Mary's Eagles (D8) would have probably been one of the top 2 or 3 teams heading into CWOSSA, but only one rep (Resurrection) came out of the D8 league.
Now, I'm not advocating on behalf of the D8, as there are years when other leagues will get the "short end of the stick" as well. For instance, when I played at Bluevale in grade 10, our team went undefeated in WCSSAA as the champions of the league. At CWOSSA, we were a #5 seed --- behind even a wild-card entry from Guelph (in other words, 3 of the top 4 teams --- St. James, JF Ross and Guelph CVI --- were Guelph schools that year).
In the 2005 CWOSSA tournament, the top 4 schools were all from WCSSAA. In this year's format, 2 of those schools wouldn't even make the tournament. Etc., etc.....
Other weaknesses have become evident in recent years. This past year, you had Cameron Heights resting players in their second pool game against Resurrection. Not against the rules by any means, and it obviously ended up working out in their favour, but definitely not the most "bang for the buck" to those that had paid $3 or $5 for entry anticipating a great battle between the region's top two CWOSSA entries.
Speaking of which, the rigidity of the CWOSSA schedule is another "issue". As it stands now, the pools are set-up with WCSSAA #1, D8 #1 and D10 #2 in "pool A" and D10 #1, WCSSAA #2, and D5 #1 in "pool B".
The last three years in AAAA junior, both finalists have come out of "Pool A", which really "shouldn't happen" to that degree. However, WCSSAA and D8 have had strong junior teams over the past several years.
Before I get to my "wish list", I will agree that there are certain benefits to the pool system. Generally, the best teams will qualify for the semifinals, as if a top team has an "off game" in their first game, they can still have a chance to get through with a strong performance in their second outing.
In addition, steps have been taken to ensure that the schedules are now rotated in a fair and equitable manner. In odd numbered years, D8 #1 and D5 #1 will get the schedule with the most rest, while WCSSAA #1 and D10 #1 will get that benefit in even-numbered years.
My Thoughts
The purpose of this post isn't to trash CWOSSA in any way, but hopefully for those involved to begin some discussions with the end result being the best possible "AAAA" championship possible.
As such, I have 2 possible suggestions:
#1 - This suggestion would see the current format (6 fixed teams) remain the same. However, teams would be 'ranked' with the pools adjusted/balanced accordingly. So, for example, teams #1, #3 and #6 would be in "pool A" while teams #2, #4 and #5 would be in "pool B".
The purpose of this would be to account for years where one league is particuarly strong (or weak). For instance, if the top two teams one year were both WCSSAA schools, they would be the top seeds in the respective pools.
#2 - This suggestion would see the format of the tournament changed. Although 6 teams (and two pools) would remain, 4 teams would be "fixed teams" (#1 from each of the four leagues - WCSSAA, D8, D5 and D10) with the remaining 2 spots "wild card entries" to the best non-qualifiers.
This would account for the cyclical "power imbalance" that certain leagues may have --- and is not restrictive. For instance, some years there may be 3 WCSSAA teams or 3 D10 teams that would earn the spots.......this year, you probably would have seen St. Mary's getting one of the two spots with Forest Heights, Grand River or Centennial taking the other.
Most likely, teams would need to be ranked in such a scenario, with a similar pool set-up to the one described above.
Conclusion
There are always pluses and minuses to every championship format and composition --- even the ones I've described above as suggestions. However, it is my opinion that we need to be consistently looking for ways to improve all championships and ensuring their success. The goal, naturally, would be to ensure that the best teams, regardless of league affiliation, are playing in late February, and in a tournament that is flexible to adapt to the year-to-year "changes in power" among leagues.
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