Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference

MD JUCO BASKETBALL TEAMS DEAL WITH EFFECTS OF RECORD SNOWSTORMS

2/12/2010

The Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference (MD JUCO) men’s and women’s basketball teams are dealing with the consequences of record snowfalls in Maryland in early February.

Maryland has faced two monster snowfalls – the first on February 5-6 dumped 24.8 inches at Baltimore – Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport, while the second, just days later on February 9-10, dumped an additional 19.5 inches at the Airport. Snowfall totals varied at the schools. MD JUCO teams had to cancel both games and practices due to school closings and poor road conditions.

Tiffany Stewart, President of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and Head Coach at Howard Community College, summarized the situation as “frustrating.” Stewart said, “Especially at the end of the season, seeding is important for tournament play. With few exceptions, the teams in the Conference are very competitive – anyone can win on a given night. This makes it difficult to lose games late in the season.”

Stewart also said that the cancellations also wiped out many sophomore nights. “We are still looking at options to recognize the efforts of our sophomore student athletes and their contributions to our programs and our colleges.”

Stewart emphasized that the decision to cancel games was the right one. “It is not worth putting our student athletes, coaches, staff and fans at risk.”

Greg Witkop, President of the Men’s Basketball Coaches Association and Head Coach at Harford Community College, agreed with the frustration caused by the snow and its consequences. “Coaches spend 12 months focusing on the week before and the week of the tournament. It is very difficult to lose those games.”

Witkop also said that student athletes are also frustrated. “Players want to play. With all of the lost time, they want to get on the court, whether it is for practice or to play a game. The lost games are especially difficult for sophomores, who were hoping for additional opportunities to be noticed by coaches at 4 year schools.”

Seeding for the tournaments will be held on Sunday, February 14, 2010. Play in games will be held on Tuesday, February 16, 2009 at the site of the higher seeds.

The tournament will begin on Thursday, February 18^th with quarterfinal games in the Women’s Tournament at 1, 3, 5 and 7 p.m. (with the match-ups based on seeding). The men will follow on Friday with quarterfinal games at 1, 3, 5 and 7 p.m. Both women and men will have semi-finals on Saturday, with the women at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and the men at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. The men’s championship will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday with the women’s final to be held at 3 p.m.

Tickets for the tournament are $10 each day or $25 for a tournament pass. Tournament programs, t-shirts and concessions will be on sale during the event.

For information on the tournament, contact the Prince George’s Community College Athletics Office 301-322-0518 or visit the Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference website at www.mdjuco.org.