Monday Morning News – December 13, 2021
UPCOMING EVENTS:
December 20-January 3 – NMAA Office Closed
IN THE NEWS:
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.
STATE SPIRIT REGISTRATION
2022 State Spirit Registration is now open. Please visit the Spirit page on the NMAA website for the links to the online Cheer and Dance registration forms. Deadline to submit your form is February 15, 2022. For questions, please contact Alissa Wesbrook at alissa@nmact.org.
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.
NMAA STUDENT LEADERSHIP ADVISORY COUNCIL NOMINATIONS
The NMAA is looking for students to serve on our Student-Leadership Advisory Council for the following areas in the NMAA’s governance structure for the 2022-2023 school year:
Area A-Small: One representative
Area A-Large: One representative
Area B-Large: Two representatives
Area C-Small: One representative
Area C-Large: Two representatives
Area D-Large: Two representatives
At-Large (Small School Area C/D): One representative
Nominations/applications are due no later than Monday, March 1, 2022 Please click HERE for the nomination form. If you are not sure of which area your school is in, please follow this link to the NMAA’s governance structure: https://www.nmact.org/file/Section_3.pdf. If you have any questions, please contact Tammy Richards at tammy@nmact.org.
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.
MAXPREPS SCORES
Athletic Directors, please make sure that your MaxPreps schedules are updated with scores. Having an accurate schedule on MaxPreps is vital to the seeding and selection process. Although we are still a few months away from seeding & selection for State Basketball we need to be in the habit of posting scores immediately following each contest. For help with MaxPreps, please contact Tyler Dunkel at tyler@nmact.org.
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.
