CIAC considering rule change to allow longer summer workouts

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) is considering a rule change that would allow extra practice time during the summer months for high school student-athletes.

The CIAC Board of Control has already approved the rule change that was brought up by the Connecticut High School Coach Association and the Connecticut Association of Athletic Directors that would allow coaches to work with student-athletes two days a week for up to two hours a day during the summer.

A recent story from NBC Connecticut detailed the potential CIAC rule change. Below is an excerpt from the NBC Connecticut story.

Under current rules, coaches can only work with half of their respective starting lineup at a time. So for example, a football coach could only work with six players at a time during the summer months.

“What was limited was the ability to do skill development with their kids,” CIAC Executive Director Glenn Lungarini said.

Strength and conditioning-focused practices are allowed all year long and wouldn’t be impacted by the potential rule change. But Lungarini said some more affluent districts have identified ways students can get extra practice as a team while staying within the confines of the rules.

“Districts and schools where there is more financial resources available, they can send kids to summer camps, bring in outside instructors sponsored by booster clubs so not part of the team, all of this would fit within the current rule,” Lungarini said, “but it was creating quite a large gap in equity based on the socioeconomic status based on where the student was living.”

A rule change allowing coaches to step in to work with students, he believes could cut into that equity gap. But it wouldn’t be mandatory for a district to offer extra practices.

“Really what this is about is getting students time with their coaches, with their peers, not a lot of pressure, just developing skill,” Lungarini said.

He added the rule change already has a significant amount of support from their membership. In a survey put out to their 184 members, 154 responded and 71% of those schools approved the proposed rule change.

“We are not looking to create competition but what we are looking to do is create opportunity,” Lungarini said.

To read the full story from NBC Connecticut, click here.