District 11 HOF focus of media conference

BETHLEHEM — District 11 held their annual media press conference on Tuesday morning at St. Luke’s Sports Medicine and Rehab Center.

The biggest takeaway from the session included more news on the upcoming District 11 Hall of Fame, which is set to honor its first class in the fall of 2018.

Brad Pensyl, an administrator in the Pocono Mountain school district, outlined the guidelines for nominations, which has a deadline of June 1, 2018 for any nominee to have their paperwork submitted.

“General idea is to have this Hall of Fame just for high school achievements,” said Pensyl. “No collegiate or pro experience in these guidelines. We still have some things we have to work out, but right now the nominations would be an athlete, coach, contest official or someone that has made contributions to athletics in District 11.”

Projected sites to have plaques of inducted class members include Martz Hall, PPL Center and East Stroudsburg University, covering all the regions schools in District 11. The induction ceremony for the inaugural class will take place on October 14, 2018 at the Holiday Inn in Fogelsville.

“Right now, we’re trying to get as many nominees as we can from the different schools in District 11,” Pensyl said. “I think it’s going to be a real nice thing and will be a positive idea for all the athletes and contributors in the Lehigh Valley.”

District 11 chairman Bob Hartman also mentioned that we are in the final year of a two-year cycle for classifications across all sports, meaning the 2018-19 school year could present schools in different classifications, based on enrollment numbers.

“Late into this year and early into next year, when the state collects all their data, we’ll see new classification parameters for our schools,” Hartman said. “There’s a chance some of our schools may be in different classifications for the next two-year cycle. That always provides us with some anxious moments, to see what playoffs will look like and how things will lay out.”

As far as sites for District 11 championships, Coca-Cola Park and PPL Center are two of the biggest names that jumped out on the list of sites. District 11 is actively working on trying to host baseball championships at Coca-Cola Park, as well as having basketball championships at the PPL Center. Lehigh’s Legacy Field still looks to be on the table for baseball championships. After having roughly 8,000 people attend last year’s District 11 6A basketball semifinals at the PPL Center, the door appears open to bringing more championship level games to the arena, based on availability.

Hartman also spoke about discussions the district has had with the PPL Center about hosting District 11 and regional wrestling tournaments at the venue, but logistics with the Phantoms and Monster Truck events at the arena appear to be road blocks at the moment.

Other notes: The District 11 football postseason will play contests at the site of the higher seed until the finals, where neutral venues come into play. The 5A, 2A and 1A finals will be on Friday, Nov. 10. The 4A final will be on Saturday, Nov. 11. The 6A final is Friday, Nov. 17, the same night there will be a subregional final in 5A against the District II champion. The 3A final will be on Saturday, Nov. 18.