Sectionalism = Federalism
Federalism - a mixed compound mode of government that combines a general government with regional governments in a single political system.
So when the General Government = The TSSAA and the Regional Governments = The Sectional Meet Directors this is what happens.
- Section 1: No Sub-Sectionals, Qualifying Standards, Single Day Meet, Seeded Finals
- Section 2: Four Sub-Sectionals, No Qualifying Standards, Single Day Meet, Seeded Finals
- Section 3: Two Sub-Sectionals, Qualifying Standards, Two Day Finals, Championship Finals Heat
- Section 4: No Sub-Sectionals, Qualifying Standards, Two Day Meet, Prelims and Finals
No two Sectionals use the same format. I'm not sure I have an opinion on which format is best. I know the rationale Section 1 uses for theirs is "it's just like the state meet" so in essence it would prepare athletes for the long day they're going to encounter in a little over a week. I also don't know if it would be best for the TSSAA to step in and standardize how Sectionals are to be run. The way I understand it is they just want you to send 4 names to Jim Kaiser (timer of the meet).
It should be noted this inconsistency isn't unique to our sport however. As I understand it with softball is say a team goes 14-0 in district play. In one district, since they won the regular season title, regardless of how they finish in the district tournament, they advance to regionals. However, in another district, if they lost in the first or second round of the district tournament, they would not advance to regionals. Only the top two tournament teams would advance. These decisions on advancement are left up to the districts to decide.
Do coaches ultimately want more freedom or less from the governing body of our high school sports? That's not a question I can answer.