The CIAC has signed into a three-year partnership with MaxPreps that will make MaxPreps “The Official Statistician and Media Partner” of the CIAC beginning with the 2009-10 school year. That was in a press release delivered today to several media outlets. The release itself is dated Sept. 8. Both parties must have been so excited that they waited four months to let anyone know.

According to the release, the CIAC has made it a requirement that all teams participating in state tournament play have their stats entered with MaxPreps.com. The MaxPreps.com data system will automatically generate league and conference standings in Connecticut, while compiling state statistical leaderboards in a wide variety of categories. Connecticut leaders, in turn, will populate on MaxPreps.com’s national leaderboards.

Well, teams still aren’t entering stats, and I know from conversations with a few athletic directors that they really don’t want stats flying around. I had one coach tell me he won;t submit his team’s basketball stats because it helps the opponent with its scouting report (I don’t agree). I had an AD tell me he doesn’t his team’s stats submitted because it leads to parents adding to complaints about their kids’ playing time (this would give them a stats-based reason to say their kid is better than the starter, etc.).

I think the downside is getting coaches to find someone to add the stats to the site and keep track of all this stuff. Some schools have nine photographers on the sidelines and strong booster clubs, other schools have small coaching staffs and no statisticians.

But it’s a plus if you’re a reporter. It’s tough to do previews – whether for a game or a season – without numbers. For a preseason preview, you can write that John Smith is the returner at tailback, but without stats, that’s all you have. And if you’re in-season and trying to get John Smith’s rushing yards over the last three games, it will suddenly be available at 2 a.m. without having to wake a coach up.

Let’s see if this all happens.