New Year's resolutions for the high school sports world
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PATRICK NAGY Sports Reporter
The beginning of a new year is a time to reflect on imperfections that can be improved over the next 12 months. In the high school sports world, there are a couple imperfections that need to be addressed, or at least talked about.

•Amherst Pepsi Center needs to expand - The popularity of high school hockey in Western New York is at an all-time high.

For proof, look no further than in the Section VI Western New York Varsity Hockey Federation, which this season added Clarence and Niagara Falls to increase the numbers of schools in the league to 16.

The addition of more Federation teams means more competition, which is always good, but two more league games for everyone, resulted in less ice time.

Now I'm all for schools joining the Federation. In fact, I hope there is a time when every school can join. What bothers me is that while the league has expanded, teams are playing more games at more venues because there isn't enough ice time for everyone at the Pepsi Center. Several Federation games on the 2007-08 schedule have been added for Niagara University's Dwyer Arena, Lakeview Road Recreation Area (Nike Base) in Hamburg, Leisure Rinks in West Seneca and Riverside Ice Arena in Buffalo. The Federation even had New Year's Day games at Holiday Twin Rinks in Cheektowaga and a few contests on a couple of Mondays and Wednesdays. The only other site that has hosted games on a regular basis in past years is Buffalo State Sports Arena on Sundays, and that's mostly for Catholic schools.

My proposition, as crazy as it sounds, is to add a couple of rinks to the Pepsi Center. I have no idea of how much it would cost or where you would even build them, but from a hypothetical point of view it seems logical. (Please do not e-mail or call me and tell me how much it would cost or where you would expand).

Adding rinks to the Pepsi Center would keep all Federation games to a central location and allow other events, like a youth hockey game, to begin at a reasonable time, not at 6:30 on a Sunday morning.

•Public vs. private football games need to happen more - Section VI and the Monsignor Martin Association have come to an understanding in basketball (ECIC-MMA Challenge), baseball (Robert E. Rich Memorial Baseball Classic) and hockey, but in football, the line is drawn pretty thin when it comes to public schools facing private schools.

It's getting better. Last season, one game per week involved a public versus a private school. Instead of it only counting as a non-league game, wouldn't it be cool the see the top public schools face the private schools in a showcase type event? One game that immediately comes to mind is Orchard Park against St. Francis.

There are many people opposed to the mere mention of public schools meeting private schools. The public school point of view is its unfair that private schools can recruit and it creates an unfair playing ground. And you know what, that line of thinking is absolutely justified. Despite it all, public basketball, baseball and hockey teams have managed to have competitive games, sometimes beating private schools. It would be nice to know which teams, regardless of what league they are affiliated with, are the best.

It also would be nice for each school to play these games on an artificial turf field like Amherst, Lew-Port or Medina, but one baby step at a time.