SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – A temporary restraining order has been issued against the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association after an emergency hearing.

The Pioneer Valley Regional School District filed for a temporary injunction Thursday morning on behalf of its football teams.

The district says the move is to try to ensure the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, or MIAA, uses Pioneer’s actual win-loss records when placing teams in the state tournament.

“As a district, we felt it was important that students not pay the penalty, pay a price, for errors that really belonged in the domain of adults. Our school board met in emergency session last night and voted unanimously to take legal action,” Patricia Kinsella, superintendent of the Pioneer Valley Regional School District, told us following a recent scheduling error.

Pioneer Valley is now the fourth school district to file an injunction against the MIAA, the others being Northampton, Minnechaug and Monson High.

Kinsella claims it’s all because they didn’t schedule two possible dates for postseason play, which affected 17 of the 61 schools in MIAA District One and resulted in lower team rankings ahead of the state tournaments.

“It’s not a question of whether or not they’re going to make the state tournament. It’s a question of what their seeding would be in the state tournament and that has an impact on whether the game is played at home or on the road.”

Western Mass News has reached out to the MIAA for comment following the order.

“We will abide by the orders of the courts and launch the football tournaments based on the decisions of the courts,” they told us.

We will provide more information on this situation as it develops.

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