The Vicksburg Convention Center proved to be a big hit for the Mississippi Athletics Adminstration Association Conference which began Thursday.

The two-day conference is for all Mississippi High School Actitivites Association athletic directors and administrators. The conference concludes today.

In the past, the MAAA Conference was held at the MHSAA offices in Clinton.

&#8220This is the first time we’ve held this conference in Vicksburg, and it’s proved to be a great setting,” said Dr. Ennis Proctor, executive director of the MHSAA.

&#8220The purpose of this conference is to go over topics that are of importance to our member schools and their admininstrations.

&#8220Two of the things we covered this morning were the effects of hazing on student athletes and how to better mentor young coaches. Over the next day and a half we’ll cover different topics. We have over 300 coaches and administrators here and it’s a good way to get things on the same page,” Proctor added.

St. Aloysius athletic director Jim Taylor was one of those in attendence.

&#8220Usually this thing is at the MHSAA offices and it gets pretty cramped over there. Now, if we can just get the (Mississippi) Coaches Association to bring their clinic over here,” Taylor said.

The MAC clinics are held in the summer during the state all-star games in the Jackson area.

Taylor said the MAAA conference covers many varied topics.

&#8220They put a lot of information out there for you. We went over ACT preparation this morning and then there’ll be a segment on sports medicine,” Taylor said.

Other issues covered on Thursday included: security of game officials and game management, cheerleading issues/the evolution of the cheer, improvements in womens’ athletics and the virtues of playing multiple sports rather than becoming specialized in only one sport.

The spacious VCC proved to have more meeting space and was also a big boon for merchants who sell equipment and supplies to high school programs.

&#8220It’s great to have this event in a facility like this,” said Bob Stanley, a manager for Wilson Sporting Goods, which makes many of the uniforms worn by high school athletes. &#8220They don’t have one in Jackson. Here, we have room to set up and use our displays.”

&#8220This is a perfect size for us,” Jim Bateman, a representative for SurfacesPlus in Jackson, said of the VCC. SurfacesPlus makes and installs the new field turf that has become popular for new football stadiums across the nation.

SurfacesPlus is installing field turf at the new Clinton High football stadium. They have also put in the same surface at Millsaps College and Newell Field, where Murrah High School and Belhaven College play their football and soccer games.

&#8220At the start of last year, there were 11 schools in Mississippi that had field turf. By the start of next fall, we’ll have 23 with the additions of Clinton High and Oak Grove,” Bateman said.