*By Josh Lederman*

For the first time, students and parents will have a say in honoring the D.C. area’s top high school athletes.  The Washington Post unveiled a new public voting system for its All-Met football and basketball teams this year that takes fan votes into account as well as the traditional coach input.

While fans don’t control the year-end All-Met selections (which are decided by coaches’ recommendations and the Post’s high school sports staff), they do have a say in the week-to-week All-Met teams.  Every week, along with the roster, there are five players listed as “On the Bubble.”  The public’s job is to rate the candidates based on their All-Met worthiness or write in names of other players they feel are deserving.

Micah Pollack is the high school sports editor for the Post, and hopes that the idea will tap into fan interest in All-Met honors.

“It’s a conversation piece,” Pollack says.  “It really gets people interested.”

Pollack adds that almost all the feedback has been positive, saying that his worries about students making a mockery of the system with ridiculous write-in campaigns have not materialized.  `

Though fans and coaches are not sure how much effect or change to the All-Met teams the fan voting can really bring about, Pollack says that they can promote lesser-known impact players.

“If we get the sense from fan voting that we’re overlooking someone, that could affect our decision-making at the end of the year,” he says. 

Pollack says he has noticed some obvious differences between the preseason and current lineups, which he attributes to fan voting.

“If you look at the list we had in August and the list we have now with public input,” Pollack says, “you can see it’s definitely a different list.”