With all due respect to other weeks, this might be the best one on the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association calendar for the year, as champions in three sports -- soccer, field hockey and volleyball -- will be decided by the end of the weekend, weather permitting. And practices for the winter sports -- basketball, wrestling, indoor track and swimming -- begin for real.

The boys soccer titles will be decided Saturday in a quadruple-header at South River, and at least one championship, the 2A title, will go to a local team, as Loch Raven will meet River Hill at noon. Bel Air will take on Bethesda-Chevy Chase in the 3A title game at 5 p.m., and Perry Hall will meet Magruder in the 4A game at 7:30.

In girls soccer, Saturday's doubleheader at Broadneck will pit Baltimore County schools against their Howard County counterparts, with Sparrows Point meeting Glenelg in the 1A championship game at 5 p.m., and River Hill will battle Eastern Tech in the 2A match at 7:30. On Friday, also at Broadneck, Wilde Lake will take on Urbana in the 3A championship game at 5 p.m., and C. Milton Wright will meet Quince Orchard in the 4A game at 7:30 p.m.

We'll look at the field hockey and volleyball matchups later.