Basketball Advisory Committee

Minutes
March 22, 2004 • 10 a.m.
FHSAA Headquarters
Gainesville, Florida


I. Purpose and Introductions
The meeting was called to order at 10 a.m. by Gary Pigott. Mr. Pigott and Mr. Thornton noted the purpose of the meeting and those in attendance proceeded with a brief introduction of themselves. In attendance were members: Shea Bolin (Orange Park), Kim Pereira (Fleming Island), Ed Kershner (Oviedo), Cindy Cox (Santa Fe), Don Dziagwa (Tampa Catholic), Theresa Iuliucci (Centennial), Henry Dunn (Hialeah-Miami Lakes), Joe Fenlon (FACA-Boys), and Ron Allan (FACA-Girls). Staff Members present were: John Stewart (Associate Commissioner of Athletic Operations), Gary Pigott (Girls Basketball Administrator), Jack Watford (Director of Communications) and Denarvise Thornton (Boys Basketball Administrator).

II. The Committee completed their travel expense vouchers.

III. The Committee selected Ed Kershner as the chairperson.

IV. The minutes from the previous meeting reviewed and adopted as recorded.

The agenda was adopted.

V. Action
A. Review
1. 2004 FHSAA Florida Basketball Finals. The committee discussed concerns resulting from the recently concluded girls and boys basketball finals:
• State Series Passes - Staff reviewed situations in which use of state series passes was abused. A general consensus among coaches was that the passes are not meant for children, 18 and under. Options to curtail this problem include, but are not limited to: raising the price of passes, reducing the number of available passes, add names to the passes, as originally done.
• Attendance – The committee noted that the games seemed better attended. The overall attendance was better than last year, but was not comparable to a couple of years ago.
• Web site – The committee commended staff for the maintenance of the web cast, providing live updates, for those who could not attend the finals.
• Atmosphere – The committee commended the Lakeland Center and staff for the addition of the curtain (girls tournament) and the dashers, which allowed for a more intimate, fan-friendly setting for both tournaments.
• Temperature – The committee has great concern for the presence of the hockey rink, as this created uncomfortably, cold temperatures for both tournaments.
• Video – The committee inquired about the possibility of making videos of the semifinals and finals available for purchase. Mr. Watford shared past experiences regarding video sales and cited that no companies / individuals have submitted a request to provide this service. Additionally, it would be more beneficial if the videographer can make the tapes available on-site.
• Announcer – Mrs. Cox shared concerns regarding the announcer for the tournament, citing presentations of the information needs to be accurate.
a. Precision Timing – Staff reported to the committee regarding its use of timing system. Generally, the timing system achieved its goal of more accurate timing, but needs to be made more durable.
b. Finals Statistics – Staff shared the game statistics report as submitted to the National Federation.
2. FHSAA Basketball Regulations Manual
a. Rick Robertson’s correspondence – Staff will add verbiage to the manual, further clarifying items for voting at district planning meetings.
• The committee suggests that the public address announcements policy needs to be written with more emphasis, because schools are not making the announcements.
• The committee discussed the effectiveness of the 40% ticket allocation policy as implemented during the 20003-04 season. Mr. Thornton mentioned a clarification of the policy: the 40% applies to the number of tickets available, not the minimum seating capacity.
• Minimum seating capacities will be placed in the manual, as this was left out last year.
• District assignments will be placed in the manual. Mr. Watford cautioned the committee to review the assignments posted on the web site for more accurate information regarding district assignments.
• Noisemakers are overlooked during regular season. Officials associations and schools are disregarding National Federation 1-13 as it relates to noisemakers during regular season.
3. State Finals Officials’ Assignments / Adjacent Counties
The committee expressed concern regarding officials who work in a secondary, association which results in the officials’ working in the primary associations school for a state series contest, i.e. neighboring, adjacent counties.
The committee expressed concern for state finals assignments, which result in officials from an adjacent county, citing the perception of such assignments may create concerns on behalf of the participants and its fans. The committee suggests the FHSAA staff avoid such assigning where possible.

B. BkAC Recommendations (Effective for 2004-05, if Passed by Board of Directors)
Listed below are the recommendations proposed, active for the 2004-2005 season, as a result of the meeting:

RECOMMENDATION #1
Ticket Prices / Admission
Create a student priced ticket for students K-12 at state series basketball games. Admission for students shall be one-half of current state series prices two dollars less than, across the board.
Motion by Bolin / 2nd Cox
1st BkAC Rdg (8-0 Approve)
1st ADAC Rdg (10-0 Modify) $2 reduction across the board for all levels of state series. April 9, 2003
2nd BkAC Rdg (9-0 Approve w/AD’s modification) March 22, 2004
2nd ADAC Rdg (7-2 Approve) April 7, 2004

RECOMMENDATION #2
Classifications
For a two-year classification cycle, 2005-06/2006-07, and on an experimental basis, reduce the number of classes from 6 classes to 3 classes (as first option) and 4 classes (as second option) in boys and girls basketball. Clarification
3 classes (32 districts / 4-7 team districts / advance 8 per class to finals)
4 classes (32 districts / 3-6 team districts / advance 4 per class to finals)
Motion by Allan / 2nd by Fenlon
1st BkAC Rdg (8-0 Approve)
1st ADAC Rdg (10-0 Table) April 9, 2003
2nd BkAC Rdg (8-0 Approve / 1 Abstention) March 22, 2004
2nd ADAC Rdg (5-4 Approve) 4 Classes April 7, 2004

RECOMMENDATION #3
NFHS – Rule 8-1-3
In free-throw situations, allow players to enter the lane on the release of the ball.
Motion by Allan / 2nd by Bolin
1st BkAC Rdg (8-0 Approve)
1st ADAC Rdg (10-0 Approve) April 9, 2003
2nd BkAC Rdg (9-0 Approve) March 22, 2004
2nd ADAC Rdg (9-0 Approve) April 7, 2004
*Staff to submit a letter on behalf of coaches’ committee to NFHS in support of current recommended rules change.

C. BkAC Recommendations (Effective for 2005-06, if Passed by Board of Directors)
Listed below are the recommendations proposed, active for the 2005-2006 season, as a result of the meeting:

RECOMMENDATION #1
Officials’ scratch list procedures
The FHSAA must make sure that scratch lists are being sent out by officials associations in a timely manner to the schools and that officials who have been scratched are not allowed to officiate those schools who have scratched them in regular season home games.
Motioned by Iuliucci / 2nd by Cox
1st BkAC Rdg (9-0 Approve) March 22, 2004
1st ADAC Rdg (No Action Taken) April 7, 2004 Schools have the discretion to address this through current policy, when contracting with officials’ associations.

RECOMMENDATION #2
Designated Seating at Lakeland Center (preferably lower bowl)
Allow high college coaches, high school coaches and administrators with FHSAA State Series passes and FHSAA coaches’ ID to sit in a designated section.
Motioned by Iuliucci / 2nd by Periera
1st BkAC Rdg (9-0 Approve) March 22, 2004
1st ADAC Rdg (No Action Taken) April 7, 2004 It is the function of FHSAA staff and host to determine seating arrangements at state events.

RECOMMENDATION #3
Officials Calling Three Games in a Row
Except in emergency situations, referees (officials) should be limited to two games in one night.
Motioned by Iuliucci / 2nd Fenlon
1st BkAC Rdg (9-0 Approve) March 22, 2004
1st ADAC Rdg (No Action Taken) April 7, 2004. Availability and number of active officials are concerns relative to the number of games scheduled.

D. FACA Recommendations
FACA submitted no recommendations.

VI. Discussion
• Officials’ gray shirts – The committee had no reservations with officials wearing gray shirts.
• NCAA 1st Team Videotape – The committee viewed the video presentation created by NCAA addressing Division-1 Men’s Basketball eligibility. The tape will be made available to each member school
• Officials’ Evaluation Program – All committee members are willing to participate in the official’s evaluation program and work as a member of the evaluation team as assigned by the FHSAA staff.
• Big Bend Officials (Tallahassee) – Members who participated in regular season contests in Tallahassee commended the association for its professionalism with regard to its coaches’ evaluation program. This program requires the referee to present the coaches with an evaluation/ranking card at the pre-game coaches’ meeting and the coach may submit the evaluation via mail or on-line.
• Sportsmanship statement – The committee noted that officials have not administered the sportsmanship statement as consistently this year as in last year.

Mr. Kershner adjourned the meeting at 1:45 p.m.